Line (PDFxStream API Reference)

All Superinterfaces:

Bounded, OutputSource
```
public interface Line
extends Bounded, OutputSource
```
Instances of this class represent distinct runs of text at a specific position within a Block.
Note that the TextUnits held by a Line are stored in strictly left-to-right order, and accessing them directly via getTextUnit(int), getTextUnits() and remove(int) may result in poor outcomes if the source document contains right-to-left (RTL) or bidirectional (bidi) text. In contrast, a Line's pipe methods (e.g. OutputSource.pipe(com.snowtide.pdf.OutputHandler)) and spans(Direction) ensures that RTL and bidi text is handled properly.

Since:

v1.4

Version:

©2004-2025 Snowtide

Method Summary

All Methods Instance Methods Abstract Methods
Modifier and Type	Method	Description
`TextUnit`	`getTextUnit(int idx)`	Returns the `TextUnit` at the specified index.
`int`	`getTextUnitCnt()`	Returns the number of `TextUnit`s in this Line.
`List<TextUnit>`	`getTextUnits()`	Returns a List view of the `TextUnit`s held by this Line.
`TextUnit`	`remove(int idx)`	Removes the `TextUnit` at the specified index, and returns it.
`List<Span>`	`spans(Direction basedir)`	Returns a list of `Span`s identified within this line of text.

Methods inherited from interface com.snowtide.pdf.layout.Bounded
bounds

Methods inherited from interface com.snowtide.pdf.OutputSource
pipe, pipe

- Method Detail
  - getTextUnitCnt
```
int getTextUnitCnt()
```
    Returns the number of TextUnits in this Line.
  - getTextUnit
```
TextUnit getTextUnit(int idx)
```
    Returns the TextUnit at the specified index.
  - remove
```
TextUnit remove(int idx)
```
    Removes the TextUnit at the specified index, and returns it.
  - getTextUnits
```
List<TextUnit> getTextUnits()
```
    Returns a List view of the TextUnits held by this Line. This List is guaranteed to provide efficient random access.
  - spans
```
List<Span> spans(Direction basedir)
```
    Returns a list of Spans identified within this line of text. This allows for directionally-aware word-by-word iteration within a line: while the {code Line}'s direct storage of characters (via getTextUnit(int), etc) always holds them in a strictly left-to-right order, without explicitly representing spaces, the Spans returned from this method will:
    
    Contain explicitly-represented Spaces (as calculated by PDFxStream using adjacent characters' fonts and other metrics)
    
    Reorder the Word Spans in order to account for those words' aggregate directionality (either Direction.LTR or Direction.RTL.