de.jstacs.parameters
Class ParameterSet

java.lang.Object
  de.jstacs.parameters.ParameterSet

All Implemented Interfaces:

RangeIterator, Storable, Cloneable

Direct Known Subclasses:

Alphabet.AlphabetParameterSet, AlphabetContainerParameterSet, ClassifierAssessmentAssessParameterSet, ExpandableParameterSet, InstanceParameterSet, SimpleParameterSet

public abstract class ParameterSet
extends Object
implements Storable, Cloneable, RangeIterator

(Container) class for a set of Parameters. This is the base class for other ParameterSets that provide more specialized methods, e.g. for expanding the set of Parameters at runtime ( ExpandableParameterSet ) or defining an array of ParameterSets from a common template ( ArrayParameterSet ).

Author:

Jan Grau

Nested Class Summary

class

ParameterSet.ParameterList Class for a List of Parameters that basically has the same functionality as ArrayList, but additionally takes care of the references Parameter.parent.

Field Summary

protected Class	alternativeInstanceClass The class that can be instantiated using this ParameterSet
protected String	errorMessage The error-message of the last error or null
protected ParameterSet.ParameterList	parameters The set of parameters
protected ParameterSetContainer	parent Is this ParameterSet is contained in a ParameterSetContainer, this variable holds a reference to that ParameterSetContainer.
protected boolean	ranged Indicates if the Parameters of this ParameterSet that implement Rangeable and return true shall be replaced by their ranged instances

Constructor Summary

	ParameterSet() Constructs a new ParameterSet with empty parameter values.
protected	ParameterSet(ArrayList<Parameter> parameters) Constructs a ParameterSet out of an ArrayList of parameters.
	ParameterSet(Class alternativeInstanceClass) Constructs a ParameterSet from the class that can be instantiated using this ParameterSet.
protected	ParameterSet(Parameter[] parameters) Constructs a ParameterSet out of an array of parameters.
	ParameterSet(StringBuffer representation) Constructs a ParameterSet out of an XML representation

Method Summary

ParameterSet	clone() Creates a full clone (deep copy) of this ParameterSet.
protected void	fromXML(StringBuffer representation) Parses the instance fields of a ParameterSet from the XML-representation as returned by toXML().
String	getErrorMessage() Returns the message of the last error that occurred.
long	getId() Returns the id of this ParameterSet.
InstantiableFromParameterSet	getInstance() Returns a new instance of the class of getInstanceClass() that was created using this ParameterSet.
Class	getInstanceClass() Returns the class of the instances that can be constructed using this set.
abstract String	getInstanceComment() Returns a comment (a textual description) of the class that can be constructed using this ParameterSet.
abstract String	getInstanceName() Returns the name of an instance of the class that can be constructed using this ParameterSet.
int	getNumberOfParameters() Returns the number of parameters in set
int	getNumberOfValues() Returns the number of values in the collection.
Parameter	getParameterAt(int i) Returns the parameter at position i
ParameterSetContainer	getParent() Returns the enclosing ParameterSetContainer of this ParameterSet or null if none exists.
boolean	hasDefaultOrIsSet() Returns true if all parameters in this ParameterSet are either set by the user or have default values.
protected void	initParameterList() Initializes the internal set of Parameters, which is a ParameterSet.ParameterList.
protected void	initParameterList(int initCapacity) Initializes the internal set of Parameters, which is a ParameterSet.ParameterList, with an initial number of Parameters of initCapacity.
boolean	isAtomic() Returns true if this ParameterSet contains only atomic parameters, i.e. the parameters do not contain ParameterSets themselves.
boolean	isRanged() Returns true if this range iterator is ranging over a set of values.
protected abstract void	loadParameters() Loads the parameters for this ParameterSet.
void	makeRanged() Replaces all Parameters in this ParameterSet by their equivalents implementing the Rangeable interface.
boolean	next() Switches to the next value in the collection of values in the specified range.
boolean	parametersLoaded() Returns true if the parameters of this ParameterSet have already been loaded using the loadParameters()-method
protected void	propagateId() Propagates the id of this ParameterSet to all Parameters above and below in the hierarchy.
protected void	recieveId() Searches for all Parameter.neededReferenceIds in the hierarchy below this ParameterSet and sets the corresponding Parameter.neededReferences.
protected void	replaceParametersWithRangedInstance() Replaces all Parameters in this ParameterSet by their equivalents implementing the Rangeable interface.
void	reset() Resets all parameters in this ParameterSet to their default values or null if not default value was provided.
void	resetToFirst() Resets the current value in the collection to the first value.
void	setAlternativeInstanceClass(Class c) Sets the class of the instances that can be constructed using this set.
void	setParent(ParameterSetContainer parent) Sets the enclosing ParameterSetContainer of this ParameterSet to parent.
void	simplify() Simplifies all parameters in this ParameterSet
StringBuffer	toXML() This method returns an XML-representation of an instance of the implementing class.
String	valuesToString() Returns a String-representation of the set of values.

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

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

Field Detail

parameters

protected ParameterSet.ParameterList parameters

The set of parameters

alternativeInstanceClass

protected Class alternativeInstanceClass

The class that can be instantiated using this ParameterSet

errorMessage

protected String errorMessage

The error-message of the last error or null

ranged

protected boolean ranged

Indicates if the Parameters of this ParameterSet that implement Rangeable and return true shall be replaced by their ranged instances

parent

protected ParameterSetContainer parent

Is this ParameterSet is contained in a ParameterSetContainer, this variable holds a reference to that ParameterSetContainer.

Constructor Detail

ParameterSet

public ParameterSet(Class alternativeInstanceClass)

Constructs a ParameterSet from the class that can be instantiated using this ParameterSet. The set of parameters is loaded by the loadParameters()-method if this ParameterSet is expected to be filled with values.

Parameters:

alternativeInstanceClass - the class

ParameterSet

public ParameterSet()
             throws UnsupportedOperationException

Constructs a new ParameterSet with empty parameter values. The set of parameters is loaded by the loadParameters()-method.
This constructor should only be used to create "filled" ParameterSets, i.e. to create ParameterSets from a set of values and not to fill it from the platform user-interface. If this constructor is used as the super-contructor for constructors that shall be used in the platform user-interface, the lazy evaluation of loadParameters()-methods will be lost and memory may probably be wasted.

Throws:

UnsupportedOperationException - if the ParameterSet could not be constructed or the parameters could not be loaded an UnsupportedOperationException is thrown.

ParameterSet

protected ParameterSet(Parameter[] parameters)

Constructs a ParameterSet out of an array of parameters. The parameters are not cloned, but passed by reference.

Parameters:

parameters - the parameters

ParameterSet

protected ParameterSet(ArrayList<Parameter> parameters)

Constructs a ParameterSet out of an ArrayList of parameters. The parameters are not cloned, but passed by reference.

Parameters:

parameters - the parameters

ParameterSet

public ParameterSet(StringBuffer representation)
             throws NonParsableException

Constructs a ParameterSet out of an XML representation

Parameters:

representation - the XML representation

Throws:

NonParsableException - if the ParameterSet could not be reconstructed out of the representation, a NonParsableException is thrown

Method Detail

clone

public ParameterSet clone()
                   throws CloneNotSupportedException

Creates a full clone (deep copy) of this ParameterSet. As a convenience-method the user can use fillWithStandardFieldsForClone(ParameterSet) on a newly created instance of a subclass of ParameterSet to obtain a clone/copy of all standard member variables (those already defined in ParameterSet) in the passed ParameterSet. Using this method, the cloning-process becomes merely three-step:

• Create a new instance of your subclass of ParameterSet, most likely with an empty constructor or the one taking just the instance-class
• call this.fillWithStandardFieldsForClone on this instance
• return the instance

This method fulfils the conventions of Object's method clone()

Overrides:

clone in class Object

Returns:

a deep clone of this ParameterSet

Throws:

CloneNotSupportedException

initParameterList

protected final void initParameterList()

Initializes the internal set of Parameters, which is a ParameterSet.ParameterList.

initParameterList

protected final void initParameterList(int initCapacity)

Initializes the internal set of Parameters, which is a ParameterSet.ParameterList, with an initial number of Parameters of initCapacity.

Parameters:

initCapacity - the initial number of Parameters

loadParameters

protected abstract void loadParameters()
                                throws Exception

Loads the parameters for this ParameterSet. This is in most cases done by simply creating a new ArrayList<Parameter> for the field parameters/code> and filling it with instances of subclasses of Parameter

Throws:

Exception - an Exception is thrown if the parameters could not be loaded

See Also:

parameters, Parameter

getInstanceName

public abstract String getInstanceName()

Returns the name of an instance of the class that can be constructed using this ParameterSet.

Returns:

the name

getInstanceComment

public abstract String getInstanceComment()

Returns a comment (a textual description) of the class that can be constructed using this ParameterSet.

Returns:

the comment

parametersLoaded

public boolean parametersLoaded()

Returns true if the parameters of this ParameterSet have already been loaded using the loadParameters()-method

Returns:

the state of the parameters

setAlternativeInstanceClass

public void setAlternativeInstanceClass(Class c)

Sets the class of the instances that can be constructed using this set.

Parameters:

c - the class

getInstanceClass

public Class getInstanceClass()

Returns the class of the instances that can be constructed using this set.

Returns:

the class

isAtomic

public boolean isAtomic()

Returns true if this ParameterSet contains only atomic parameters, i.e. the parameters do not contain ParameterSets themselves.

Returns:

if atomic

hasDefaultOrIsSet

public boolean hasDefaultOrIsSet()

Returns true if all parameters in this ParameterSet are either set by the user or have default values. If any additional constraints are required on your parameters you should either specifiy some ParameterValidator on these parameters or implement these contraints by overriding this method in your implementation of ParameterSet. It is recommended to specify a useful remark which constraint failed in the member-variable errorMessage, which will be displayed to the user. In the overriding method super.hasDefaultOrIsSet() should be called prior to checking specific constraints.

Returns:

true if all parameters have some allowed value set

getErrorMessage

public String getErrorMessage()

Returns the message of the last error that occurred. If no error occurred this method returns null.

Returns:

the message

getNumberOfParameters

public int getNumberOfParameters()

Returns the number of parameters in set

Returns:

the number of parameters

getParameterAt

public Parameter getParameterAt(int i)

Returns the parameter at position i

Parameters:

i - the position

Returns:

the parameter

makeRanged

public void makeRanged()
                throws Exception

Replaces all Parameters in this ParameterSet by their equivalents implementing the Rangeable interface.

Throws:

Exception - is thrown if these instances could not be created

next

public boolean next()
             throws ParameterException

Description copied from interface: RangeIterator

Switches to the next value in the collection of values in the specified range.

Specified by:

next in interface RangeIterator

Returns:

if the next element exists

Throws:

ParameterException - if the next value could not be set

resetToFirst

public void resetToFirst()

Description copied from interface: RangeIterator

Resets the current value in the collection to the first value.

Specified by:

resetToFirst in interface RangeIterator

getNumberOfValues

public int getNumberOfValues()

Description copied from interface: RangeIterator

Returns the number of values in the collection.

Specified by:

getNumberOfValues in interface RangeIterator

Returns:

the number of values

isRanged

public boolean isRanged()

Description copied from interface: RangeIterator

Returns true if this range iterator is ranging over a set of values.

Specified by:

isRanged in interface RangeIterator

Returns:

if ranging

valuesToString

public String valuesToString()

Description copied from interface: RangeIterator

Returns a String-representation of the set of values.

Specified by:

valuesToString in interface RangeIterator

Returns:

the representation

replaceParametersWithRangedInstance

protected void replaceParametersWithRangedInstance()
                                            throws Exception

Replaces all Parameters in this ParameterSet by their equivalents implementing the Rangeable interface.

Throws:

Exception - is thrown if these instances could not be created

getInstance

public InstantiableFromParameterSet getInstance()
                                         throws ParameterSetParser.NotInstantiableException

Returns a new instance of the class of getInstanceClass() that was created using this ParameterSet.

Returns:

the instance

Throws:

ParameterSetParser.NotInstantiableException - is thrown if the class could not be instantiated

See Also:

ParameterSetParser

toXML

public StringBuffer toXML()

Description copied from interface: Storable

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

Specified by:

toXML in interface Storable

Returns:

the XML-representation

simplify

public void simplify()

Simplifies all parameters in this ParameterSet

See Also:

Parameter.simplify()

reset

public void reset()

Resets all parameters in this ParameterSet to their default values or null if not default value was provided.

See Also:

Parameter.reset()

fromXML

protected void fromXML(StringBuffer representation)
                throws NonParsableException

Parses the instance fields of a ParameterSet from the XML-representation as returned by toXML().

Parameters:

representation - the XML-representation

Throws:

NonParsableException - is thrown if the XML-code could not be parsed

recieveId

protected void recieveId()

Searches for all Parameter.neededReferenceIds in the hierarchy below this ParameterSet and sets the corresponding Parameter.neededReferences.

propagateId

protected void propagateId()

Propagates the id of this ParameterSet to all Parameters above and below in the hierarchy.

getId

public long getId()

Returns the id of this ParameterSet.

Returns:

the id

getParent

public ParameterSetContainer getParent()

Returns the enclosing ParameterSetContainer of this ParameterSet or null if none exists.

Returns:

the parent

setParent

public void setParent(ParameterSetContainer parent)

Sets the enclosing ParameterSetContainer of this ParameterSet to parent.

Parameters:

parent - the new parent