Package org.apache.lucene.search

# Interface Matches

All Superinterfaces:
  `Iterable<String>`

All Known Implementing Classes:
  `NamedMatches`

public interface Matches extends Iterable<String>
Reports the positions and optionally offsets of all matching terms in a query for a single document

To obtain a `MatchesIterator` for a particular field, call `getMatches(String)`. Note that you can call `getMatches(String)` multiple times to retrieve new iterators, but it is not thread-safe.

WARNING: This API is experimental and might change in incompatible ways in the next release.

## Method Summary

Modifier and Type
Method
Description
`MatchesIterator`
`getMatches(String field)`
Returns a `MatchesIterator` over the matches for a single field, or `null` if there are no matches in that field.
`Collection<Matches>`
`getSubMatches()`
Returns a collection of Matches that make up this instance; if it is not a composite, then this returns an empty list

### Methods inherited from interface java.lang.Iterable

`forEach, iterator, spliterator`

## Method Details

### getMatches

MatchesIterator getMatches(String field) throws IOException
Returns a `MatchesIterator` over the matches for a single field, or `null` if there are no matches in that field.

Throws:
  `IOException`

### getSubMatches

Collection<Matches> getSubMatches()
Returns a collection of Matches that make up this instance; if it is not a composite, then this returns an empty list