BusinessControl.java

/**
* OLAT - Online Learning and Training<br>
* http://www.olat.org
* <p>
* Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); <br>
* you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.<br>
* You may obtain a copy of the License at
* <p>
* http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
* <p>
* Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,<br>
* software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, <br>
* WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. <br>
* See the License for the specific language governing permissions and <br>
* limitations under the License.
* <p>
* Copyright (c) since 2004 at Multimedia- & E-Learning Services (MELS),<br>
* University of Zurich, Switzerland.
* <hr>
* <a href="http://www.openolat.org">
* OpenOLAT - Online Learning and Training</a><br>
* This file has been modified by the OpenOLAT community. Changes are licensed
* under the Apache 2.0 license as the original file.  
* <p>
* Initial code contributed and copyrighted by<br>
* JGS goodsolutions GmbH, http://www.goodsolutions.ch
* <p>
*/
package org.olat.core.id.context;

import java.util.List;


/**
 * Description:<br>
 * use for e.g. a key to store stuff, and to get a context for the search engine, 
 * to later open the correct navigational paths.<br>
 * <br>
 * the business control is a immutable object.<br>
 * <br>
 * usage:
 * <pre>
 *    final ores = ... (a OLATResourceable)
 *    ContextEntry ce = new ContextEntry() {
 *			public OLATResourceable getOLATResourceable() {
 *				return ores;
 *			}};
 *		WindowControl bwControl = BusinessControlFactory.getInstance().createBusinessWindowControl(ce, wControl);
 * </pre>
 * <P>
 * Initial Date:  14.06.2006 <br>
 *
 * @author Felix Jost
 */
public interface BusinessControl {
	
	public final static String START_TAG = "[";
	public final static String END_TAG = "]";
	public final static String DELIMITER_TAG = ":";
		
	/**
	 * Get String represation of BusinessControl. Used to save it as string (serializing)
	 * @return
	 */
	public String getAsString();
	

	public List<ContextEntry> getEntries();
	
	public List<ContextEntry> getEntriesDownTheControls();
	
	/**
	 * pop context entry for further processing, this is used for spawning controllers
	 * @return
	 */
	public ContextEntry popLauncherContextEntry();
	
	/**
	 * @return The current context entry
	 */
	public ContextEntry getCurrentContextEntry();
	
	/**
	 * set new context entry which reflects latest state of a controller, which can be reactivated
	 * @param cw
	 */
	public void setCurrentContextEntry(ContextEntry cw);
	
	/**
	 * used when the current contextentry cannot be resolved (e.g. a coursenode that no longer is accessible or existing)
	 *
	 */
	public void dropLauncherEntries();


	/**
	 * if still some more context entries for spawning are available
	 * @return
	 */
	public boolean hasContextEntry();
}