org.metawidget.inspector.iface.Inspector Maven / Gradle / Ivy
// Metawidget
//
// This file is dual licensed under both the LGPL
// (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl-2.1.html) and the EPL
// (http://www.eclipse.org/org/documents/epl-v10.php). As a
// recipient of Metawidget, you may choose to receive it under either
// the LGPL or the EPL.
//
// Commercial licenses are also available. See http://metawidget.org
// for details.
package org.metawidget.inspector.iface;
import org.metawidget.iface.Immutable;
/**
* Common interface implemented by all Inspectors. Inspectors decouple the process of generating
* inspection results out of back-end metadata.
*
* Inspectors must be immutable (or, at least, appear that way to clients. They can have caches or
* configuration settings internally, as long as they are threadsafe).
*
* This interface does not pass an M metawidget or any other kind of 'helper context'
* as the other interfaces do. This is because Inspectors need to exist independent of any
* particular UI framework. Indeed, they can exist on back-end tiers where no UI framework is
* available at all. If you find yourself needing access to a context, consider using an
* InspectionResultProcessor.
*
* @author Richard Kennard
*/
public interface Inspector
extends Immutable {
//
// Methods
//
/**
* Inspect the given Object according to the given path, and return the result as a String
* conforming to inspection-result-1.0.xsd.
*
* Note: the method returns a String, rather than a DOM, to support the use of hetergenous
* technologies between the Inspectors and the Metawidgets. For example, GwtMetawidget is
* written in JavaScript but its Inspectors are written in Java.
*
* @param toInspect
* runtime object to inspect. May be null
* @param type
* match type attribute in inspection-result.xml
* @param names
* match name attributes under type
* @return XML conforming to inspection-result-1.0.xsd
*/
String inspect( Object toInspect, String type, String... names );
}