org.simpleframework.http.Query Maven / Gradle / Ivy

Go to download
/*
 * Query.java February 2001
 *
 * Copyright (C) 2001, Niall Gallagher 
 *
 * 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.
 *
 * 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., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, 
 * Boston, MA  02111-1307  USA
 */
  
package org.simpleframework.http;

import java.util.List;
import java.util.Map;

/**
 * The Query object is used to represent HTTP query
 * parameters. Parameters are acquired by name and can be either a
 * string, float, int, or boolean value. This ensures that data can
 * be conveniently extracted in the correct type. This stores the
 * parameters in a map of key value pairs. Each parameter can be
 * acquired using the name of the parameter, if the parameter is
 * named twice then all values can be acquired.
 *
 * @author Niall Gallagher
 */
public interface Query extends Map {
   
   /**
    * This method is used to acquire a List for all of
    * the parameter values associated with the specified name. Using
    * this method allows the query to expose many values taken from
    * the query or HTTP form posting. Typically the first value in
    * the list is the value from the get(String) method
    * as this is the primary value from the ordered list of values. 
    * 
    * @param name this is the name used to search for the value
    * 
    * @return this is the list of values associated with the key
    */
   public List getAll(Object name);
   
   /**
    * This extracts an integer parameter for the named value. If the 
    * named parameter does not exist this will return a zero value. 
    * If however the parameter exists but is not in the format of a 
    * decimal integer value then this will throw an exception.
    *
    * @param name the name of the parameter value to retrieve
    *
    * @return this returns the named parameter value as an integer   
    */
   public int getInteger(Object name);

   /**
    * This extracts a float parameter for the named value. If the 
    * named parameter does not exist this will return a zero value. 
    * If however the parameter exists but is not in the format of a 
    * floating point number then this will throw an exception.
    *
    * @param name the name of the parameter value to retrieve
    *
    * @return this returns the named parameter value as a float   
    */
   public float getFloat(Object name);

   /**
    * This extracts a boolean parameter for the named value. If the
    * named parameter does not exist this will return false otherwise
    * the value is evaluated. If it is either true or 
    * false then those boolean values are returned.
    * 
    * @param name the name of the parameter value to retrieve
    *
    * @return this returns the named parameter value as an float
    */
   public boolean getBoolean(Object name);   

   /**
    * This will return all parameters represented using the HTTP
    * URL query format. The x-www-form-urlencoded
    * format is used to encode the attributes, see RFC 2616. 
    * 
    * This will also encode any special characters that appear
    * within the name and value pairs as an escaped sequence.
    * If there are no parameters an empty string is returned.
    *
    * @return returns an empty string if the is no parameters
    */ 
   public String toString();
}