/*
* GeoTools - The Open Source Java GIS Toolkit
* http://geotools.org
*
* (C) 2011, Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo)
* (C) 2004-2007 Open Geospatial Consortium Inc.
*
* All Rights Reserved. http://www.opengis.org/legal/
*/
package org.opengis.feature.type;
/**
* Describes an instance of an Attribute.
* <p>
* An AttributeDescriptor is an extension of {@link PropertyDescriptor} which
* defines some additional information:
* <ul>
* <li>A default value for an attribute
* </ul>
* </p>
* <p>
*
* @author Jody Garnett, Refractions Research
* @author Justin Deoliveira, The Open Planning Project
*
* @source $URL: http://svn.osgeo.org/geotools/trunk/modules/library/opengis/src/main/java/org/opengis/feature/type/AttributeDescriptor.java $
*/
public interface AttributeDescriptor extends PropertyDescriptor {
/**
* Override of {@link PropertyDescriptor#getType()} which type narrows to
* {@link AttributeType}.
*
* @see PropertyDescriptor#getType()
*/
AttributeType getType();
/**
* The local name for this AttributeDescriptor.
* Specifically this returns <code>getName().getLocalPart</code>().
* @return The local name for this attribute descriptor.
*/
String getLocalName();
/**
* The default value for the attribute.
* <p>
* This value is used when an attribute is created and no value for it is
* specified.
* </p>
* <p>
* This value may be <code>null</code>. If it is non-null it should be an
* instance of of the class specified by <code>getType().getBinding()</code>.
* </p>
*/
Object getDefaultValue();
}