Path based data structure

Question

I need to create a path based data structure which not only will map path keys to values, but also allow me to specify a partial path and retrieve a listing of all keys that 'descend' from that path. The values for each path will be various primitive and Collecions values. I'm implementing this as a generic data cache, so access time is critical.
I was thinking of designing my own, but was wondering if the API might come with something useful that does most of this work already? I'd want a solution that draws from the J2SE rather than additional libraries.
Mark McKay
http://www.kitfox.com

Answer 1

If I understand you correctly you're looking for some tree like, or some directory like
structure? You could use a Map for a single path component, storing all the keys
and their associated sub-path components. The values for each path component
could be stored in a List (or a Set if you don't want duplicates). Something like this:public class PathComponent {
   private static PathComponent root= new PathComponent();
   public static PathComponent getRoot() { return root; }
   private Map subDirs= new HashMap();
   private List values= new LinkedList();
   private PathComponent getPath(String[] path, int depth) {
      if (depth == path.length)
         return this;
      PathComponent sub= subDirs.get(path[depth++]);
      return (sub == null)?null:sub.getPath(path, depth);
   public PathComponent getPath(String[] path) { return getPath(path, 0); }
   public List getValues() { return values; }
   // etc. etc.
}kind regards,
Jos