## org.apache.http.message
Interface HeaderValueParser

All Known Implementing Classes:
  BasicHeaderValueParser

    public interface HeaderValueParser

Interface for parsing header values into elements. Instances of this interface are expected to be stateless and thread-safe.

Since:
  4.0

Method Summary
`HeaderElement[]` `parseElements(CharArrayBuffer buffer, ParserCursor cursor)` Parses a header value into elements.
`HeaderElement` `parseHeaderElement(CharArrayBuffer buffer, ParserCursor cursor)` Parses a single header element.
`NameValuePair` `parseNameValuePair(CharArrayBuffer buffer, ParserCursor cursor)` Parses a name=value specification, where the = and value are optional.
`NameValuePair[]` `parseParameters(CharArrayBuffer buffer, ParserCursor cursor)` Parses a list of name-value pairs.

Method Detail

### parseElements

    HeaderElement[] parseElements(CharArrayBuffer buffer,
                                  ParserCursor cursor)
                                  throws ParseException

  Parses a header value into elements. Parse errors are indicated as `RuntimeException`.

  Some HTTP headers (such as the set-cookie header) have values that can be decomposed into multiple elements. In order to be processed by this parser, such headers must be in the following form:

       header  = [ element ] *( "," [ element ] )
       element = name [ "=" [ value ] ] *( ";" [ param ] )
       param   = name [ "=" [ value ] ]

       name    = token
       value   = ( token | quoted-string )

       token         = 1*<any char except "=", ",", ";", <"> and
                             white space>
       quoted-string = <"> *( text | quoted-char ) <">
       text          = any char except <">
       quoted-char   = "\" char

  Any amount of white space is allowed between any part of the header, element or param and is ignored. A missing value in any element or param will be stored as the empty `String`; if the "=" is also missing null will be stored instead.

  Parameters:
    `buffer` - buffer holding the header value to parse
    `cursor` - the parser cursor containing the current position and the bounds within the buffer for the parsing operation
  Returns:
    an array holding all elements of the header value
  Throws:
    `ParseException` - in case of a parse error

### parseHeaderElement

    HeaderElement parseHeaderElement(CharArrayBuffer buffer,
                                     ParserCursor cursor)
                                     throws ParseException

  Parses a single header element. A header element consist of a semicolon-separate list of name=value definitions.

  Parameters:
    `buffer` - buffer holding the element to parse
    `cursor` - the parser cursor containing the current position and the bounds within the buffer for the parsing operation
  Returns:
    the parsed element
  Throws:
    `ParseException` - in case of a parse error

### parseParameters

    NameValuePair[] parseParameters(CharArrayBuffer buffer,
                                    ParserCursor cursor)
                                    throws ParseException

  Parses a list of name-value pairs. These lists are used to specify parameters to a header element. Parse errors are indicated as `ParseException`.

  Parameters:
    `buffer` - buffer holding the name-value list to parse
    `cursor` - the parser cursor containing the current position and the bounds within the buffer for the parsing operation
  Returns:
    an array holding all items of the name-value list
  Throws:
    `ParseException` - in case of a parse error

### parseNameValuePair

    NameValuePair parseNameValuePair(CharArrayBuffer buffer,
                                     ParserCursor cursor)
                                     throws ParseException

  Parses a name=value specification, where the = and value are optional.

  Parameters:
    `buffer` - the buffer holding the name-value pair to parse
    `cursor` - the parser cursor containing the current position and the bounds within the buffer for the parsing operation
  Returns:
    the name-value pair, where the value is `null` if no value is specified
  Throws:
    `ParseException`

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