1 /**
2 * Copyright 2005-2012 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.coreservice.api.parameter;
17
18 import org.kuali.rice.core.api.mo.common.GloballyUnique;
19 import org.kuali.rice.core.api.mo.common.Versioned;
20
21 /**
22 * This is the contract for a Parameter. The concept of a parameter is a key=value pair that is associated
23 * with a rice enabled application.
24 *
25 * <p>
26 * When thinking of a parameter in terms of a key=value pair, the following defines the key and value parts:
27 *
28 * the key of a parameter consists of the following pieces:
29 *
30 * <ol>
31 * <li>{@link #getApplicationId() applicationId}</li>
32 * <li>{@link #getNamespaceCode() namespaceCode}</li>
33 * <li>{@link #getComponentCode() componentCode}</li>
34 * <li>{@link #getName() name}</li>
35 * </ol>
36 *
37 * the value consists of the {@link #getValue() value}
38 * </p>
39 */
40 public interface ParameterContract extends Versioned, GloballyUnique {
41
42 /**
43 * This is the application id for the Parameter. This cannot be null or a blank string.
44 *
45 * <p>
46 * It is a way of assigning the Parameter to a specific rice application or rice ecosystem.
47 * </p>
48 *
49 * @return application id
50 */
51 String getApplicationId();
52
53 /**
54 * This is the namespace for the parameter. This cannot be null or a blank string.
55 *
56 * <p>
57 * It is a way of assigning the parameter to a logical grouping within a rice application or rice ecosystem.
58 * </p>
59 *
60 * @return namespace code
61 */
62 String getNamespaceCode();
63
64 /**
65 * This is the component code for the parameter. This cannot be null.
66 *
67 * <p>
68 * It is a way of assigning a parameter to a functional component within a rice application or rice ecosystem.
69 * </p>
70 *
71 * @return component
72 */
73 String getComponentCode();
74
75 /**
76 * The name of the parameter. This cannot be null or a blank string.
77 * @return name
78 */
79 String getName();
80
81 /**
82 * The value of the parameter. This can be null or a blank string.
83 * @return value
84 */
85 String getValue();
86
87 /**
88 * This is the description for what the parameter is used for. This can be null or a blank string.
89 * @return description
90 */
91 String getDescription();
92
93 /**
94 * This is the evaluation operator for the parameter. This can be null.
95 *
96 * <p>
97 * This allows parameters to be used as primitive business rules.
98 * </p>
99 *
100 * @return evaluation operator
101 */
102 EvaluationOperator getEvaluationOperator();
103
104 /**
105 * This is the type for the parameter. This cannot be null.
106 *
107 * <p>
108 * Some parameters have special types in rice which may have special meaning
109 * and is related to the {@link #getEvaluationOperator()}
110 * </p>
111 *
112 * @return type
113 */
114 ParameterTypeContract getParameterType();
115
116 }