protected PdfObject(int type) 
{
        this.type = type;
}

Constructs a PdfObject of a certain type without any content.

Parameters:

type - type of the new PdfObject

 protected PdfObject(int type,
    String content) 
{
        this.type = type;
        bytes = PdfEncodings.convertToBytes(content, null);
}

Constructs a PdfObject of a certain type with a certain content.

Parameters:

type - type of the new PdfObject

content - content of the new PdfObject as a String.

 protected PdfObject(int type,
    byte[] bytes) 
{
        this.bytes = bytes;
        this.type = type;
}

Constructs a PdfObject of a certain type with a certain content.

Parameters:

type - type of the new PdfObject

bytes - content of the new PdfObject as an array of byte.

 public boolean canBeInObjStm() 
{
        switch (type) {
            case NULL:
            case BOOLEAN:
            case NUMBER:
            case STRING:
            case NAME:
            case ARRAY:
            case DICTIONARY:
                return true;
            case STREAM:
            case INDIRECT:
            default:
                return false;
        }
}

Whether this object can be contained in an object stream. PdfObjects of type STREAM OR INDIRECT can not be contained in an object stream.

 public byte[] getBytes() 
{
        return bytes;
}

Gets the presentation of this object in a byte array

 public PRIndirectReference getIndRef() 
{
        return indRef;
}

Get the indirect reference

 public boolean isArray() 
{
        return (type == ARRAY);
}

Checks if this PdfObject is of the type PdfArray.

 public boolean isBoolean() 
{
        return (type == BOOLEAN);
}

Checks if this PdfObject is of the type PdfBoolean.

 public boolean isDictionary() 
{
        return (type == DICTIONARY);
}

Checks if this PdfObject is of the type PdfDictionary.

 public boolean isIndirect() 
{
        return (type == INDIRECT);
}

Checks if this PdfObject is of the type PdfIndirectObject.

 public boolean isName() 
{
        return (type == NAME);
}

Checks if this PdfObject is of the type PdfName.

 public boolean isNull() 
{
        return (type == NULL);
}

Checks if this PdfObject is of the type PdfNull.

 public boolean isNumber() 
{
        return (type == NUMBER);
}

Checks if this PdfObject is of the type PdfNumber.

 public boolean isStream() 
{
        return (type == STREAM);
}

Checks if this PdfObject is of the type PdfStream.

 public boolean isString() 
{
        return (type == STRING);
}

Checks if this PdfObject is of the type PdfString.

 public int length() 
{
        return toString().length();
}

Returns the length of the actual content of the PdfObject.

In some cases, namely for PdfString and PdfStream, this method differs from the method pdfLength because pdfLength returns the length of the PDF representation of the object, not of the actual content as does the method length.

Remark: the actual content of an object is in some cases identical to its representation. The following statement is always true: length() >= pdfLength().

 protected  void setContent(String content) 
{
        bytes = PdfEncodings.convertToBytes(content, null);
}

Changes the content of this PdfObject.

 public  void setIndRef(PRIndirectReference indRef) 
{
        this.indRef = indRef;
}

Set the indirect reference

 public  void toPdf(PdfWriter writer,
    OutputStream os) throws IOException 
{
        if (bytes != null)
            os.write(bytes);
}

Writes the PDF representation of this PdfObject as an array of bytes to the writer.

 public String toString() 
{
        if (bytes == null)
            return super.toString();
        return PdfEncodings.convertToString(bytes, null);
}

Returns the String-representation of this PdfObject.

 public int type() 
{
        return type;
}

Returns the type of this PdfObject. May be either of: - NULL: A PdfNull - BOOLEAN: A PdfBoolean - NUMBER: A PdfNumber - STRING: A PdfString - NAME: A PdfName - ARRAY: A PdfArray - DICTIONARY: A PdfDictionary - STREAM: A PdfStream - INDIRECT: >PdfIndirectObject