public final class

NetworkInterface

extends Object
java.lang.Object
   ↳ java.net.NetworkInterface

Class Overview

This class is used to represent a network interface of the local device. An interface is defined by its address and a platform dependent name. The class provides methods to get all information about the available interfaces of the system or to identify the local interface of a joined multicast group.

Summary

Public Methods
boolean equals(Object obj)
Compares the specified object to this NetworkInterface and returns whether they are equal or not.
static NetworkInterface getByInetAddress(InetAddress address)
Gets the specific network interface according to the given address.
static NetworkInterface getByName(String interfaceName)
Gets the specific network interface according to a given name.
String getDisplayName()
Gets the human-readable name associated with this network interface.
Enumeration<InetAddress> getInetAddresses()
Gets a list of addresses bound to this network interface.
String getName()
Gets the name associated with this network interface.
static Enumeration<NetworkInterface> getNetworkInterfaces()
Gets a list of all network interfaces available on the local system or null if no interface is available.
int hashCode()
Gets the hashcode for this NetworkInterface instance.
String toString()
Gets a string containing a concise, human-readable description of this network interface.
[Expand]
Inherited Methods
From class java.lang.Object

Public Methods

public boolean equals (Object obj)

Compares the specified object to this NetworkInterface and returns whether they are equal or not. The object must be an instance of NetworkInterface with the same name, displayName and list of network interfaces to be equal.

Parameters
obj the object to compare with this instance.
Returns
  • true if the specified object is equal to this NetworkInterface, false otherwise.
See Also

public static NetworkInterface getByInetAddress (InetAddress address)

Gets the specific network interface according to the given address.

Parameters
address the address to identify the searched network interface.
Returns
  • the network interface with the specified address if one exists or null otherwise.
Throws
SocketException if an error occurs while getting the network interface information.
NullPointerException if the given interface address is invalid.

public static NetworkInterface getByName (String interfaceName)

Gets the specific network interface according to a given name.

Parameters
interfaceName the name to identify the searched network interface.
Returns
  • the network interface with the specified name if one exists or null otherwise.
Throws
SocketException if an error occurs while getting the network interface information.
NullPointerException if the given interface's name is null.

public String getDisplayName ()

Gets the human-readable name associated with this network interface.

Returns
  • the display name of this network interface or the name if the display name is not available.

public Enumeration<InetAddress> getInetAddresses ()

Gets a list of addresses bound to this network interface.

Returns
  • the address list of the represented network interface.

public String getName ()

Gets the name associated with this network interface.

Returns
  • the name of this NetworkInterface instance.

public static Enumeration<NetworkInterface> getNetworkInterfaces ()

Gets a list of all network interfaces available on the local system or null if no interface is available.

Returns
  • the list of NetworkInterface instances representing the available interfaces.
Throws
SocketException if an error occurs while getting the network interface information.

public int hashCode ()

Gets the hashcode for this NetworkInterface instance. Since the name should be unique for each network interface the hashcode is generated using this name.

Returns
  • the hashcode value for this NetworkInterface instance.

public String toString ()

Gets a string containing a concise, human-readable description of this network interface.

Returns
  • the textual representation for this network interface.