1 /**
2 * Copyright 2005-2011 The Kuali Foundation
3 *
4 * Licensed under the Educational Community License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
5 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
6 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
7 *
8 * http://www.opensource.org/licenses/ecl2.php
9 *
10 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
11 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
12 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
13 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
14 * limitations under the License.
15 */
16 package org.kuali.rice.krms.api.repository.function;
17
18 import org.kuali.rice.core.api.mo.common.Identifiable;
19 import org.kuali.rice.core.api.mo.common.Versioned;
20 import org.kuali.rice.core.api.mo.common.active.Inactivatable;
21 import org.kuali.rice.krms.api.repository.category.CategoryDefinitionContract;
22 import org.kuali.rice.krms.api.repository.type.KrmsTypeDefinition;
23
24 import java.util.List;
25
26 /**
27 * Defines the contract for a function definition. A function definition can be
28 * defined by clients integrating with KRMS in order to implement custom logic
29 * which they may require as part of rule execution and evaluation. These can
30 * then be used in simple propositions.
31 *
32 * <p>The function definition itself defines various metadata about the function
33 * including it's name, return type, and expected parameter types. The actual
34 * implementation of the function is retrieved through the type defined by
35 * {@link #getTypeId()}.
36 *
37 * @author Kuali Rice Team (rice.collab@kuali.org)
38 *
39 */
40 public interface FunctionDefinitionContract extends Versioned, Identifiable, Inactivatable {
41
42 /**
43 * Returns the namespace code of this function definition. All functions
44 * have a namespace and this value can never be null or blank. The
45 * combination of namespace plus name must be unique within the entire
46 * repository of functions.
47 *
48 * @return the namespace code of this function definition
49 */
50 String getNamespace();
51
52 /**
53 * Returns the name of this function definition. All functions have a name
54 * and this value can never be null or blank. The combination of namespace
55 * plus name must be unique within the entire repository of functions.
56 *
57 * @return the name of this function definition
58 */
59 String getName();
60
61 /**
62 * Returns the description of this function definition. The description is
63 * intended to provide more information about a function and it's
64 * appropriate usage. The description is optional.
65 *
66 * @return the description of this function definition
67 */
68 String getDescription();
69
70 /**
71 * Returns the type of the return value of the function defined by this
72 * function definition. This can be one of a set of "built-in" data types
73 * or a custom data type represented as a fully qualified java class name.
74 * All functions must have a return type so this method should never return
75 * null or blank.
76 *
77 * @return the return type of this function definition
78 */
79 String getReturnType();
80
81 /**
82 * Returns the id of the {@link KrmsTypeDefinition} which defines the
83 * actual implementation of this function such that it can be loaded into
84 * the engine and executed.
85 *
86 * @return the type id of this function definition
87 */
88 String getTypeId();
89
90 /**
91 * Returns an ordered, immutable list of the parameters which this function
92 * definition requires. This list can be empty (in the case of a function
93 * which has no arguments) but will never be null.
94 *
95 * @return the list of parameters for this function definition
96 */
97 List<? extends FunctionParameterDefinitionContract> getParameters();
98
99 /**
100 * Returns an ordered list of the categories which this function
101 * definition requires. This list can be empty (in the case of a function
102 * which has no arguments) but will never be null.
103 *
104 * @return the list of categories for this function definition
105 */
106 List<? extends CategoryDefinitionContract> getCategories();
107
108 }