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/* ========================================================================
* JCommon : a free general purpose class library for the Java(tm) platform
* ========================================================================
*
* (C) Copyright 2000-2005, by Object Refinery Limited and Contributors.
*
* Project Info: http://www.jfree.org/jcommon/index.html
*
* This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
* under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
* the Free Software Foundation; either version 2.1 of the License, or
* (at your option) any later version.
*
* This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
* WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY
* or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU Lesser General Public
* License for more details.
*
* You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
* License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
* Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301,
* USA.
*
* [Java is a trademark or registered trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc.
* in the United States and other countries.]
*
* ----------------------
* ObjectDescription.java
* ----------------------
* (C)opyright 2003, 2004, by Thomas Morgner and Contributors.
*
* Original Author: Thomas Morgner;
* Contributor(s): David Gilbert (for Object Refinery Limited);
*
* $Id: ObjectDescription.java,v 1.3 2005/11/14 11:03:12 mungady Exp $
*
* Changes (from 19-Feb-2003)
* -------------------------
* 19-Feb-2003 : Added standard header and Javadocs (DG);
* 29-Apr-2003 : Distilled from the JFreeReport project and moved into JCommon
*
*/
package org.jfree.xml.factory.objects;
import java.io.Serializable;
import java.util.Iterator;
import org.jfree.util.Configuration;
/**
* An interface for object descriptions.
*
* @author Thomas Morgner
*/
public interface ObjectDescription extends Serializable {
/**
* Returns a parameter definition. If the parameter is invalid, this
* function returns null.
*
* @param name the definition name.
*
* @return The parameter class or null, if the parameter is not defined.
*/
public Class getParameterDefinition(String name);
/**
* Sets the value of a parameter.
*
* @param name the parameter name.
* @param value the parameter value.
*/
public void setParameter(String name, Object value);
/**
* Returns the value of a parameter.
*
* @param name the parameter name.
*
* @return The value.
*/
public Object getParameter(String name);
/**
* Returns an iterator the provides access to the parameter names. This
* returns all _known_ parameter names, the object description may accept
* additional parameters.
*
* @return The iterator.
*/
public Iterator getParameterNames();
/**
* Returns the object class.
*
* @return The Class.
*/
public Class getObjectClass();
/**
* Creates an object based on the description.
*
* @return The object.
*/
public Object createObject();
/**
* Returns a cloned instance of the object description. The contents
* of the parameter objects collection are cloned too, so that any
* already defined parameter value is copied to the new instance.
*
* Parameter definitions are not cloned, as they are considered read-only.
*
* The newly instantiated object description is not configured. If it
* need to be configured, then you have to call configure on it.
*
* @return A cloned instance.
*/
public ObjectDescription getUnconfiguredInstance();
/**
* Returns a cloned instance of the object description. The contents
* of the parameter objects collection are cloned too, so that any
* already defined parameter value is copied to the new instance.
*
* Parameter definitions are not cloned, as they are considered read-only.
*
* @return A cloned instance.
*/
public ObjectDescription getInstance();
/**
* Sets the parameters of this description object to match the supplied object.
*
* @param o the object.
*
* @throws ObjectFactoryException if there is a problem while reading the
* properties of the given object.
*/
public void setParameterFromObject(Object o) throws ObjectFactoryException;
/**
* Configures this factory. The configuration contains several keys and
* their defined values. The given reference to the configuration object
* will remain valid until the report parsing or writing ends.
*
* The configuration contents may change during the reporting.
*
* @param config the configuration, never null
*/
public void configure(Configuration config);
/**
* Compares whether two object descriptions are equal.
*
* @param o the other object.
* @return true, if both object desciptions describe the same object, false otherwise.
*/
public boolean equals (Object o);
/**
* Computes the hashCode for this ClassFactory. As equals() must be implemented,
* a corresponding hashCode() should be implemented as well.
*
* @return the hashcode.
*/
public int hashCode();
}