Added in API level 1

UUID

public final class UUID
extends Object implements Serializable, Comparable<UUID>

java.lang.Object
   ↳ java.util.UUID


A class that represents an immutable universally unique identifier (UUID). A UUID represents a 128-bit value.

There exist different variants of these global identifiers. The methods of this class are for manipulating the Leach-Salz variant, although the constructors allow the creation of any variant of UUID (described below).

The layout of a variant 2 (Leach-Salz) UUID is as follows: The most significant long consists of the following unsigned fields:

 0xFFFFFFFF00000000 time_low
 0x00000000FFFF0000 time_mid
 0x000000000000F000 version
 0x0000000000000FFF time_hi
 
The least significant long consists of the following unsigned fields:
 0xC000000000000000 variant
 0x3FFF000000000000 clock_seq
 0x0000FFFFFFFFFFFF node
 

The variant field contains a value which identifies the layout of the UUID. The bit layout described above is valid only for a UUID with a variant value of 2, which indicates the Leach-Salz variant.

The version field holds a value that describes the type of this UUID. There are four different basic types of UUIDs: time-based, DCE security, name-based, and randomly generated UUIDs. These types have a version value of 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively.

For more information including algorithms used to create UUIDs, see RFC 4122: A Universally Unique IDentifier (UUID) URN Namespace, section 4.2 "Algorithms for Creating a Time-Based UUID".

Summary

Public constructors

UUID(long mostSigBits, long leastSigBits)

Constructs a new UUID using the specified data.

Public methods

int clockSequence()

The clock sequence value associated with this UUID.

int compareTo(UUID val)

Compares this UUID with the specified UUID.

boolean equals(Object obj)

Compares this object to the specified object.

static UUID fromString(String name)

Creates a UUID from the string standard representation as described in the toString() method.

long getLeastSignificantBits()

Returns the least significant 64 bits of this UUID's 128 bit value.

long getMostSignificantBits()

Returns the most significant 64 bits of this UUID's 128 bit value.

int hashCode()

Returns a hash code for this UUID.

static UUID nameUUIDFromBytes(byte[] name)

Static factory to retrieve a type 3 (name based) UUID based on the specified byte array.

long node()

The node value associated with this UUID.

static UUID randomUUID()

Static factory to retrieve a type 4 (pseudo randomly generated) UUID.

long timestamp()

The timestamp value associated with this UUID.

String toString()

Returns a String object representing this UUID.

int variant()

The variant number associated with this UUID.

int version()

The version number associated with this UUID.

Inherited methods

Public constructors

UUID

Added in API level 1
public UUID (long mostSigBits, 
                long leastSigBits)

Constructs a new UUID using the specified data. mostSigBits is used for the most significant 64 bits of the UUID and leastSigBits becomes the least significant 64 bits of the UUID.

Parameters
mostSigBits long: The most significant bits of the UUID

leastSigBits long: The least significant bits of the UUID

Public methods

clockSequence

Added in API level 1
public int clockSequence ()

The clock sequence value associated with this UUID.

The 14 bit clock sequence value is constructed from the clock sequence field of this UUID. The clock sequence field is used to guarantee temporal uniqueness in a time-based UUID.

The clockSequence value is only meaningful in a time-based UUID, which has version type 1. If this UUID is not a time-based UUID then this method throws UnsupportedOperationException.

Returns
int The clock sequence of this UUID

Throws
UnsupportedOperationException If this UUID is not a version 1 UUID

compareTo

Added in API level 1
public int compareTo (UUID val)

Compares this UUID with the specified UUID.

The first of two UUIDs is greater than the second if the most significant field in which the UUIDs differ is greater for the first UUID.

Parameters
val UUID: UUID to which this UUID is to be compared

Returns
int -1, 0 or 1 as this UUID is less than, equal to, or greater than val

equals

Added in API level 1
public boolean equals (Object obj)

Compares this object to the specified object. The result is true if and only if the argument is not null, is a UUID object, has the same variant, and contains the same value, bit for bit, as this UUID.

Parameters
obj Object: The object to be compared

Returns
boolean true if the objects are the same; false otherwise

fromString

Added in API level 1
public static UUID fromString (String name)

Creates a UUID from the string standard representation as described in the toString() method.

Parameters
name String: A string that specifies a UUID

Returns
UUID A UUID with the specified value

Throws
IllegalArgumentException If name does not conform to the string representation as described in toString()

getLeastSignificantBits

Added in API level 1
public long getLeastSignificantBits ()

Returns the least significant 64 bits of this UUID's 128 bit value.

Returns
long The least significant 64 bits of this UUID's 128 bit value

getMostSignificantBits

Added in API level 1
public long getMostSignificantBits ()

Returns the most significant 64 bits of this UUID's 128 bit value.

Returns
long The most significant 64 bits of this UUID's 128 bit value

hashCode

Added in API level 1
public int hashCode ()

Returns a hash code for this UUID.

Returns
int A hash code value for this UUID

nameUUIDFromBytes

Added in API level 1
public static UUID nameUUIDFromBytes (byte[] name)

Static factory to retrieve a type 3 (name based) UUID based on the specified byte array.

Parameters
name byte: A byte array to be used to construct a UUID

Returns
UUID A UUID generated from the specified array

node

Added in API level 1
public long node ()

The node value associated with this UUID.

The 48 bit node value is constructed from the node field of this UUID. This field is intended to hold the IEEE 802 address of the machine that generated this UUID to guarantee spatial uniqueness.

The node value is only meaningful in a time-based UUID, which has version type 1. If this UUID is not a time-based UUID then this method throws UnsupportedOperationException.

Returns
long The node value of this UUID

Throws
UnsupportedOperationException If this UUID is not a version 1 UUID

randomUUID

Added in API level 1
public static UUID randomUUID ()

Static factory to retrieve a type 4 (pseudo randomly generated) UUID. The UUID is generated using a cryptographically strong pseudo random number generator.

Returns
UUID A randomly generated UUID

timestamp

Added in API level 1
public long timestamp ()

The timestamp value associated with this UUID.

The 60 bit timestamp value is constructed from the time_low, time_mid, and time_hi fields of this UUID. The resulting timestamp is measured in 100-nanosecond units since midnight, October 15, 1582 UTC.

The timestamp value is only meaningful in a time-based UUID, which has version type 1. If this UUID is not a time-based UUID then this method throws UnsupportedOperationException.

Returns
long The timestamp of this UUID.

Throws
UnsupportedOperationException If this UUID is not a version 1 UUID

toString

Added in API level 1
public String toString ()

Returns a String object representing this UUID.

The UUID string representation is as described by this BNF:

 UUID                   = <time_low> "-" <time_mid> "-"
                          <time_high_and_version> "-"
                          <variant_and_sequence> "-"
                          <node>
 time_low               = 4*<hexOctet>
 time_mid               = 2*<hexOctet>
 time_high_and_version  = 2*<hexOctet>
 variant_and_sequence   = 2*<hexOctet>
 node                   = 6*<hexOctet>
 hexOctet               = <hexDigit><hexDigit>
 hexDigit               =
       "0" | "1" | "2" | "3" | "4" | "5" | "6" | "7" | "8" | "9"
       | "a" | "b" | "c" | "d" | "e" | "f"
       | "A" | "B" | "C" | "D" | "E" | "F"
 

Returns
String A string representation of this UUID

variant

Added in API level 1
public int variant ()

The variant number associated with this UUID. The variant number describes the layout of the UUID. The variant number has the following meaning:

  • 0 Reserved for NCS backward compatibility
  • 2 IETF RFC 4122 (Leach-Salz), used by this class
  • 6 Reserved, Microsoft Corporation backward compatibility
  • 7 Reserved for future definition

Returns
int The variant number of this UUID

version

Added in API level 1
public int version ()

The version number associated with this UUID. The version number describes how this UUID was generated. The version number has the following meaning:

  • 1 Time-based UUID
  • 2 DCE security UUID
  • 3 Name-based UUID
  • 4 Randomly generated UUID

Returns
int The version number of this UUID