All Known Subinterfaces:

AnnotableSymbol, net.sourceforge.pmd.lang.java.symbols.BoundToNode<N>, JAccessibleElementSymbol, JClassSymbol, JConstructorSymbol, JExecutableSymbol, JFieldSymbol, JFormalParamSymbol, JLocalVariableSymbol, JMethodSymbol, JTypeDeclSymbol, JTypeParameterOwnerSymbol, JTypeParameterSymbol, JVariableSymbol

All Known Implementing Classes:

AstLocalVarSym
```
@Experimental
@InternalApi
public interface JElementSymbol
```
Represents a named program element that can be referred to by simple name. Abstracts over whether the declaration is in the analysed file or not, using reflection when it's not.
This type hierarchy is probably not directly relevant to users writing rules. It's mostly intended to unify the representation of type resolution and symbol analysis.

Since:

7.0.0

Method Summary

All Methods Instance Methods Abstract Methods Default Methods
Modifier and Type	Method	Description
`<R,P> R`	`acceptVisitor(SymbolVisitor<R,P> visitor, P param)`	Dispatch to the appropriate visit method of the visitor and returns its result.
`boolean`	`equals(Object o)`	Two symbols representing the same program element should be equal.
`String`	`getSimpleName()`	Gets the name with which this declaration may be referred to, eg the name of the method, or the simple name of the class.
`TypeSystem`	`getTypeSystem()`	Returns the type system that created this symbol.
`default boolean`	`isUnresolved()`	Returns true if this symbol is a placeholder, created to fill-in an unresolved reference.
`default boolean`	`nameEquals(@NonNull String name)`	Returns true if the simple name of this symbol is the same as the given name.
`default @Nullable JavaNode`	`tryGetNode()`	Returns the node that declares this symbol.

- Method Detail
  - getSimpleName
```
String getSimpleName()
```
    Gets the name with which this declaration may be referred to, eg the name of the method, or the simple name of the class.
    
    Returns:
    
    the name
  - nameEquals
```
default boolean nameEquals(@NonNull String name)
```
    Returns true if the simple name of this symbol is the same as the given name.
    
    Parameters:
    
    name - Simple name
    
    Throws:
    
    NullPointerException - If the parameter is null
  - getTypeSystem
```
TypeSystem getTypeSystem()
```
    Returns the type system that created this symbol. The symbol uses this instance to create new types, for example to reflect its superclass.
  - isUnresolved
```
default boolean isUnresolved()
```
    Returns true if this symbol is a placeholder, created to fill-in an unresolved reference. Depending on the type of this symbol, this may be:
    
    An unresolved class (more details on JTypeDeclSymbol.isUnresolved())
    An unresolved field
    An unresolved method or constructor. Note that we cheat and represent them only with the constant TypeSystem.UNRESOLVED_METHOD.getSymbol(), which may not match its usage site in either name, formal parameters, location, etc.
    
    We try to recover some information about the missing symbol from the references we found, currently this includes only the number of type parameters of an unresolved class.
    Rules should care about unresolved symbols to avoid false positives or logic errors. The equivalent for types is TypeSystem.UNKNOWN.
    The following symbols are never unresolved, because they are lexically scoped:
    
    type parameters
    local variables
    formal parameters
    local classes, anonymous classes
  - tryGetNode
```
default @Nullable JavaNode tryGetNode()
```
    Returns the node that declares this symbol. Eg for JMethodSymbol, it's an ASTMethodDeclaration. Will only return non-null if the symbol is declared in the file currently being analysed.
  - equals
```
boolean equals(Object o)
```
    Two symbols representing the same program element should be equal. So eg two JClassSymbol, even if their implementation class is different, should compare publicly observable properties (their binary name is enough). #hashCode() must of course be consistent with this contract.
    Symbols should only be compared using this method, never with ==, because their unicity is not guaranteed.
    
    Overrides:
    
    equals in class Object
    
    Parameters:
    
    o - Comparand
    
    Returns:
    
    True if the other is a symbol for the same program element
  - acceptVisitor
```
<R,P> R acceptVisitor(SymbolVisitor<R,P> visitor,
                            P param)
```
    Dispatch to the appropriate visit method of the visitor and returns its result.

Interface JElementSymbol

Method Summary

Method Detail

getSimpleName

nameEquals

getTypeSystem

isUnresolved

tryGetNode

equals

acceptVisitor