Package
objects contain version information
about the implementation and specification of a Java package.
This versioning information is retrieved and made available
by the
ClassLoader
instance that
loaded the class(es). Typically, it is stored in the manifest that is
distributed with the classes.
The set of classes that make up the package may implement a
particular specification and if so the specification title, version number,
and vendor strings identify that specification.
An application can ask if the package is
compatible with a particular version, see the isCompatibleWith
method for details.
Specification version numbers use a syntax that consists of positive
decimal integers separated by periods ".", for example "2.0" or
"1.2.3.4.5.6.7". This allows an extensible number to be used to represent
major, minor, micro, etc. versions. The version specification is described
by the following formal grammar:
- SpecificationVersion:
- Digits RefinedVersionopt
- RefinedVersion:
.
Digits
.
Digits RefinedVersion
- Digits:
- Digit
- Digits
- Digit:
- any character for which
Character.isDigit(char)
returns true
,
e.g. 0, 1, 2, ...
The implementation title, version, and vendor strings identify an
implementation and are made available conveniently to enable accurate
reporting of the packages involved when a problem occurs. The contents
all three implementation strings are vendor specific. The
implementation version strings have no specified syntax and should
only be compared for equality with desired version identifiers.
Within each ClassLoader
instance all classes from the same
java package have the same Package object. The static methods allow a package
to be found by name or the set of all packages known to the current class
loader to be found.