TimelineChart.java

/*
Copyright 2008-2011 Gephi
Authors : Mathieu Bastian
Website : http://www.gephi.org

This file is part of Gephi.

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Copyright 2011 Gephi Consortium. All rights reserved.

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 */
package org.gephi.timeline.api;

import org.gephi.data.attributes.api.AttributeColumn;
import org.gephi.data.attributes.api.AttributeModel;
import org.gephi.graph.api.Graph;

/**
 * Sparkline type chart visible in the timeline, for instance the number of nodes
 * over time.
 * <p>
 * Charts are usually created from the Statistics module and data are saved
 * within {@link Graph#getAttributes()}. Columns can be accessed from the graph table
 * in the {@link AttributeModel#getGraphTable() }.
 * 
 * @author Mathieu Bastian
 * @see TimelineController#selectColumn(org.gephi.data.attributes.api.AttributeColumn) 
 */
public interface TimelineChart {

    /**
     * The attribute column used to create this chart.
     * @return the attribute column
     */
    public AttributeColumn getColumn();

    /**
     * Returns the X values of this chart.
     * @return the X values
     */
    public Number[] getX();

    /**
     * Returns the Y values of this chart.
     * @return the Y values
     */
    public Number[] getY();
    
    /**
     * Return the Y value for the given <code>x</code> position. It returns the closest
     * value, as <code>x</code> may not exist.
     * @param x the point in time
     * @return the Y value
     */
    public Number getY(Number x);

    /**
     * Returns the min Y value .This is the minimum value in the chart.
     * @return the min Y value
     */
    public Number getMinY();

    /**
     * Returns the max Y value. This is the maximum value in the chart.
     * @return the max Y value
     */
    public Number getMaxY();
}