Binding (Java Platform SE 8 )
Keywords: javax.naming.Binding class
Date: 2026-07-22

compact3
javax.naming

## Class Binding

- java.lang.Object
- - javax.naming.NameClassPair
  - - javax.naming.Binding

- All Implemented Interfaces:
    Serializable
  Direct Known Subclasses:
    SearchResult

      public class Binding
      extends NameClassPair

  This class represents a name-to-object binding found in a context.

  A context consists of name-to-object bindings. The Binding class represents such a binding. It consists of a name and an object. The `Context.listBindings()` method returns an enumeration of Binding.

  Use subclassing for naming systems that generate contents of a binding dynamically.

  A Binding instance is not synchronized against concurrent access by multiple threads. Threads that need to access a Binding concurrently should synchronize amongst themselves and provide the necessary locking.

  Since:
    1.3
  See Also:
    Serialized Form

- - ### Constructor Summary

    Constructors
    Constructor and Description
    `Binding(String name, Object obj)` Constructs an instance of a Binding given its name and object.
    `Binding(String name, Object obj, boolean isRelative)` Constructs an instance of a Binding given its name, object, and whether the name is relative.
    `Binding(String name, String className, Object obj)` Constructs an instance of a Binding given its name, class name, and object.
    `Binding(String name, String className, Object obj, boolean isRelative)` Constructs an instance of a Binding given its name, class name, object, and whether the name is relative.

  - ### Method Summary

    All Methods Instance Methods Concrete Methods
    Modifier and Type | Method and Description
    --- | ---
    `String` | `getClassName()` Retrieves the class name of the object bound to the name of this binding.
    `Object` | `getObject()` Retrieves the object bound to the name of this binding.
    `void` | `setObject(Object obj)` Sets the object associated with this binding.
    `String` | `toString()` Generates the string representation of this binding.

    - ### Methods inherited from class javax.naming.NameClassPair

      `getName, getNameInNamespace, isRelative, setClassName, setName, setNameInNamespace, setRelative`

    - ### Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

      `clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait`

- - ### Constructor Detail

    - #### Binding

          public Binding(String name,
                         Object obj)

      Constructs an instance of a Binding given its name and object.

      `getClassName()` will return the class name of `obj` (or null if `obj` is null) unless the class name has been explicitly set using `setClassName()`

      Parameters:
        `name` - The non-null name of the object. It is relative to the target context (which is named by the first parameter of the `listBindings()` method)
        `obj` - The possibly null object bound to name.
      See Also:
        `NameClassPair.setClassName(java.lang.String)`

    - #### Binding

          public Binding(String name,
                         Object obj,
                         boolean isRelative)

      Constructs an instance of a Binding given its name, object, and whether the name is relative.

      `getClassName()` will return the class name of `obj` (or null if `obj` is null) unless the class name has been explicitly set using `setClassName()`

      Parameters:
        `name` - The non-null string name of the object.
        `obj` - The possibly null object bound to name.
        `isRelative` - true if `name` is a name relative to the target context (which is named by the first parameter of the `listBindings()` method); false if `name` is a URL string.
      See Also:
        `NameClassPair.isRelative()`, `NameClassPair.setRelative(boolean)`, `NameClassPair.setClassName(java.lang.String)`

    - #### Binding

          public Binding(String name,
                         String className,
                         Object obj)

      Constructs an instance of a Binding given its name, class name, and object.
      Parameters:
        `name` - The non-null name of the object. It is relative to the target context (which is named by the first parameter of the `listBindings()` method)
        `className` - The possibly null class name of the object bound to `name`. If null, the class name of `obj` is returned by `getClassName()`. If `obj` is also null, `getClassName()` will return null.
        `obj` - The possibly null object bound to name.
      See Also:
        `NameClassPair.setClassName(java.lang.String)`

    - #### Binding

          public Binding(String name,
                         String className,
                         Object obj,
                         boolean isRelative)

      Constructs an instance of a Binding given its name, class name, object, and whether the name is relative.
      Parameters:
        `name` - The non-null string name of the object.
        `className` - The possibly null class name of the object bound to `name`. If null, the class name of `obj` is returned by `getClassName()`. If `obj` is also null, `getClassName()` will return null.
        `obj` - The possibly null object bound to name.
        `isRelative` - true if `name` is a name relative to the target context (which is named by the first parameter of the `listBindings()` method); false if `name` is a URL string.
      See Also:
        `NameClassPair.isRelative()`, `NameClassPair.setRelative(boolean)`, `NameClassPair.setClassName(java.lang.String)`

  - ### Method Detail

    - #### getClassName

          public String getClassName()

      Retrieves the class name of the object bound to the name of this binding. If the class name has been set explicitly, return it. Otherwise, if this binding contains a non-null object, that object's class name is used. Otherwise, null is returned.
      Overrides:
        `getClassName` in class `NameClassPair`
      Returns:
        A possibly null string containing class name of object bound.
      See Also:
        `getObject()`, `getClassName()`, `NameClassPair.setClassName(java.lang.String)`

    - #### getObject

          public Object getObject()

      Retrieves the object bound to the name of this binding.
      Returns:
        The object bound; null if this binding does not contain an object.
      See Also:
        `setObject(java.lang.Object)`

    - #### setObject

          public void setObject(Object obj)

      Sets the object associated with this binding.
      Parameters:
        `obj` - The possibly null object to use.
      See Also:
        `getObject()`

    - #### toString

          public String toString()

      Generates the string representation of this binding. The string representation consists of the string representation of the name/class pair and the string representation of this binding's object, separated by ':'. The contents of this string is useful for debugging and is not meant to be interpreted programmatically.
      Overrides:
        `toString` in class `NameClassPair`
      Returns:
        The non-null string representation of this binding.

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