com.cafesoft.cams.attr
Class AbstractAttributeValue

java.lang.Object
  |
  +--com.cafesoft.cams.attr.AbstractAttributeValue

All Implemented Interfaces:

AttributeValue, Evaluatable

Direct Known Subclasses:

BagAttributeValue, BooleanAttributeValue, StringAttributeValue

public abstract class AbstractAttributeValue

extends Object

implements AttributeValue

AbstractAttributeValue is an abstract base class for all attribute data types.

To provide a new type, extend this class and implement the equals(Object) and hashCode methods from Object, which are used for equality checking.

Since:

4/16/2004

Constructor Summary

protected

AbstractAttributeValue(URI type) Constructor that takes the specific attribute type.

Method Summary

abstract String	encode() Encodes the value in a form suitable for including in XML data like a request or an obligation.
EvaluationResult	evaluate(EvaluationContext evalContext) Implements the required interface from Evaluatable.
boolean	evaluatesToBag() Returns whether or not this value is actually a bag of values.
URI	getType() Returns the type of this attribute value.
boolean	isBag() Returns whether or not this value is actually a bag of values.

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

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

Constructor Detail

AbstractAttributeValue

protected AbstractAttributeValue(URI type)

Constructor that takes the specific attribute type.

Parameters:

type - the attribute's type

Method Detail

getType

public URI getType()

Returns the type of this attribute value.

Specified by:

getType in interface AttributeValue

Returns:

the attribute's type

evaluatesToBag

public final boolean evaluatesToBag()

Returns whether or not this value is actually a bag of values.

NOTE: This is a required interface from Evaluatable, but the more appropriate isBag method is used by AttributeValues, so this method is declared as final and calls the isBag method for this value.

Specified by:

evaluatesToBag in interface Evaluatable

Returns:

true if this is a bag of values, false otherwise

isBag

public boolean isBag()

Returns whether or not this value is actually a bag of values. By default this returns false. Typically, only the BagAttribute should ever override this to return true.

Specified by:

isBag in interface AttributeValue

Returns:

true if this is a bag of values, false otherwise

evaluate

public EvaluationResult evaluate(EvaluationContext evalContext)

Implements the required interface from Evaluatable. Since there is nothing to evaluate in an attribute value, the default result is just this instance. Override this method if you want special behavior, like a dynamic value.

Specified by:

evaluate in interface Evaluatable

Parameters:

evalContext - the representation of the request

Returns:

a successful evaluation containing this value

encode

public abstract String encode()

Encodes the value in a form suitable for including in XML data like a request or an obligation. This must return a value that could in turn be used by the factory to create a new instance with the same value.

Specified by:

encode in interface AttributeValue

Returns:

a String form of the value