Why method parameter end with three dots

Question

i generate hibernate pojos + hybernate mapping + dao. in dao class i have some doubt in coding please clear.
package org.triology.blog.hibernate;
import org.triology.blog.GenericDAO;
import java.io.Serializable;
import java.lang.reflect.ParameterizedType;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Map;
import org.hibernate.Criteria;
import org.hibernate.FlushMode;
import org.hibernate.Query;
import org.hibernate.LockMode;
import org.hibernate.Session;
import org.hibernate.criterion.Restrictions;
import org.hibernate.criterion.Criterion;
import org.hibernate.criterion.Example;
* Generated at Wed Jul 30 16:57:35 IST 2008
* @author Salto-db Generator v1.0.16 / Pojos + Hibernate mapping + Generic DAO
* @see http://www.hibernate.org/328.html
public abstract class AbstractHibernateDAO<T, ID extends Serializable> implements GenericDAO<T, ID> {
private Session session;
private Class<T> persistentClass;
public AbstractHibernateDAO() {
this.persistentClass = (Class<T> ((ParameterizedType) getClass().getGenericSuperclass()).getActualTypeArguments()[0];
public void setSession(Session session) {
this.session = session;
protected Session getSession() {
if (session == null)
session = HibernateUtil.getSessionFactory().getCurrentSession();
return session;
public Class<T> getPersistentClass() {
return persistentClass;
@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
public T getById(ID id) {
return (T) getSession().get(getPersistentClass(), id);
@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
public T getById(ID id, boolean lock) {
if (lock) {
return (T) getSession().get(getPersistentClass(), id,
LockMode.UPGRADE);
} else
return getById(id);
@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
public T loadById(ID id) {
return (T) getSession().load(getPersistentClass(), id);
public void save(T entity) {
getSession().save(entity);
public void update(T entity) {
getSession().update(entity);
public void saveOrUpdate(T entity) {
getSession().saveOrUpdate(entity);
public void delete(T entity) {
getSession().delete(entity);
public void deleteById(ID id) {
getSession().delete(loadById(id));
@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
public List<T> findAll() {
return findByCriteria();
* Use this inside subclasses as a convenience method.
@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
protected List<T> findByCriteria(Criterion... criterion) {
Criteria crit = getSession().createCriteria(getPersistentClass());
for (Criterion c : criterion) {
crit.add(c);
return crit.list();
* Find by criteria.
@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
public List<T> findByCriteria(Map criterias) {
Criteria criteria = getSession().createCriteria(getPersistentClass());
criteria.add(Restrictions.allEq(criterias));
return criteria.list();
* This method will execute an HQL query and return the number of affected entities.
protected int executeQuery(String query, String namedParams[], Object params[]) {
Query q = getSession().createQuery(query);
if (namedParams != null) {
for (int i = 0; i < namedParams.length; i++) {
q.setParameter(namedParams, params[i]);
return q.executeUpdate();
protected int executeQuery(String query) {
return executeQuery(query, null, null);
* This method will execute a Named HQL query and return the number of affected entities.
protected int executeNamedQuery(String namedQuery, String namedParams[], Object params[]) {
Query q = getSession().getNamedQuery(namedQuery);
if (namedParams != null) {
for (int i = 0; i < namedParams.length; i++) {
q.setParameter(namedParams[i], params[i]);
return q.executeUpdate();
protected int executeNamedQuery(String namedQuery) {
return executeNamedQuery(namedQuery, null, null);
@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
public List<T> findByExample(T exampleInstance, String[] excludeProperty) {
Criteria crit = getSession().createCriteria(getPersistentClass());
Example example = Example.create(exampleInstance).excludeZeroes().enableLike().ignoreCase();
for (String exclude : excludeProperty) {
example.excludeProperty(exclude);
crit.add(example);
return crit.list();
in above class my doubt is
* Use this inside subclasses as a convenience method.
@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
protected List<T> findByCriteria(Criterion... criterion) {
Criteria crit = getSession().createCriteria(getPersistentClass());
for (Criterion c : criterion) {
crit.add(c);
return crit.list();
why we pass findByCriteria parameter end with three dots (Criterian...)
Edited by: BalaTTPL on Jul 31, 2008 8:53 AM

Answer 1

protected List<T> findByCriteria(Criterion... criterion) {
    Criteria crit = getSession().createCriteria(getPersistentClass());
    for (Criterion c : criterion) {
        crit.add(c);
    return crit.list();
}The "Criterion..." argument just means that you can call the method with any number (zero or more) of Criterion references. Within the method criterion is treated like an array - for instance in the for loop.
The notation is known as "varargs" and is described in the JDK1.5 [Tech notes|http://java.sun.com/javase/6/docs/technotes/guides/language/varargs.html].