IApsEntity.java

/*
*
* Copyright 2005 AgileTec s.r.l. (http://www.agiletec.it) All rights reserved.
*
* This file is part of jAPS software.
* jAPS is a free software; 
* you can redistribute it and/or modify it
* under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL) as published by the Free Software Foundation; version 2.
* 
* See the file License for the specific language governing permissions   
* and limitations under the License
* 
* 
* 
* Copyright 2005 AgileTec s.r.l. (http://www.agiletec.it) All rights reserved.
*
*/
package com.agiletec.aps.system.common.entity.model;

import java.util.List;
import java.util.Map;
import java.util.Set;

import com.agiletec.aps.system.common.entity.model.attribute.AttributeInterface;
import com.agiletec.aps.system.common.entity.parse.IApsEntityDOM;
import com.agiletec.aps.system.services.category.Category;

/**
 * This class represents an Entity.
 * The structure of the entity, defined during the configuration process, is built invoking the method
 * 'addAttribute', but this procedure is reserved for the Content Service which invokes this method only
 * during the system initialization.
 * The standard procedure to instantiate an entity, used during the normal execution of the system, 
 * is to make a request to the service: it will clone the prototype of the entity previously 
 * defined in the configuration.
 * @author E. Santoboni
 */
public interface IApsEntity {
	
	/**
	 * Add an attribute to the list of the attributes of the entity.
	 * @param attribute The attribute to add.
	 */
	public void addAttribute(AttributeInterface attribute);
	
	/**
	 * Return an Entity Attribute identified by the key.
	 * @param key The name of the attribute,
	 * @return The requested attribute.
	 */
	public Object getAttribute(String key);
	
	/**
	 * Return an Entity Attribute identified by the role.
	 * @param roleName The role of the attribute,
	 * @return The requested attribute.
	 */
	public AttributeInterface getAttributeByRole(String roleName);
	
	/**
	 * Add a category to the list of the entity categories.
	 * @param category The category to add.
	 */
	public void addCategory(Category category);
	
	/**
	 * Return the list of categories associated to the entity.
	 * @return A list of categories.
	 */
	public List<Category> getCategories();
	
	/**
	 * Remove a category from the list of the entity categories.
	 * @param category The category to remove.
	 */
	public void removeCategory(Category category);
	
	/**
	 * Return a Map of the attributes defined in this entity.
	 * @return A Map object containing all the attributes.
	 */
	public Map<String, AttributeInterface> getAttributeMap();
	
	/**
	 * Return the code of the Entity Type.
	 * @return The code of the Entity Type.
	 */
	public String getTypeCode();
	
	/**
	 * Set up the code of the Entity Type.
	 * @param typeCode The Entity Type code.
	 */
	public void setTypeCode(String typeCode);
	
	/**
	 * Return the description of the entity.
	 * @return The description of entity.
	 */
	public String getDescr();
	
	/**
	 * Set up the description of the entity.
	 * @param descr he description of entity.
	 */
	public void setDescr(String descr);
	
	/**
	 * Return the string that identifies the main group the entity belongs to.
	 * @return The main group this entity belongs to.
	 */
	public String getMainGroup();

	/**
	 * Set up the main group the entity belongs to.
	 * @param mainGroup The main group this entity belongs to.
	 */
	public void setMainGroup(String mainGroup);

	/**
	 * Return the set of codes belonging to the authorized groups.
	 * @return The set of codes of the additional groups.
	 */
	public Set<String> getGroups();

	/**
	 * Add an additional group to those authorized.
	 * @param groupName The code of the group to add.
	 */
	public void addGroup(String groupName);
	
	/**
	 * Return the ID of the entity.
	 * @return The identification string of the entity.
	 */
	public String getId();
	
	/**
	 * Associate the entity to the given ID code.
	 * @param id The identification string of the entity.
	 */
	public void setId(String id);
	
	/**
	 * Return a list of the Entity Attributes.
	 * @return The list of attributes.
	 */
	public List<AttributeInterface> getAttributeList();
	
	/**
	 * Return the description of the Entity Type.
	 * @return The description of the Entity Type.
	 */
	public String getTypeDescr();
	
	/**
	 * Set up the description of the Entity Type.
	 * @param typeDescr The description of the Entity Type.
	 */
	public void setTypeDescr(String typeDescr);
	
	/**
	 * Set up the language to use in the rendering process of the entity and its attributes.
	 * @param langCode The code of the language to use in the rendering process.
	 */
	public void setRenderingLang(String langCode);
	
	/**
	 * Set up the default language of the entity and its attributes.
	 * @param langCode The code of the default language.
	 */
	public void setDefaultLang(String langCode);
	
	/**
	 * Create an object from the prototype.
	 * @return The object created from the prototype.
	 */
	public IApsEntity getEntityPrototype();
	
	/**
	 * Set up the DOM class that generates the XML which defines the Entity.
	 * @param entityDom The DOM class that generates the XML
	 */
	public void setEntityDOM(IApsEntityDOM entityDom);
	
	/**
	 * Return the XML string that describes the entity.
	 * @return The XML string describing the entity.
	 */
	public String getXML();
	
	/**
	 * Disable those attributes whose deactivation code matches the given one.
	 * @param disablingCode The deactivation code.
	 */
	public void disableAttributes(String disablingCode);
	
}