/*
* GeoTools - The Open Source Java GIS Toolkit
* http://geotools.org
*
* (C) 2011, Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo)
* (C) 2005, Open Geospatial Consortium Inc.
*
* All Rights Reserved. http://www.opengis.org/legal/
*/
package org.opengis.filter.identity;
/**
* An object identifier.
* <p>
* This class is an abstract base for identifiers. Some known identifiers are:
* <ul>
* <li>FeatureId</li>
* <li>GMLObjectId</li>
* <li>RecordId</li>
* </ul>
* </p>
*
* @param <T> The type of the identifier itself.
* @param <O> The type of objects to be identified.
*
*
* @source $URL: http://svn.osgeo.org/geotools/branches/2.7.x/modules/library/opengis/src/main/java/org/opengis/filter/identity/Identifier.java $
* @version <A HREF="http://www.opengis.org/docs/02-059.pdf">Implementation specification 1.0</A>
* @author Jody Garnett (Refractions Research)
* @author Justin Deoliveira (The Open Planning Project)
*/
public interface Identifier {
/**
* Returns the identifier itself.
*/
Object getID();
/**
* Determines if the id of an object matches the value of the identifier.
*
* @param object The object to perform the test against.
* @return {@code true} if a match, otherwise {@code false}.
*/
boolean matches(Object object);
/**
* Identifier is a data object, equals is based just on getID()
* @param obj
* @return true if obj is an Identifier with the same getID()
*/
///@Override
public boolean equals(Object obj);
/**
* Identifier is a data object, hashCode is based just on getID()
* @return hashCode based on getID()
*/
///@Override
public int hashCode();
/**
* Returns a string representation of the identifier.
* @return getID().toString()
*/
///@Override
String toString();
}