## javax.mail.search
Class SearchTerm

    java.lang.Object
      javax.mail.search.SearchTerm

All Implemented Interfaces:
  java.io.Serializable

Direct Known Subclasses:
  AddressTerm, AndTerm, ComparisonTerm, FlagTerm, NotTerm, OrTerm, StringTerm

    public abstract class SearchTerm

extends java.lang.Object
implements java.io.Serializable

Search criteria are expressed as a tree of search-terms, forming a parse-tree for the search expression.

Search-terms are represented by this class. This is an abstract class; subclasses implement specific match methods.

Search terms are serializable, which allows storing a search term between sessions. Warning: Serialized objects of this class may not be compatible with future JavaMail API releases. The current serialization support is appropriate for short term storage.

Warning: Search terms that include references to objects of type `Message.RecipientType` will not be deserialized correctly on JDK 1.1 systems. While these objects will be deserialized without throwing any exceptions, the resulting objects violate the type-safe enum contract of the `Message.RecipientType` class. Proper deserialization of these objects depends on support for the `readReplace` method, added in JDK 1.2.

See Also:
  Serialized Form

Constructor Summary
`SearchTerm()`

Method Summary
`abstract boolean` `match(Message msg)` This method applies a specific match criterion to the given message and returns the result.

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object
`clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait`

Constructor Detail

### SearchTerm

    public SearchTerm()

Method Detail

### match

    public abstract boolean match(Message msg)

  This method applies a specific match criterion to the given message and returns the result.

  Parameters:
    `msg` - The match criterion is applied on this message
  Returns:
    true, it the match succeeds, false if the match fails