SearchCategory.java

package org.sakaiproject.citation.api;

public interface SearchCategory
{
	
	/**
	 * Returns the display name of this category
	 * 
	 * @return display name of this category
	 */
	public String getDisplayName();
	
	/**
	 * Returns the description of this category
	 * 
	 * @return description of this category
	 */
	public String getDescription();

	/**
	 * Returns the id of this category
	 * 
	 * @return id of this category
	 */
	public String getId();

	/**
	 * Indicates whether this category has any databases within it
	 * 
	 * @return true if this category contains at least one database,
	 * false otherwise
	 */
	public boolean hasDatabases();
	
	/**
	 * Returns the databases contained in this category
	 * 
	 * @return a java.util.List containing SearchDatabase objects within this SearchCategory,
	 * null if this category does not contain any databases (if hasDatabases() returns false)
	 */
	public java.util.List<SearchDatabase> getDatabases();
	
	/**
	 * Determines whether the given database is recommended within this category
	 * 
	 * @param databaseId id of the database to check
	 * @return true if the database is recommended, false otherwise (also returns
	 * false if this database does not exist in this category)
	 */
	public boolean isDatabaseRecommended( String databaseId );
	
	/**
	 * Indicates whether this category has any sub-categories within it
	 * 
	 * @return true if this category contains at least one category,
	 * false otherwise
	 */
	public boolean hasSubCategories();

	/**
	 * Returns the categories contained within this category
	 * 
	 * @return a list containing SearchCategory objects within this SearchCategory,
	 * null if this category does not contain any categories (if hasSubCategories() returns false)
	 */
	public java.util.List<SearchCategory> getSubCategories();
}