Java: How to check if an object is an instance of a non-static inner class, regardless of the outer object?

Question

If I have an inner class e.g.

class Outer{
    class Inner{}
}

Is there any way to check if an arbitrary Object is an instance of

Answer 1

The java.lang.Class.getEnclosingClass() method returns the immediately enclosing class of the underlying class. If this class is a top level class this method returns null.

The following example shows the usage of java.lang.Class.getEnclosingClass() method:

import java.lang.*;

public class ClassDemo {
   // constructor
   public ClassDemo() {

      // class Outer as inner class for class ClassDemo
      class Outer {

         public void show() {
            // inner class of Class Outer
            class Inner {

               public void show() {
                  System.out.print(getClass().getName() + " inner in...");
                  System.out.println(getClass().getEnclosingClass());    
               }
            }
            System.out.print(getClass().getName() + " inner in...");
            System.out.println(getClass().getEnclosingClass());

            // inner class show() function
            Inner i = new Inner();
            i.show();
         }
      }

      // outer class show() function
      Outer o = new Outer();
      o.show();
   }

   public static void main(String[] args) {
     ClassDemo cls = new ClassDemo();
   }
}

Output

ClassDemo$1Outer inner in...class ClassDemo

ClassDemo$1Outer$1Inner inner in...class ClassDemo$1Outer