org.gridfour.gvrs

Class GvrsElementSpecification

java.lang.Object

org.gridfour.gvrs.GvrsElementSpecification

Direct Known Subclasses:

GvrsElementSpecificationFloat, GvrsElementSpecificationInt, GvrsElementSpecificationIntCodedFloat, GvrsElementSpecificationShort

public abstract class GvrsElementSpecification
extends Object

Provides the abstract base for a set of classes intended to specify parameters for GVRS elements.

The syntax for the application-defined element name must conform to the rules for the GVRS identifier:

1. The first character must be an upper or lowercase ASCII letter. This restriction is applied to support languages such as Python where an initial underscore indicates a special interpretation for an identifier.
2. A combination of ASCII characters including upper and lowercase letters, numeric digits, underscores.

Note: GVRS identifiers are intended to be consistent with naming conventions across a broad range of computer languages (including C/C++, Java, C#, and Python). So the allowable character set for identifiers is limited.

The limit to the length of an element name name is 32 characters.

Field Summary

Fields

Modifier and Type	Field and Description
static int	GVRS_ELEMENT_MAX_IDENTIFIER_LENGTH

Method Summary

Modifier and Type	Method and Description
protected void	copyApplicationData(GvrsElementSpecification spec)
String	getDescription() Gets the arbitrary description string.
String	getLabel() Gets the arbitrary label string.
String	getName() Gets the unique identifier (the "name") for this specification instance.
String	getUnitOfMeasure() Gets the arbitrary unit of measure string.
boolean	isContinuous() Indicates whether the data element can be treated as a continuous function over a surface or behaves in a non-continuous (discrete-valued) manner.
void	setContinuous(boolean continuous) Sets a value indicating whether the data element can be treated as a continuous function over a surface.
void	setDescription(String description) Sets an arbitrary description string.
void	setLabel(String label) Sets an arbitrary unit of label string.
void	setUnitOfMeasure(String unitOfMeasure) Sets an arbitrary unit of measure string.

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait

Field Detail

GVRS_ELEMENT_MAX_IDENTIFIER_LENGTH

public static final int GVRS_ELEMENT_MAX_IDENTIFIER_LENGTH

See Also:

Constant Field Values

Method Detail

getName

public String getName()

Gets the unique identifier (the "name") for this specification instance. The name is a simple ASCII string that conforms to the definitions for a GVRS identifier and is 32 characters or less in length.

Returns:

a valid, non-empty string.

setDescription

public void setDescription(String description)

Sets an arbitrary description string. Intended to allow applications to provide documentation for elements.

Parameters:

description - a valid non-empty string, or a null if no description is to be supplied.

getDescription

public String getDescription()

Gets the arbitrary description string. Intended to allow applications to provide documentation for elements.

Returns:

a valid non-empty string, or a null if no description is to be supplied.

setUnitOfMeasure

public void setUnitOfMeasure(String unitOfMeasure)

Sets an arbitrary unit of measure string. Intended to provide applications with information about the unit of measure for elements.

Parameters:

unitOfMeasure - a valid non-empty string, or a null if no unit of measure is to be specified.

getUnitOfMeasure

public String getUnitOfMeasure()

Gets the arbitrary unit of measure string. Intended to allow applications to provide documentation for elements.

Returns:

a valid non-empty string, or a null if no description is to be supplied.

setLabel

public void setLabel(String label)

Sets an arbitrary unit of label string. Intended to provide applications with that ability to label elements using the full range of UTF-8 character sets. In particular, this method is useful for applications requiring specifications in non-western character sets.

Parameters:

label - valid non-empty string, or null if no label is to be specified.

getLabel

public String getLabel()

Gets the arbitrary label string. Intended to provide applications with that ability to label elements using the full range of UTF-8 character sets. In particular, this method is useful for applications requiring specifications in non-western character sets.

Returns:

a valid non-empty string, or a null if no description is to be supplied.

isContinuous

public boolean isContinuous()

Indicates whether the data element can be treated as a continuous function over a surface or behaves in a non-continuous (discrete-valued) manner.

This method is intended to allow data providers to indicate to users how the information stored in this file can be used. Continuous data is suitable for interpolation, slope and tangent analysis, and similar applications. Discontinuous data cannot be interpolated and does not support calculus-based computations.

Returns:

true if the data can be treated as continuous; otherwise false.

setContinuous

public void setContinuous(boolean continuous)

Sets a value indicating whether the data element can be treated as a continuous function over a surface.

Parameters:

continuous - true if the data can be treated as continuous; otherwise, false.

copyApplicationData

protected void copyApplicationData(GvrsElementSpecification spec)