org.springframework.extensions.config
Interface ConfigElement

All Superinterfaces:

Serializable

All Known Implementing Classes:

ConfigElementAdapter, GenericConfigElement, RemoteConfigElement, ServerConfigElement, WebFrameworkConfigElement, WebStudioConfigElement

public interface ConfigElement
extends Serializable

Definition of a configuration element

Author:

gavinc

Method Summary

ConfigElement	combine(ConfigElement configElement) Combines the given config element with this config element and returns a new instance containing the resulting combination.
String	getAttribute(String name) Gets the value of the attrbiute with the given name
int	getAttributeCount() Returns the number of attributes this config element has
Map<String,String>	getAttributes() Returns the list of attributes held by this config element
ConfigElement	getChild(String name) Returns a child config element of the given name
int	getChildCount() Returns the number of children this config element has
List<ConfigElement>	getChildren() Returns a list of children held by this ConfigElement
List<ConfigElement>	getChildren(String name) Returns a list of children held by this ConfigElement with the given name.
String	getChildValue(String name) Shortcut method to return a child config element value of the given name.
String	getName() Returns the name of this config element
String	getValue() Gets the value of this config element.
boolean	hasAttribute(String name) Determines whether the config element has the named attribute
boolean	hasChildren() Determines whether this config element has any children.

Method Detail

getName

String getName()

Returns the name of this config element

Returns:

Name of this config element

getAttribute

String getAttribute(String name)

Gets the value of the attrbiute with the given name

Parameters:

name - The name of the attrbiute to get the value for

Returns:

The value of the attrbiute or null if the attribute doesn't exist

getAttributes

Map<String,String> getAttributes()

Returns the list of attributes held by this config element

Returns:

The list of attrbiutes

hasAttribute

boolean hasAttribute(String name)

Determines whether the config element has the named attribute

Parameters:

name - Name of the attribute to check existence for

Returns:

true if it exists, false otherwise

getAttributeCount

int getAttributeCount()

Returns the number of attributes this config element has

Returns:

The number of attributes

getValue

String getValue()

Gets the value of this config element. If this config element has children then this method may return null

Returns:

Value of this config element or null if there is no value

getChild

ConfigElement getChild(String name)

Returns a child config element of the given name

Parameters:

name - The name of the config element to retrieve

Returns:

The ConfigElement or null if it does not exist

getChildValue

String getChildValue(String name)

Shortcut method to return a child config element value of the given name. Returns null as the value if the element does not exist.

Parameters:

name - The name of the config element to retrieve the value from.

Returns:

The ConfigElement value or null if it does not exist

getChildren

List<ConfigElement> getChildren(String name)

Returns a list of children held by this ConfigElement with the given name.

Parameters:

name - The name of the config element to retrieve

Returns:

The list of children.

getChildren

List<ConfigElement> getChildren()

Returns a list of children held by this ConfigElement

Returns:

The list of children.

hasChildren

boolean hasChildren()

Determines whether this config element has any children. It is more effecient to call this method rather than getChildren().size() as a collection is not created if it is not required

Returns:

true if it has children, false otherwise

getChildCount

int getChildCount()

Returns the number of children this config element has

Returns:

The number of children

combine

ConfigElement combine(ConfigElement configElement)

Combines the given config element with this config element and returns a new instance containing the resulting combination. The combination of the two objects MUST NOT change this instance.

Parameters:

configElement - The config element to combine into this one

Returns:

The combined ConfigElement