/* ===========================================================
 * TradeManager : a application to trade strategies for the Java(tm) platform
 * ===========================================================
 *
 * (C) Copyright 2011-2011, by Simon Allen and Contributors.
 *
 * Project Info:  org.trade
 *
 * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
 * under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
 * the Free Software Foundation; either version 2.1 of the License, or
 * (at your option) any later version.
 *
 * This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
 * WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY
 * or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU Lesser General Public
 * License for more details.
 *
 * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
 * License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
 * Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301,
 * USA.
 *
 * [Java is a trademark or registered trademark of Oracle, Inc.
 * in the United States and other countries.]
 *
 * (C) Copyright 2011-2011, by Simon Allen and Contributors.
 *
 * Original Author:  Simon Allen;
 * Contributor(s):   -;
 *
 * Changes
 * -------
 *
 */
package org.trade.core.valuetype;

import java.io.Serializable;

/**
 */
public abstract class ValueType implements Cloneable, Serializable {
	/**
	 * 
	 */
	private static final long serialVersionUID = -8054819773979644420L;

	// All well-behaved ValueTypes must implement this
	/**
	 * Method isEmpty.
	 * 
	 * @return boolean
	 */
	public abstract boolean isEmpty();

	/**
	 * The default implementation of this method calls the ValueTypes toString()
	 * object. If a different type of object needs to be returned this method
	 * should have be overridden by the specific subclass.
	 * 
	 * 
	 * @return An SQL representation of the object so that it can be stored via
	 *         JDBC.
	 */
	public Object getSQLObject() {
		return (toString());
	}

	/**
	 * Method getSQLObjectType.
	 * 
	 * @return Class<?>
	 */
	public Class<?> getSQLObjectType() {
		return String.class;
	}
}