How can I retrieve Bundle given its symbolic name?

Question

Documentation for BundleContext says it lets you

• Get the list of bundles installed in the Framework.
• Get the Bundle object for a bundle.

However, there is no getBundle(String symbolicName) method, only getBundle(long id) (and the unsuitable getBundle(String location). Of course, it's possible to call getBundles() and iterate over the returned array, but is there a better way?

Answer 1

I think iterating through the array of getBundles() is fine. Maybe it shouldn't exist at all because the symbolic name does not identify uniquely a bundle. Maybe getBundles(String symbolicName)...

From OSGi Service Platform Core Specification, Release 4, Version 4.3:

3.6.2 Bundle-SymbolicName

The Bundle-SymbolicName manifest header is a mandatory header. The bundle symbolic name and bundle version identify a unique bundle. This does not always imply that this pair is unique in a framework, in certain cases the same bundle can be installed multiple times in the same framework, see Bundle Identifiers on page 89.

The referred page 89 (which actually is page 95):

4.4.1 Bundle Identifiers

[...]

Though the pair is unique, it is possible to install the same bundle multiple times if the org.osgi.framework.bsnversion framework launching property is set to multiple.

Answer 2

I have never seen an example on how to do that. But there is the PackageAdmin service, maybe you want to have a look at this, but it seems to be deprecated. The replacement package org.osgi.framework.wiring does not seem to provide such a method.

And to clarify: What is your purpose of having an instance of a Bundle?