Characters (Java SE 26 & JDK 26)
Description: declaration: module: java.xml, package: javax.xml.stream.events, interface: Characters
Keywords: javax.xml.stream.events.Characters interface

# Interface Characters

All Superinterfaces:
  `XMLEvent, XMLStreamConstants`

public interface Characters extends XMLEvent
This describes the interface to Characters events. All text events get reported as Characters events. Content, CData and whitespace are all reported as Characters events. IgnorableWhitespace, in most cases, will be set to false unless an element declaration of element content is present for the current element.

Since:
  1.6

- ## Field Summary

  ### Fields declared in interface XMLStreamConstants

  `ATTRIBUTE, CDATA, CHARACTERS, COMMENT, DTD, END_DOCUMENT, END_ELEMENT, ENTITY_DECLARATION, ENTITY_REFERENCE, NAMESPACE, NOTATION_DECLARATION, PROCESSING_INSTRUCTION, SPACE, START_DOCUMENT, START_ELEMENT`
  Modifier and Type
  Field
  Description
  `static final int`
  `ATTRIBUTE`
  Indicates an event is an attribute
  `static final int`
  `CDATA`
  Indicates an event is a CDATA section
  `static final int`
  `CHARACTERS`
  Indicates an event is characters
  `static final int`
  `COMMENT`
  Indicates an event is a comment
  `static final int`
  `DTD`
  Indicates an event is a DTD
  `static final int`
  `END_DOCUMENT`
  Indicates an event is an end document
  `static final int`
  `END_ELEMENT`
  Indicates an event is an end element
  `static final int`
  `ENTITY_DECLARATION`
  Indicates a Entity Declaration
  `static final int`
  `ENTITY_REFERENCE`
  Indicates an event is an entity reference
  `static final int`
  `NAMESPACE`
  Indicates the event is a namespace declaration
  `static final int`
  `NOTATION_DECLARATION`
  Indicates a Notation
  `static final int`
  `PROCESSING_INSTRUCTION`
  Indicates an event is a processing instruction
  `static final int`
  `SPACE`
  The characters are white space (see [XML], 2.10 "White Space Handling").
  `static final int`
  `START_DOCUMENT`
  Indicates an event is a start document
  `static final int`
  `START_ELEMENT`
  Indicates an event is a start element

- ## Method Summary

  Modifier and Type
  Method
  Description
  `String`
  `getData()`
  Get the character data of this event
  `boolean`
  `isCData()`
  Returns true if this is a CData section.
  `boolean`
  `isIgnorableWhiteSpace()`
  Return true if this is ignorableWhiteSpace.
  `boolean`
  `isWhiteSpace()`
  Returns true if this set of Characters is all whitespace.

  ### Methods declared in interface XMLEvent

  `asCharacters, asEndElement, asStartElement, getEventType, getLocation, getSchemaType, isAttribute, isCharacters, isEndDocument, isEndElement, isEntityReference, isNamespace, isProcessingInstruction, isStartDocument, isStartElement, writeAsEncodedUnicode`
  Modifier and Type
  Method
  Description
  `Characters`
  `asCharacters()`
  Returns this event as Characters, may result in a class cast exception if this event is not Characters.
  `EndElement`
  `asEndElement()`
  Returns this event as an end element event, may result in a class cast exception if this event is not a end element.
  `StartElement`
  `asStartElement()`
  Returns this event as a start element event, may result in a class cast exception if this event is not a start element.
  `int`
  `getEventType()`
  Returns an integer code for this event.
  `Location`
  `getLocation()`
  Return the location of this event.
  `QName`
  `getSchemaType()`
  This method is provided for implementations to provide optional type information about the associated event.
  `boolean`
  `isAttribute()`
  A utility function to check if this event is an Attribute.
  `boolean`
  `isCharacters()`
  A utility function to check if this event is Characters.
  `boolean`
  `isEndDocument()`
  A utility function to check if this event is an EndDocument.
  `boolean`
  `isEndElement()`
  A utility function to check if this event is a EndElement.
  `boolean`
  `isEntityReference()`
  A utility function to check if this event is an EntityReference.
  `boolean`
  `isNamespace()`
  A utility function to check if this event is a Namespace.
  `boolean`
  `isProcessingInstruction()`
  A utility function to check if this event is a ProcessingInstruction.
  `boolean`
  `isStartDocument()`
  A utility function to check if this event is a StartDocument.
  `boolean`
  `isStartElement()`
  A utility function to check if this event is a StartElement.
  `void`
  `writeAsEncodedUnicode(Writer writer)`
  This method will write the XMLEvent as per the XML 1.0 specification as Unicode characters.

- ## Method Details

  - ### getData

    String getData()
    Get the character data of this event
    Returns:
      the character data

  - ### isWhiteSpace

    boolean isWhiteSpace()
    Returns true if this set of Characters is all whitespace. Whitespace inside a document is reported as CHARACTERS. This method allows checking of CHARACTERS events to see if they are composed of only whitespace characters
    Returns:
      true if the `Characters` are all whitespace, false otherwise

  - ### isCData

    boolean isCData()
    Returns true if this is a CData section. If this event is CData its event type will be CDATA If javax.xml.stream.isCoalescing is set to true CDATA Sections that are surrounded by non CDATA characters will be reported as a single Characters event. This method will return false in this case.
    Returns:
      true if it is `CDATA`, false otherwise

  - ### isIgnorableWhiteSpace

    boolean isIgnorableWhiteSpace()
    Return true if this is ignorableWhiteSpace. If this event is ignorableWhiteSpace its event type will be SPACE.
    Returns:
      true if it is ignorable whitespace, false otherwise