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## java.net
Class Inet4Address

    java.lang.Object
      java.net.InetAddress
          java.net.Inet4Address

All Implemented Interfaces:
  Serializable

    public final class Inet4Address

extends InetAddress

This class represents an Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) address. Defined by RFC 790: Assigned Numbers, RFC 1918: Address Allocation for Private Internets, and RFC 2365: Administratively Scoped IP Multicast

#### Textual representation of IP addresses

Textual representation of IPv4 address used as input to methods takes one of the following forms:

> `d.d.d.d`
> `d.d.d`
> `d.d`
> `d`

When four parts are specified, each is interpreted as a byte of data and assigned, from left to right, to the four bytes of an IPv4 address.

When a three part address is specified, the last part is interpreted as a 16-bit quantity and placed in the right most two bytes of the network address. This makes the three part address format convenient for specifying Class B net- work addresses as 128.net.host.

When a two part address is supplied, the last part is interpreted as a 24-bit quantity and placed in the right most three bytes of the network address. This makes the two part address format convenient for specifying Class A network addresses as net.host.

When only one part is given, the value is stored directly in the network address without any byte rearrangement.

For methods that return a textual representation as output value, the first form, i.e. a dotted-quad string, is used.

#### The Scope of a Multicast Address

Historically the IPv4 TTL field in the IP header has doubled as a multicast scope field: a TTL of 0 means node-local, 1 means link-local, up through 32 means site-local, up through 64 means region-local, up through 128 means continent-local, and up through 255 are global. However, the administrative scoping is preferred. Please refer to RFC 2365: Administratively Scoped IP Multicast

Since:
  1.4
See Also:
  Serialized Form

Method Summary
`boolean` | `equals(Object obj)` Compares this object against the specified object.
`byte[]` | `getAddress()` Returns the raw IP address of this `InetAddress` object.
`String` | `getHostAddress()` Returns the IP address string in textual presentation form.
`int` | `hashCode()` Returns a hashcode for this IP address.
`boolean` | `isAnyLocalAddress()` Utility routine to check if the InetAddress in a wildcard address.
`boolean` | `isLinkLocalAddress()` Utility routine to check if the InetAddress is an link local address.
`boolean` | `isLoopbackAddress()` Utility routine to check if the InetAddress is a loopback address.
`boolean` | `isMCGlobal()` Utility routine to check if the multicast address has global scope.
`boolean` | `isMCLinkLocal()` Utility routine to check if the multicast address has link scope.
`boolean` | `isMCNodeLocal()` Utility routine to check if the multicast address has node scope.
`boolean` | `isMCOrgLocal()` Utility routine to check if the multicast address has organization scope.
`boolean` | `isMCSiteLocal()` Utility routine to check if the multicast address has site scope.
`boolean` | `isMulticastAddress()` Utility routine to check if the InetAddress is an IP multicast address.
`boolean` | `isSiteLocalAddress()` Utility routine to check if the InetAddress is a site local address.

Methods inherited from class java.net.InetAddress
`getAllByName, getByAddress, getByAddress, getByName, getCanonicalHostName, getHostName, getLocalHost, isReachable, isReachable, toString`

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

Method Detail

### isMulticastAddress

    public boolean isMulticastAddress()

  Utility routine to check if the InetAddress is an IP multicast address. IP multicast address is a Class D address i.e first four bits of the address are 1110.

  Overrides:
    `isMulticastAddress` in class `InetAddress`
  Returns:
    a `boolean` indicating if the InetAddress is an IP multicast address
  Since:
    JDK1.1

### isAnyLocalAddress

    public boolean isAnyLocalAddress()

  Utility routine to check if the InetAddress in a wildcard address.

  Overrides:
    `isAnyLocalAddress` in class `InetAddress`
  Returns:
    a `boolean` indicating if the Inetaddress is a wildcard address.
  Since:
    1.4

### isLoopbackAddress

    public boolean isLoopbackAddress()

  Description copied from class: `InetAddress`
  Utility routine to check if the InetAddress is a loopback address.

  Overrides:
    `isLoopbackAddress` in class `InetAddress`
  Returns:
    a `boolean` indicating if the InetAddress is a loopback address; or false otherwise.

### isLinkLocalAddress

    public boolean isLinkLocalAddress()

  Utility routine to check if the InetAddress is an link local address.

  Overrides:
    `isLinkLocalAddress` in class `InetAddress`
  Returns:
    a `boolean` indicating if the InetAddress is a link local address; or false if address is not a link local unicast address.
  Since:
    1.4

### isSiteLocalAddress

    public boolean isSiteLocalAddress()

  Utility routine to check if the InetAddress is a site local address.

  Overrides:
    `isSiteLocalAddress` in class `InetAddress`
  Returns:
    a `boolean` indicating if the InetAddress is a site local address; or false if address is not a site local unicast address.
  Since:
    1.4

### isMCGlobal

    public boolean isMCGlobal()

  Utility routine to check if the multicast address has global scope.

  Overrides:
    `isMCGlobal` in class `InetAddress`
  Returns:
    a `boolean` indicating if the address has is a multicast address of global scope, false if it is not of global scope or it is not a multicast address
  Since:
    1.4

### isMCNodeLocal

    public boolean isMCNodeLocal()

  Utility routine to check if the multicast address has node scope.

  Overrides:
    `isMCNodeLocal` in class `InetAddress`
  Returns:
    a `boolean` indicating if the address has is a multicast address of node-local scope, false if it is not of node-local scope or it is not a multicast address
  Since:
    1.4

### isMCLinkLocal

    public boolean isMCLinkLocal()

  Utility routine to check if the multicast address has link scope.

  Overrides:
    `isMCLinkLocal` in class `InetAddress`
  Returns:
    a `boolean` indicating if the address has is a multicast address of link-local scope, false if it is not of link-local scope or it is not a multicast address
  Since:
    1.4

### isMCSiteLocal

    public boolean isMCSiteLocal()

  Utility routine to check if the multicast address has site scope.

  Overrides:
    `isMCSiteLocal` in class `InetAddress`
  Returns:
    a `boolean` indicating if the address has is a multicast address of site-local scope, false if it is not of site-local scope or it is not a multicast address
  Since:
    1.4

### isMCOrgLocal

    public boolean isMCOrgLocal()

  Utility routine to check if the multicast address has organization scope.

  Overrides:
    `isMCOrgLocal` in class `InetAddress`
  Returns:
    a `boolean` indicating if the address has is a multicast address of organization-local scope, false if it is not of organization-local scope or it is not a multicast address
  Since:
    1.4

### getAddress

    public byte[] getAddress()

  Returns the raw IP address of this `InetAddress` object. The result is in network byte order: the highest order byte of the address is in `getAddress()[0]`.

  Overrides:
    `getAddress` in class `InetAddress`
  Returns:
    the raw IP address of this object.

### getHostAddress

    public String getHostAddress()

  Returns the IP address string in textual presentation form.

  Overrides:
    `getHostAddress` in class `InetAddress`
  Returns:
    the raw IP address in a string format.
  Since:
    JDK1.0.2

### hashCode

    public int hashCode()

  Returns a hashcode for this IP address.

  Overrides:
    `hashCode` in class `InetAddress`
  Returns:
    a hash code value for this IP address.
  See Also:
    `Object.equals(java.lang.Object)`, `Hashtable`

### equals

    public boolean equals(Object obj)

  Compares this object against the specified object. The result is `true` if and only if the argument is not `null` and it represents the same IP address as this object.

  Two instances of `InetAddress` represent the same IP address if the length of the byte arrays returned by `getAddress` is the same for both, and each of the array components is the same for the byte arrays.

  Overrides:
    `equals` in class `InetAddress`
  Parameters:
    `obj` - the object to compare against.
  Returns:
    `true` if the objects are the same; `false` otherwise.
  See Also:
    `InetAddress.getAddress()`

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