/*
* Conditions Of Use
*
* This software was developed by employees of the National Institute of
* Standards and Technology (NIST), an agency of the Federal Government.
* Pursuant to title 15 Untied States Code Section 105, works of NIST
* employees are not subject to copyright protection in the United States
* and are considered to be in the public domain.  As a result, a formal
* license is not needed to use the software.
*
* This software is provided by NIST as a service and is expressly
* provided "AS IS."  NIST MAKES NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS, IMPLIED
* OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTY OF
* MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT
* AND DATA ACCURACY.  NIST does not warrant or make any representations
* regarding the use of the software or the results thereof, including but
* not limited to the correctness, accuracy, reliability or usefulness of
* the software.
*
* Permission to use this software is contingent upon your acceptance
* of the terms of this agreement
*
* .
*
*/
/*******************************************************************************
* Product of NIST/ITL Advanced Networking Technologies Division (ANTD).        *
*******************************************************************************/
package gov.nist.javax.sdp.fields;

/**
* Placeholder root class for SDP headers.
*
*@version 1.2
*
*@author M. Ranganathan   <br/>
*
*
*
*/

public abstract class SDPField extends SDPObject {
    protected String fieldName;

    public abstract String encode();

    protected SDPField(String hname) {
        fieldName = hname;
    }

    public String getFieldName() {
        return fieldName;
    }

    /** Returns the type character for the field.
    * @return the type character for the field.
    */
    public char getTypeChar() {
        if (fieldName == null)
            return '\0';
        else
            return fieldName.charAt(0);
    }

    public SDPField() {
    }

    public String toString() {
        return this.encode();
    }

}