# Interface MessageLite.Builder (3.19.4)

    public static interface MessageLite.Builder extends MessageLiteOrBuilder, Cloneable

Abstract interface implemented by Protocol Message builders.

## Implements

[MessageLiteOrBuilder](https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.MessageLiteOrBuilder), [Cloneable](https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/api/java/lang/Cloneable.html)

## Methods

### build()

    public abstract MessageLite build()

Constructs the message based on the state of the Builder. Subsequent changes to the Builder
will not affect the returned message.

| **Returns** ||
|---|---|
| **Type** | **Description** |
| `https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.MessageLite` |   |

### buildPartial()

    public abstract MessageLite buildPartial()

Like [#build()](https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.MessageLite.Builder#com_google_protobuf_MessageLite_Builder_build__), but does not throw an exception if the message is missing required
fields. Instead, a partial message is returned. Subsequent changes to the Builder will not
affect the returned message.

| **Returns** ||
|---|---|
| **Type** | **Description** |
| `https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.MessageLite` |   |

### clear()

    public abstract MessageLite.Builder clear()

Resets all fields to their default values.

| **Returns** ||
|---|---|
| **Type** | **Description** |
| `https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.MessageLite.Builder` |   |

### clone()

    public abstract MessageLite.Builder clone()

Clones the Builder.
**See Also:** [Object#clone()](https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/api/java/lang/Object.html#clone--)

| **Returns** ||
|---|---|
| **Type** | **Description** |
| `https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.MessageLite.Builder` |   |

### mergeDelimitedFrom(InputStream input)

    public abstract boolean mergeDelimitedFrom(InputStream input)

Like [#mergeFrom(InputStream)](https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.MessageLite.Builder#com_google_protobuf_MessageLite_Builder_mergeFrom_java_io_InputStream_), but does not read until EOF. Instead, the size of the
message (encoded as a varint) is read first, then the message data. Use [MessageLite#writeDelimitedTo(OutputStream)](https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.MessageLite#com_google_protobuf_MessageLite_writeDelimitedTo_java_io_OutputStream_) to write messages in this format.

| **Parameter** ||
|---|---|
| **Name** | **Description** |
| `input` | `https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/api/java/io/InputStream.html` |

| **Returns** ||
|---|---|
| **Type** | **Description** |
| `https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/nutsandbolts/datatypes.html` | True if successful, or false if the stream is at EOF when the method starts. Any other error (including reaching EOF during parsing) will cause an exception to be thrown. |

| **Exceptions** ||
|---|---|
| **Type** | **Description** |
| `https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/api/java/io/IOException.html` |   |

### mergeDelimitedFrom(InputStream input, ExtensionRegistryLite extensionRegistry)

    public abstract boolean mergeDelimitedFrom(InputStream input, ExtensionRegistryLite extensionRegistry)

Like [#mergeDelimitedFrom(InputStream)](https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.MessageLite.Builder#com_google_protobuf_MessageLite_Builder_mergeDelimitedFrom_java_io_InputStream_) but supporting extensions.

| **Parameters** ||
|---|---|
| **Name** | **Description** |
| `input` | `https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/api/java/io/InputStream.html` |
| `extensionRegistry` | `https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.ExtensionRegistryLite` |

| **Returns** ||
|---|---|
| **Type** | **Description** |
| `https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/nutsandbolts/datatypes.html` |   |

| **Exceptions** ||
|---|---|
| **Type** | **Description** |
| `https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/api/java/io/IOException.html` |   |

### mergeFrom(byte\[\] data)

    public abstract MessageLite.Builder mergeFrom(byte[] data)

Parse `data` as a message of this type and merge it with the message being built. This
is just a small wrapper around [#mergeFrom(CodedInputStream)](https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.MessageLite.Builder#com_google_protobuf_MessageLite_Builder_mergeFrom_com_google_protobuf_CodedInputStream_).

| **Parameter** ||
|---|---|
| **Name** | **Description** |
| `data` | `https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/nutsandbolts/datatypes.html[]` |

| **Returns** ||
|---|---|
| **Type** | **Description** |
| `https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.MessageLite.Builder` | this |

| **Exceptions** ||
|---|---|
| **Type** | **Description** |
| `https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.InvalidProtocolBufferException` |   |

### mergeFrom(byte\[\] data, ExtensionRegistryLite extensionRegistry)

    public abstract MessageLite.Builder mergeFrom(byte[] data, ExtensionRegistryLite extensionRegistry)

Parse `data` as a message of this type and merge it with the message being built. This
is just a small wrapper around [#mergeFrom(CodedInputStream,ExtensionRegistryLite)](https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.MessageLite.Builder#com_google_protobuf_MessageLite_Builder_mergeFrom_com_google_protobuf_CodedInputStream_com_google_protobuf_ExtensionRegistryLite_).

| **Parameters** ||
|---|---|
| **Name** | **Description** |
| `data` | `https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/nutsandbolts/datatypes.html[]` |
| `extensionRegistry` | `https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.ExtensionRegistryLite` |

| **Returns** ||
|---|---|
| **Type** | **Description** |
| `https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.MessageLite.Builder` | this |

| **Exceptions** ||
|---|---|
| **Type** | **Description** |
| `https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.InvalidProtocolBufferException` |   |

### mergeFrom(byte\[\] data, int off, int len)

    public abstract MessageLite.Builder mergeFrom(byte[] data, int off, int len)

Parse `data` as a message of this type and merge it with the message being built. This
is just a small wrapper around [#mergeFrom(CodedInputStream)](https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.MessageLite.Builder#com_google_protobuf_MessageLite_Builder_mergeFrom_com_google_protobuf_CodedInputStream_).

| **Parameters** ||
|---|---|
| **Name** | **Description** |
| `data` | `https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/nutsandbolts/datatypes.html[]` |
| `off` | `https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/nutsandbolts/datatypes.html` |
| `len` | `https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/nutsandbolts/datatypes.html` |

| **Returns** ||
|---|---|
| **Type** | **Description** |
| `https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.MessageLite.Builder` | this |

| **Exceptions** ||
|---|---|
| **Type** | **Description** |
| `https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.InvalidProtocolBufferException` |   |

### mergeFrom(byte\[\] data, int off, int len, ExtensionRegistryLite extensionRegistry)

    public abstract MessageLite.Builder mergeFrom(byte[] data, int off, int len, ExtensionRegistryLite extensionRegistry)

Parse `data` as a message of this type and merge it with the message being built. This
is just a small wrapper around [#mergeFrom(CodedInputStream,ExtensionRegistryLite)](https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.MessageLite.Builder#com_google_protobuf_MessageLite_Builder_mergeFrom_com_google_protobuf_CodedInputStream_com_google_protobuf_ExtensionRegistryLite_).

| **Parameters** ||
|---|---|
| **Name** | **Description** |
| `data` | `https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/nutsandbolts/datatypes.html[]` |
| `off` | `https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/nutsandbolts/datatypes.html` |
| `len` | `https://docs.oracle.com/javase/tutorial/java/nutsandbolts/datatypes.html` |
| `extensionRegistry` | `https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.ExtensionRegistryLite` |

| **Returns** ||
|---|---|
| **Type** | **Description** |
| `https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.MessageLite.Builder` | this |

| **Exceptions** ||
|---|---|
| **Type** | **Description** |
| `https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.InvalidProtocolBufferException` |   |

### mergeFrom(ByteString data)

    public abstract MessageLite.Builder mergeFrom(ByteString data)

Parse `data` as a message of this type and merge it with the message being built. This
is just a small wrapper around [#mergeFrom(CodedInputStream)](https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.MessageLite.Builder#com_google_protobuf_MessageLite_Builder_mergeFrom_com_google_protobuf_CodedInputStream_).

| **Parameter** ||
|---|---|
| **Name** | **Description** |
| `data` | `https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.ByteString` |

| **Returns** ||
|---|---|
| **Type** | **Description** |
| `https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.MessageLite.Builder` | this |

| **Exceptions** ||
|---|---|
| **Type** | **Description** |
| `https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.InvalidProtocolBufferException` |   |

### mergeFrom(ByteString data, ExtensionRegistryLite extensionRegistry)

    public abstract MessageLite.Builder mergeFrom(ByteString data, ExtensionRegistryLite extensionRegistry)

Parse `data` as a message of this type and merge it with the message being built. This
is just a small wrapper around [#mergeFrom(CodedInputStream,ExtensionRegistryLite)](https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.MessageLite.Builder#com_google_protobuf_MessageLite_Builder_mergeFrom_com_google_protobuf_CodedInputStream_com_google_protobuf_ExtensionRegistryLite_).

| **Parameters** ||
|---|---|
| **Name** | **Description** |
| `data` | `https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.ByteString` |
| `extensionRegistry` | `https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.ExtensionRegistryLite` |

| **Returns** ||
|---|---|
| **Type** | **Description** |
| `https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.MessageLite.Builder` | this |

| **Exceptions** ||
|---|---|
| **Type** | **Description** |
| `https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.InvalidProtocolBufferException` |   |

### mergeFrom(CodedInputStream input)

    public abstract MessageLite.Builder mergeFrom(CodedInputStream input)

Parses a message of this type from the input and merges it with this message.

Warning: This does not verify that all required fields are present in the input message.
If you call [#build()](https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.MessageLite.Builder#com_google_protobuf_MessageLite_Builder_build__) without setting all required fields, it will throw an [UninitializedMessageException](https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.UninitializedMessageException), which is a `RuntimeException` and thus might not be
caught. There are a few good ways to deal with this:

- Call #isInitialized() to verify that all required fields are set before building.
- Use `buildPartial()` to build, which ignores missing required fields.

Note: The caller should call [CodedInputStream#checkLastTagWas(int)](https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.CodedInputStream#com_google_protobuf_CodedInputStream_checkLastTagWas_int_) after calling
this to verify that the last tag seen was the appropriate end-group tag, or zero for EOF.

| **Parameter** ||
|---|---|
| **Name** | **Description** |
| `input` | `https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.CodedInputStream` |

| **Returns** ||
|---|---|
| **Type** | **Description** |
| `https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.MessageLite.Builder` |   |

| **Exceptions** ||
|---|---|
| **Type** | **Description** |
| `https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/api/java/io/IOException.html` |   |

### mergeFrom(CodedInputStream input, ExtensionRegistryLite extensionRegistry)

    public abstract MessageLite.Builder mergeFrom(CodedInputStream input, ExtensionRegistryLite extensionRegistry)

Like Builder#mergeFrom(CodedInputStream), but also parses extensions. The extensions
that you want to be able to parse must be registered in `extensionRegistry`. Extensions
not in the registry will be treated as unknown fields.

| **Parameters** ||
|---|---|
| **Name** | **Description** |
| `input` | `https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.CodedInputStream` |
| `extensionRegistry` | `https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.ExtensionRegistryLite` |

| **Returns** ||
|---|---|
| **Type** | **Description** |
| `https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.MessageLite.Builder` |   |

| **Exceptions** ||
|---|---|
| **Type** | **Description** |
| `https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/api/java/io/IOException.html` |   |

### mergeFrom(MessageLite other)

    public abstract MessageLite.Builder mergeFrom(MessageLite other)

Merge `other` into the message being built. `other` must have the exact same type
as `this` (i.e. `getClass().equals(getDefaultInstanceForType().getClass())`).

Merging occurs as follows. For each field:  

- For singular primitive fields, if the field is set in `other`, then `other`'s value overwrites the value in this message.  
- For singular message fields, if the field is set in `other`, it is merged into the corresponding sub-message of this message using the same merging rules.  
- For repeated fields, the elements in `other` are concatenated with the elements in
  this message. \* For oneof groups, if the other message has one of the fields set, the group
  of this message is cleared and replaced by the field of the other message, so that the oneof
  constraint is preserved.

  <br />

  This is equivalent to the `Message::MergeFrom` method in C++.

| **Parameter** ||
|---|---|
| **Name** | **Description** |
| `other` | `https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.MessageLite` |

| **Returns** ||
|---|---|
| **Type** | **Description** |
| `https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.MessageLite.Builder` |   |

### mergeFrom(InputStream input)

    public abstract MessageLite.Builder mergeFrom(InputStream input)

Parse a message of this type from `input` and merge it with the message being built.
This is just a small wrapper around [#mergeFrom(CodedInputStream)](https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.MessageLite.Builder#com_google_protobuf_MessageLite_Builder_mergeFrom_com_google_protobuf_CodedInputStream_). Note that this
method always reads the *entire* input (unless it throws an exception). If you want it
to stop earlier, you will need to wrap your input in some wrapper stream that limits reading.
Or, use [MessageLite#writeDelimitedTo(OutputStream)](https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.MessageLite#com_google_protobuf_MessageLite_writeDelimitedTo_java_io_OutputStream_) to write your message and [#mergeDelimitedFrom(InputStream)](https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.MessageLite.Builder#com_google_protobuf_MessageLite_Builder_mergeDelimitedFrom_java_io_InputStream_) to read it.

Despite usually reading the entire input, this does not close the stream.

| **Parameter** ||
|---|---|
| **Name** | **Description** |
| `input` | `https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/api/java/io/InputStream.html` |

| **Returns** ||
|---|---|
| **Type** | **Description** |
| `https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.MessageLite.Builder` | this |

| **Exceptions** ||
|---|---|
| **Type** | **Description** |
| `https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/api/java/io/IOException.html` |   |

### mergeFrom(InputStream input, ExtensionRegistryLite extensionRegistry)

    public abstract MessageLite.Builder mergeFrom(InputStream input, ExtensionRegistryLite extensionRegistry)

Parse a message of this type from `input` and merge it with the message being built.
This is just a small wrapper around [#mergeFrom(CodedInputStream,ExtensionRegistryLite)](https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.MessageLite.Builder#com_google_protobuf_MessageLite_Builder_mergeFrom_com_google_protobuf_CodedInputStream_com_google_protobuf_ExtensionRegistryLite_).

| **Parameters** ||
|---|---|
| **Name** | **Description** |
| `input` | `https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/api/java/io/InputStream.html` |
| `extensionRegistry` | `https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.ExtensionRegistryLite` |

| **Returns** ||
|---|---|
| **Type** | **Description** |
| `https://docs.cloud.google.com/java/docs/reference/protobuf/latest/com.google.protobuf.MessageLite.Builder` | this |

| **Exceptions** ||
|---|---|
| **Type** | **Description** |
| `https://docs.oracle.com/javase/8/docs/api/java/io/IOException.html` |   |