org.exolab.castor.xml
Interface XMLFieldDescriptor

All Superinterfaces:

FieldDescriptor

public interface XMLFieldDescriptor

extends FieldDescriptor

XML field descriptor. Wraps FieldDescriptor and adds XML-related information, type conversion, etc.

Version:

$Revision: 1.6 $ $Date: 2004/03/08 07:34:41 $

Author:

Assaf Arkin, Keith Visco

Field Summary

static java.lang.String	PROPERTY_XML_LANG The xml:lang property
static java.lang.String	PROPERTY_XML_SPACE The xml:space property

Method Summary

int	getConstructorArgumentIndex() Returns the index within the constructor argument array where the value of this field should be.
java.lang.String	getLocationPath() Returns the "relative" XML path for the field being described.
java.lang.String	getNameSpacePrefix() Return the "suggested" namespace prefix to use when marshalling as XML.
java.lang.String	getNameSpaceURI() Returns the namespace URI to be used when marshalling and unmarshalling as XML.
NodeType	getNodeType() Returns the NodeType of the Field being described.
java.lang.String	getProperty(java.lang.String propertyName) Returns the value property with the given name or null if no such property exists.
java.lang.String	getSchemaType() Returns the XML Schema type of the XML field being described.
FieldValidator	getValidator() Returns a specific validator for the field described by this descriptor.
java.lang.String	getXMLName() Returns the XML Name for the field being described.
boolean	isConstructorArgument() Returns true if the value of the field represented by this descriptor should be set via the constructor of the containing class.
boolean	isContainer() Returns true if the field described by this descriptor is a container field.
boolean	isIncremental() Returns the incremental flag which when true indicates that this member may be safely added before the unmarshaller is finished unmarshalling it.
boolean	isMapped() Returns true if the field described by this descriptor is Map or Hashtable.
boolean	isMultivalued() Returns true if the field described by this descriptor can contain more than one value
boolean	isReference() Returns true if the field described by this descriptor is a reference (ie.
boolean	matches(java.lang.String xmlName) Returns true if this descriptor can be used to handle elements or attributes with the given XML name.
boolean	matches(java.lang.String xmlName, java.lang.String namespace) Returns true if this descriptor can be used to handle elements or attributes with the given XML name.

Methods inherited from interface org.exolab.castor.mapping.FieldDescriptor

getClassDescriptor, getContainingClassDescriptor, getFieldName, getFieldType, getHandler, isImmutable, isRequired, isTransient, setContainingClassDescriptor

Field Detail

PROPERTY_XML_SPACE

public static final java.lang.String PROPERTY_XML_SPACE

The xml:space property

See Also:

Constant Field Values

PROPERTY_XML_LANG

public static final java.lang.String PROPERTY_XML_LANG

The xml:lang property

See Also:

Constant Field Values

Method Detail

getConstructorArgumentIndex

public int getConstructorArgumentIndex()

Returns the index within the constructor argument array where the value of this field should be. A value less than zero indicates that the value of this field is set via a normal setter method and not via the constructor. Note: This only applies to attribute mapped fields at this time.

Returns:

the index within the constructor argument array for this field.

See Also:

isConstructorArgument

getNameSpacePrefix

public java.lang.String getNameSpacePrefix()

Return the "suggested" namespace prefix to use when marshalling as XML.

Returns:

the "suggested" namespace prefix.

getNameSpaceURI

public java.lang.String getNameSpaceURI()

Returns the namespace URI to be used when marshalling and unmarshalling as XML.

Returns:

the namespace URI.

getNodeType

public NodeType getNodeType()

Returns the NodeType of the Field being described. The NodeType represents the Type of Node that the Field will be marshalled into XML as.

Returns:

the NodeType of the Field being described.

getProperty

public java.lang.String getProperty(java.lang.String propertyName)

Returns the value property with the given name or null if no such property exists. This method is useful for future evolutions of this interface as well as for user-defined extensions. See class declared properties for built-in properties.

Parameters:

propertyName - the name of the property whose value should be returned.

Returns:

the value of the property, or null.

getValidator

public FieldValidator getValidator()

Returns a specific validator for the field described by this descriptor. A null value may be returned if no specific validator exists.

Returns:

the field validator for the described field

getXMLName

public java.lang.String getXMLName()

Returns the XML Name for the field being described.

Returns:

the XML name.

getLocationPath

public java.lang.String getLocationPath()

Returns the "relative" XML path for the field being described. In most cases, this will be null. However sometimes a field may be mapped to a nested element. In which case the value returned by this method should be the nested element name. If more than one level of nesting is needed each nested element name should be separated by by a path separator (forward slash '/'). The location path name is "relative" to the parent Class. The name of the parent should not be included in the path. For example, give the following two classes: class Root { Bar bar; } class Bar { String value; } And the following XML: <root> <foo> <bar> value of bar </bar> </foo> </root> Since foo has no associated class, the path for 'bar' would be: "foo"

getSchemaType

public java.lang.String getSchemaType()

Returns the XML Schema type of the XML field being described.

Returns:

the XML Schema type of the XML field being described.

isConstructorArgument

public boolean isConstructorArgument()

Returns true if the value of the field represented by this descriptor should be set via the constructor of the containing class. This is only valid for attribute mapped fields.

Returns:

true if the value of the field represented by this descriptor should be set via the constructor of the containing class.

isIncremental

public boolean isIncremental()

Returns the incremental flag which when true indicates that this member may be safely added before the unmarshaller is finished unmarshalling it.

Returns:

true if the Object can safely be added before the unmarshaller is finished unmarshalling the Object.

isMultivalued

public boolean isMultivalued()

Returns true if the field described by this descriptor can contain more than one value

Specified by:

isMultivalued in interface FieldDescriptor

Returns:

true if the field described by this descriptor can contain more than one value

isMapped

public boolean isMapped()

Returns true if the field described by this descriptor is Map or Hashtable. If this method returns true, it must also return true for any call to #isMultivalued.

Returns:

true if the field described by this desciptor is a Map or Hashtable, otherwise false.

isReference

public boolean isReference()

Returns true if the field described by this descriptor is a reference (ie. IDREF) to another object in the "Object Model" (XML tree)

isContainer

public boolean isContainer()

Returns true if the field described by this descriptor is a container field. A container is a field that is not a first-class object, and should therefore have no XML representation.

Returns:

true if the field is a container

matches

public boolean matches(java.lang.String xmlName)

Returns true if this descriptor can be used to handle elements or attributes with the given XML name. By default this method simply compares the given XML name with the internal XML name. This method can be overridden to provide more complex matching.

Parameters:

xmlName - the XML name to compare

Returns:

true if this descriptor can be used to handle elements or attributes with the given XML name.

matches

public boolean matches(java.lang.String xmlName,
                       java.lang.String namespace)

Returns true if this descriptor can be used to handle elements or attributes with the given XML name. By default this method simply compares the given XML name with the internal XML name. This method can be overridden to provide more complex matching.

Parameters:

xmlName - the XML name to compare

namespace - the namespace URI

Returns:

true if this descriptor can be used to handle elements or attributes with the given XML name.