net.sf.mmm.util.lang.api

Interface DatatypeDescriptor<T>

Type Parameters:

T - is the generic type of the described Datatype.

All Known Implementing Classes:

AbstractDatatypeDescriptor, DatatypeDescriptorAtomicJavaDatatype, DatatypeDescriptorDate, DatatypeDescriptorEnum, DatatypeDescriptorLocalDate, DatatypeDescriptorSimpleDatatype

@ComponentSpecification(plugin=true)
public interface DatatypeDescriptor<T>

This is the interface to describe a Datatype. Allows to disassemble a (composite) datatype into its segments as well as to assemble a Datatype from its segments.

Since:

6.0.0

Author:

Joerg Hohwiller (hohwille at users.sourceforge.net)

Method Summary

Modifier and Type	Method and Description
T	create(Object... segments) This method creates a new instance of the described datatype from the individual segments.
Class<T>	getDatatype()
Object	getSegment(T datatype, int index) Gets a single segment of the given Datatype.
List<DatatypeSegmentDescriptor<T,?>>	getSegmentDescriptors() Gets the List of DatatypeSegmentDescriptors the described datatype is composed of.

Method Detail

getDatatype

Class<T> getDatatype()

Returns:

the Class reflecting the Datatype described by this object.

getSegmentDescriptors

List<DatatypeSegmentDescriptor<T,?>> getSegmentDescriptors()

Gets the List of DatatypeSegmentDescriptors the described datatype is composed of.
E.g. a LocalDate is composed out of three segments all of the type Integer: year, month, and day.

Returns:

the List of DatatypeSegmentDescriptors.

getSegment

Object getSegment(T datatype,
                  int index)

Gets a single segment of the given Datatype.

Parameters:

datatype - is the Datatype instance to disassemble.

index - is the index of the segment to retrieve. Has to correspond to the list index of segment descriptors.

Returns:

the atomic value of the requested segment. Has to correspond to DatatypeSegmentDescriptor.getType().

See Also:

getSegmentDescriptors()

create

T create(Object... segments)

This method creates a new instance of the described datatype from the individual segments.

Parameters:

segments - are the segment values in the order given by getSegmentDescriptors(). Optional segments may be omitted (from the end of the list). The type of each segment has to match the corresponding segment type.

Returns:

the new datatype instance.