private boolean lowerLevel ( Object [ ] items , int i , int level ) throws IllegalArgumentException { if ( items [ i ] instanceof String ) { return false ; } PatternItem item = ( PatternItem ) items [ i ] ; char ch = item . type ; int patternCharIndex = getLevelFromChar ( ch ) ; if ( patternCharIndex == - 1 ) { throw new IllegalArgumentException ( "Illegal pattern character " + "'" + ch + "' in \"" + pattern + ' ' ) ; } if ( patternCharIndex >= level ) { return true ; } return false ; }
check whether the i - th item s level is lower than the input level