com.uwyn.rife.site
Interface Constrained<B extends ConstrainedBean,P extends ConstrainedProperty>

All Known Implementing Classes:

CmfValidation, ContentInfo, ContentRepository, DatabaseContentInfo, Email, MetaData, RoleUser, Task, Taskoption, Validation

public interface Constrained<B extends ConstrainedBean,P extends ConstrainedProperty>

This interface defines methods for bean-centric constraining of data entities.

A constraint describes additional information about a data entity. Its main purpose is to alter the default behaviour of a data type and to clearly set the accepted limits. The meta-data that's provided through constraints can be used elsewhere to gather more information about how to correctly integrate the indicated data limits.

For example, a constraint specifies that a certain text's length is limited to 30 characters, parts of the system can query this information and act accordingly:

• a HTML form builder can create a field that doesn't allow the entry of longer text,
• a SQL query builder can limit the size of the column in which the text will stored when the table creation SQL is generated,
• a validation system can check if the text isn't longer than 30 characters and provide appropriate information when the length is exceeded.

There are two types of constraints:

• those that are related to the entire bean (ConstrainedBean constraints)
• those that only apply to a single property (ConstrainedProperty constraints)

Since:

1.0

Version:

$Revision: 3717 $

Author:

Geert Bevin (gbevin[remove] at uwyn dot com)

See Also:

ConstrainedBean, ConstrainedProperty

Method Summary

void	addConstraint(B constrainedBean) Add a new constrained bean.
void	addConstraint(P constrainedProperty) Add a new constrained property.
B	getConstrainedBean() Retrieves the constrained bean that has been set for this Constrained instance.
Collection<P>	getConstrainedProperties() Returns a collection with all the constrained properties that have been registered.
P	getConstrainedProperty(String propertyName) Retrieve a registered ConstrainedProperty according to its name.
boolean	hasPropertyConstraint(String name) Indicates whether this constrained bean contains a particular constraint on at least one of its properties.

Method Detail

addConstraint

void addConstraint(B constrainedBean)

Add a new constrained bean.

When several constrained beans are added, they are merged at constraint-level. This means for instance that all previous unique constraints will be replaced by those of the new constrained bean, they will not be combined.

Parameters:

constrainedBean - the ConstrainedBean instance that has to be added

Since:

1.0

See Also:

ConstrainedBean

addConstraint

void addConstraint(P constrainedProperty)

Add a new constrained property.

When several of the same constrained properties are added, they are merged at constraint-level. This means for instance that a previous inList constraint will be replaced by the one of the new constrained bean, they will not be combined.

Parameters:

constrainedProperty - the ConstrainedProperty instance that has to be added

Since:

1.0

See Also:

ConstrainedProperty

getConstrainedBean

B getConstrainedBean()

Retrieves the constrained bean that has been set for this Constrained instance.

Returns:

the requested ConstrainedBean; or

null if no ConstrainedBean is available.

Since:

1.0

See Also:

ConstrainedProperty

getConstrainedProperties

Collection<P> getConstrainedProperties()

Returns a collection with all the constrained properties that have been registered.

Returns:

A Collection with all the ConstrainedProperty objects that are registered. If no constrained properties are available, an empty collection will be returned, not null.

Since:

1.0

See Also:

ConstrainedProperty

hasPropertyConstraint

boolean hasPropertyConstraint(String name)

Indicates whether this constrained bean contains a particular constraint on at least one of its properties.

Returns:

true if this constraint is present on at least one of the properties; or

false otherwise

Since:

1.6

See Also:

ConstrainedProperty

getConstrainedProperty

P getConstrainedProperty(String propertyName)

Retrieve a registered ConstrainedProperty according to its name.

Parameters:

propertyName - the name of the ConstrainedProperty that has to be retrieved

Returns:

the requested ConstrainedProperty; or

null if no such ConstrainedProperty is available.

Since:

1.0

See Also:

ConstrainedProperty