ClasspathVariableInitializer.java

/*******************************************************************************
 * Copyright (c) 2000, 2009 IBM Corporation and others.
 * All rights reserved. This program and the accompanying materials
 * are made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License v1.0
 * which accompanies this distribution, and is available at
 * http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html
 *
 * Contributors:
 *     IBM Corporation - initial API and implementation
 *******************************************************************************/

package org.eclipse.jdt.core;

/**
 * Abstract base implementation of all classpath variable initializers. Classpath variable
 * initializers are used in conjunction with the "org.eclipse.jdt.core.classpathVariableInitializer"
 * extension point.
 * <p>
 * Clients should subclass this class to implement a specific classpath variable initializer. The
 * subclass must have a public 0-argument constructor and a concrete implementation of
 * <code>initialize</code>.
 * 
 * @see IClasspathEntry
 * @since 2.0
 */
public abstract class ClasspathVariableInitializer {

	/**
	 * Creates a new classpath variable initializer.
	 */
	public ClasspathVariableInitializer() {
		// a classpath variable initializer must have a public 0-argument constructor
	}

	/**
	 * Binds a value to the workspace classpath variable with the given name, or fails silently if
	 * this cannot be done.
	 * <p>
	 * A variable initializer is automatically activated whenever a variable value is needed and
	 * none has been recorded so far. The implementation of the initializer can set the
	 * corresponding variable using <code>JavaCore#setClasspathVariable</code>.
	 * 
	 * @param variable the name of the workspace classpath variable that requires a binding
	 * 
	 * @see JavaCore#getClasspathVariable(String)
	 * @see JavaCore#setClasspathVariable(String, org.eclipse.core.runtime.IPath,
	 *      org.eclipse.core.runtime.IProgressMonitor)
	 * @see JavaCore#setClasspathVariables(String[], org.eclipse.core.runtime.IPath[],
	 *      org.eclipse.core.runtime.IProgressMonitor)
	 */
	public abstract void initialize(String variable);
}