Interface EnclosingMethodAttribute

All Superinterfaces:: Attribute<EnclosingMethodAttribute>, ClassElement, ClassFileElement

public sealed interface EnclosingMethodAttribute extends Attribute<EnclosingMethodAttribute>, ClassElement

Models the EnclosingMethod attribute (JVMS 4.7.7), which indicates that this class is a local or anonymous class, and indicates the enclosing method or constructor of this class if this class is enclosed in exactly one method or constructor.

This attribute only appears on classes, and does not permit multiple instances in a class. It has a data dependency on the constant pool.

The attribute was introduced in the Java SE Platform version 5.0, major version 49.

See Java Virtual Machine Specification:

4.7.7 The EnclosingMethod Attribute

Since:

See Also:

Method Summary

Modifier and Type	Method	Description
`ClassEntry`	`enclosingClass()`	Returns the class that encloses the declaration of the current class.
`Optional<NameAndTypeEntry>`	`enclosingMethod()`	Returns the name and type of the enclosing method, if the class is immediately enclosed by exactly one method or constructor.
`default Optional<Utf8Entry>`	`enclosingMethodName()`	Returns the name of the enclosing method, if the class is immediately enclosed by exactly one method or constructor.
`default Optional<Utf8Entry>`	`enclosingMethodType()`	Returns the name of the enclosing method, if the class is immediately enclosed by exactly one method or constructor.
`default Optional<MethodTypeDesc>`	`enclosingMethodTypeSymbol()`	Returns the name of the enclosing method, if the class is immediately enclosed by exactly one method or constructor.
`static EnclosingMethodAttribute`	`of(ClassEntry className, Optional<NameAndTypeEntry> method)`	Returns an `EnclosingMethod` attribute.
`static EnclosingMethodAttribute`	`of(ClassDesc className, Optional<String> methodName, Optional<MethodTypeDesc> methodType)`	Returns an `EnclosingMethod` attribute.

Methods declared in interface Attribute

attributeMapper, attributeName

Method Details

enclosingClass

ClassEntry enclosingClass()

Returns the class that encloses the declaration of the current class. If the enclosingMethod() is present, this is the declaring class of that enclosing method or constructor.

Returns:

the class that encloses the declaration of the current class

See Also:

enclosingMethod

Optional<NameAndTypeEntry> enclosingMethod()

Returns the name and type of the enclosing method, if the class is immediately enclosed by exactly one method or constructor. This may be empty if the anonymous or local class appears in a field initializer (JLS 8.3.2), an instance initializer (JLS 8.6), or a static initializer (JLS 8.7). As a result, this never describes a class initialization method "<clinit>".

Returns:

the name and type of the enclosing method, if the class is immediately enclosed by exactly one method or constructor

See Also:

enclosingMethodName

default Optional<Utf8Entry> enclosingMethodName()

Returns the name of the enclosing method, if the class is immediately enclosed by exactly one method or constructor.

Returns:

the name of the enclosing method, if the class is immediately enclosed by exactly one method or constructor

See Also:

enclosingMethodType

default Optional<Utf8Entry> enclosingMethodType()

Returns the name of the enclosing method, if the class is immediately enclosed by exactly one method or constructor.

Returns:

the name of the enclosing method, if the class is immediately enclosed by exactly one method or constructor

See Also:

enclosingMethodTypeSymbol

default Optional<MethodTypeDesc> enclosingMethodTypeSymbol()

Returns the name of the enclosing method, if the class is immediately enclosed by exactly one method or constructor.

Returns:

the name of the enclosing method, if the class is immediately enclosed by exactly one method or constructor

See Also:

of

static EnclosingMethodAttribute of(ClassEntry className, Optional<NameAndTypeEntry> method)

Returns an EnclosingMethod attribute.

Parameters:: className - the class name; method - the name and type of the enclosing method or Optional.empty() if the class is not immediately enclosed by exactly one method or constructor
Returns:: an EnclosingMethod attribute

of

static EnclosingMethodAttribute of(ClassDesc className, Optional<String> methodName, Optional<MethodTypeDesc> methodType)

Returns an EnclosingMethod attribute.

Parameters:: className - the class name; methodName - the name of the enclosing method or Optional.empty() if the class is not immediately enclosed by exactly one method or constructor; methodType - the type of the enclosing method or Optional.empty() if the class is not immediately enclosed by exactly one method or constructor
Returns:: an EnclosingMethod attribute
Throws:: IllegalArgumentException - if className represents a primitive type

© 1993, 2025, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
Documentation extracted from Debian's OpenJDK Development Kit package.
Licensed under the GNU General Public License, version 2, with the Classpath Exception.
Various third party code in OpenJDK is licensed under different licenses (see Debian package).
Java and OpenJDK are trademarks or registered trademarks of Oracle and/or its affiliates.
https://docs.oracle.com/en/java/javase/25/docs/api/java.base/java/lang/classfile/attribute/EnclosingMethodAttribute.html