com.cerner.beadledom.configuration.ConfigurationSource Maven / Gradle / Ivy
package com.cerner.beadledom.configuration;
import org.apache.commons.configuration2.Configuration;
/**
* Definition of the source based on a specific format of the {@link Configuration} .
*
* It is strictly recommended that no Concrete class should implement this interface directly.
* Instead they should be extend from {@link AbstractConfigurationSource} to ensure that all the
* ConfigurationSources are compared using the same method
* {@link AbstractConfigurationSource#compareTo(ConfigurationSource)}.
*
*
Every implementation of {@link ConfigurationSource} must have a priority (an {@link Integer}
* value) set on them. Configurations are loaded based on the priority set on them. The properties
* from the lower priority configurations are overriden by the higher priority configurations.
*
*
Note: The implementations of this interface have a natural ordering that is
* inconsistent with the {@link Object#equals} method. Two Configuration classes might have an equal
* priority but might not be equal. Hence the natural ordering on the implementations of this
* interface MUST NOT be used to determine the equality of the objects. The Natural ordering of the
* instances can be obtained from the {@link ConfigurationSource#getPriority} method.
*
* @author Sundeep Paruvu
* @see java.lang.Comparable
* @see AbstractConfigurationSource
* @since 1.7
*/
public interface ConfigurationSource extends Comparable {
/**
* Returns the Configuration from the ConfigurationSource.
*
* @return a {@link Configuration} object.
*/
Configuration getConfig();
/**
* Returns the priority of the current ConfigurationSources among other ConfigurationSources.
*
* The return value signifies the natural ordering of the instances. Greater Value implies
* higher priority. Higher Priority ConfigurationSources overrides any matching properties from
* the lower priority ConfigurationSources.
*
*
The priority on a {@link ConfigurationSource} must not be negative.
*
* @return an integer indicating the priority of the configuration.
*/
int getPriority();
}