de.jstacs.parameters
Class Parameter

java.lang.Object
  de.jstacs.parameters.Parameter

All Implemented Interfaces:

Storable, Cloneable

Direct Known Subclasses:

CollectionParameter, FileParameter, ParameterSetContainer, RangeParameter, SimpleParameter

public abstract class Parameter
extends Object
implements Storable, Cloneable

Abstract class for a parameter that shall be used as the parameter of some method, constructor, etc. This class provides annotation of the parameter, e.g. a name and a comment, the data type, and additional properties for non-atomic parameters. The intention of the Parameter classes is to link this annotation directly to the parameter values, which could not be achieved by primitive data types.
Parameters should always be embedded into a ParameterSet and then passed to the respective method.

Author:

Jan Grau

See Also:

ParameterSet

Field Summary

protected ParameterSet	neededReference In cases, when the validity of some ParameterSet depends on the value of this Parameter, this variable holds a reference to that ParameterSet.
protected Long	neededReferenceId In addition to the reference, the id of the ParameterSet is saved, which assists reconstruction from XML.
protected ParameterSet	parent If this Parameter is enclosed in a ParameterSet, this variable holds a reference to that ParameterSet.

Constructor Summary

Parameter()
Creates a new Parameter and generates the internal id.

Method Summary

abstract boolean	checkValue(Object value) Checks the value for correctness, e.g. for numerical parameters this might be checking if the value is within specified bounds.
Parameter	clone()
protected void	fromXML(StringBuffer source) Parses a Parameter from a XML representation as returned by toXML().
abstract String	getComment() Returns a comment on this Parameter that tells something about useful values, domains, usage of this parameter, etc.
abstract DataType	getDatatype() Returns the data type of the Parameter.
abstract String	getErrorMessage() If a value could not be set successfully this method returns the corresponding error message.
long	getId() Returns the id of this Parameter.
abstract String	getName() Returns the name of the Parameter.
ParameterSet	getNeededReference() Returns a reference to a ParameterSet whose ParameterSet.hasDefaultOrIsSet()-method depends on the value of this Parameter.
Long	getNeededReferenceId() Returns the id of the ParameterSet that would be returned by getNeededReference().
ParameterSet	getParent() Returns a reference to the ParameterSet enclosing this Parameter.
abstract Object	getValue() Returns the current value of this Parameter.
abstract boolean	hasDefaultOrIsSet() Returns true if the parameter either has a default value or the value was set by the user, false otherwise.
abstract boolean	isAtomic() Returns true if the parameter is of an atomic data type, false otherwise.
abstract boolean	isRequired() Returns true if the Parameter is required, false otherwise.
abstract boolean	isSet() Returns true if the parameter was set by the user, false otherwise.
abstract void	reset() Resets the parameter and its contents to the default values or null if no defaults are given.
abstract void	setDefault(Object defaultValue) Sets the default value of the Parameter to defaultValue.
void	setNeededReference(ParameterSet reference) Sets an internal reference to a ParameterSet whose validity depends on the value of this Parameter.
void	setParent(ParameterSet parent) Sets the reference of the enclosing ParameterSet of this Parameter to parent.
abstract void	setValue(Object value) Sets the value of this Parameter to value.
abstract void	simplify() Simplifies the Parameter and its contents to the relevant information.
StringBuffer	toXML() This method returns an XML representation as StringBuffer of an instance of the implementing class.

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait

Field Detail

neededReference

protected ParameterSet neededReference

In cases, when the validity of some ParameterSet depends on the value of this Parameter, this variable holds a reference to that ParameterSet.

neededReferenceId

protected Long neededReferenceId

In addition to the reference, the id of the ParameterSet is saved, which assists reconstruction from XML.

See Also:

neededReference

parent

protected ParameterSet parent

If this Parameter is enclosed in a ParameterSet, this variable holds a reference to that ParameterSet.

Constructor Detail

Parameter

public Parameter()

Creates a new Parameter and generates the internal id.

Method Detail

getId

public long getId()

Returns the id of this Parameter.

Returns:

the id of this Parameter

getName

public abstract String getName()

Returns the name of the Parameter.

Returns:

the name of the Parameter

getDatatype

public abstract DataType getDatatype()

Returns the data type of the Parameter.

Returns:

the data type of the Parameter

getComment

public abstract String getComment()

Returns a comment on this Parameter that tells something about useful values, domains, usage of this parameter, etc.

Returns:

the comment

isRequired

public abstract boolean isRequired()

Returns true if the Parameter is required, false otherwise.

Returns:

true if the Parameter is required, false otherwise

checkValue

public abstract boolean checkValue(Object value)

Checks the value for correctness, e.g. for numerical parameters this might be checking if the value is within specified bounds.

Parameters:

value - the value to be checked

Returns:

true if the value is valid, false otherwise

setValue

public abstract void setValue(Object value)
                       throws SimpleParameter.IllegalValueException

Sets the value of this Parameter to value.

Parameters:

value - the new value of the Parameter

Throws:

SimpleParameter.IllegalValueException - if the specified value is not valid for this Parameter

getValue

public abstract Object getValue()

Returns the current value of this Parameter.

Returns:

the current value of the Parameter

hasDefaultOrIsSet

public abstract boolean hasDefaultOrIsSet()

Returns true if the parameter either has a default value or the value was set by the user, false otherwise.

Returns:

true if value has a default value or was set, false otherwise

getNeededReference

public ParameterSet getNeededReference()

Returns a reference to a ParameterSet whose ParameterSet.hasDefaultOrIsSet()-method depends on the value of this Parameter. If no such ParameterSet exists, null is returned.

Returns:

the reference to the ParameterSet

See Also:

ParameterSet.hasDefaultOrIsSet()

getNeededReferenceId

public Long getNeededReferenceId()

Returns the id of the ParameterSet that would be returned by getNeededReference().

Returns:

the id of the ParameterSet

See Also:

getNeededReference()

setNeededReference

public void setNeededReference(ParameterSet reference)

Sets an internal reference to a ParameterSet whose validity depends on the value of this Parameter.

Parameters:

reference - to the ParameterSet depending on the value of this Parameter

isSet

public abstract boolean isSet()

Returns true if the parameter was set by the user, false otherwise.

Returns:

true if the parameter was set, false otherwise

isAtomic

public abstract boolean isAtomic()

Returns true if the parameter is of an atomic data type, false otherwise.

Returns:

true if the parameter is atomic, false otherwise

getErrorMessage

public abstract String getErrorMessage()

If a value could not be set successfully this method returns the corresponding error message.

Returns:

an error message if a value could not be set successfully

simplify

public abstract void simplify()

Simplifies the Parameter and its contents to the relevant information. This could be e.g. to reset the contents of those values of a CollectionParameter that are not selected.

reset

public abstract void reset()

Resets the parameter and its contents to the default values or null if no defaults are given.

clone

public Parameter clone()
                throws CloneNotSupportedException

Overrides:

clone in class Object

Throws:

CloneNotSupportedException

setDefault

public abstract void setDefault(Object defaultValue)
                         throws Exception

Sets the default value of the Parameter to defaultValue.

Parameters:

defaultValue - the default value

Throws:

Exception - if the default value is not an appropriate value for this Parameter

setParent

public void setParent(ParameterSet parent)

Sets the reference of the enclosing ParameterSet of this Parameter to parent.

Parameters:

parent - the new enclosing ParameterSet

getParent

public ParameterSet getParent()

Returns a reference to the ParameterSet enclosing this Parameter.

Returns:

the reference to the enclosing ParameterSet

fromXML

protected void fromXML(StringBuffer source)
                throws NonParsableException

Parses a Parameter from a XML representation as returned by toXML().

Parameters:

source - the XML representation as StringBuffer

Throws:

NonParsableException - if the XML code could not be parsed

See Also:

toXML()

toXML

public StringBuffer toXML()

Description copied from interface: Storable

This method returns an XML representation as StringBuffer of an instance of the implementing class.

Specified by:

toXML in interface Storable

Returns:

the XML representation