org.kuali.rice.krad.datadictionary.validation
Interface AttributeValueReader

All Known Implementing Classes:

BaseAttributeValueReader, DictionaryObjectAttributeValueReader, MaintenanceDocumentAttributeValueReader, SingleAttributeValueReader, ViewAttributeValueReader

public interface AttributeValueReader

AttributeValueReader defines classes that encapsulate access to both dictionary metadata and object field values

For example, by reflection and introspection, for the purpose of performing validation against constraints defined in the DictionaryValidationService implementation.

Practically speaking, this interface should only need to be implemented by a small number of classes. The two major use cases are for

1. a dictionary object with members
2. a specific member of a dictionary object

In the first case, implementing classes should provide access to all underlying members of the object via reflection or some other mechanism. In the second case, implementing classes only need to provide access to the value associated with that specific member, and constraints requiring access to additional members will be skipped.

Since:

1.1

Author:

Kuali Rice Team (rice.collab@kuali.org)

Method Summary

AttributeValueReader	clone() overrides Object.clone()
String	getAttributeName() acts as an accessor for the attribute name that is currently being processed by the DictionaryValidationService implementation
List<String>	getCleanSearchableValues(String attributeName) enables legacy processing of string representations of attribute values like a date range in the format 12/03/2001..1/29/2009
Constrainable	getDefinition(String attributeName) provides access to the constrainable attribute definition of a specific attribute name
List<Constrainable>	getDefinitions() gets a list of all constrainable dictionary metadata definitions for attributes or fields encapsulated by this object
Constrainable	getEntry() gets the dictionary metadata associated with an object (its "entry" in the dictionary)
String	getEntryName() gets the entry name for the purposes of correct error look up
String	getLabel(String attributeName) looks up a label for a specific attribute name
Object	getObject() gets the underlying object itself (not the field/attribute value, but the object)
String	getPath() gets the path, which is a string representation of specifically which attribute (at some depth) is being accessed
Class<?>	getType(String attributeName) gets the type of the attribute specified - A Java class
<X> X	getValue() looks up the attribute value that is currently being processed
<X> X	getValue(String attributeName) looks up any attribute value by name for the object being processed
boolean	isReadable() Indicates whether the configured attribute name is readable for the object
void	setAttributeName(String attributeName) Setter for the current attribute that is being processed

Method Detail

getAttributeName

String getAttributeName()

acts as an accessor for the attribute name that is currently being processed by the DictionaryValidationService implementation

Returns:

the current attribute name being processed

getDefinition

Constrainable getDefinition(String attributeName)

provides access to the constrainable attribute definition of a specific attribute name

If the value of the metadata associated with the object field does not implement constrainable, or if no metadata is associated with this object field, then null should be returned.

Parameters:

attributeName - - the name of the attribute/field whose metadata is being requested

Returns:

dictionary metadata object implementing some constrainable capability

getDefinitions

List<Constrainable> getDefinitions()

gets a list of all constrainable dictionary metadata definitions for attributes or fields encapsulated by this object

Returns:

a list of constrainable definitions

getEntry

Constrainable getEntry()

gets the dictionary metadata associated with an object (its "entry" in the dictionary)

It can also be constrainable, in which case the object value itself can be validated against one or more constraints. If the specific entry for the dictionary object encapsulated by this reader is not constrainable, or if no entry exists for this dictionary object, or no dictionary object is being encapsulted, then null should be returned.

Returns:

the constrainable dictionary entry metadata for this object, or null

getEntryName

String getEntryName()

gets the entry name for the purposes of correct error look up

Errors are generally found by entry name + attribute name + error key

Returns:

the name that the data dictionary uses to store metadata about this object (not its attributes)

getLabel

String getLabel(String attributeName)

looks up a label for a specific attribute name

Parameters:

attributeName - - the name of attribute

Returns:

some descriptive label that can be exposed to the end user for error messages

getObject

Object getObject()

gets the underlying object itself (not the field/attribute value, but the object)

Returns:

the object that is being encapsulated by this reader, or null if no object is being encapsulated

getPath

String getPath()

gets the path, which is a string representation of specifically which attribute (at some depth) is being accessed

For example, on a person object there might be the following field path: joe.home.mailingAddress.state

Returns:

the string representation of the attribute identifier currently being processed

getType

Class<?> getType(String attributeName)

gets the type of the attribute specified - A Java class

Parameters:

attributeName - - the name of attribute

Returns:

the type of the attribute referenced by the passed name, or null if no attribute exists of that name

isReadable

boolean isReadable()

Indicates whether the configured attribute name is readable for the object

Returns:

boolean if attribute is readable, false if not

getValue

<X> X getValue()
           throws AttributeValidationException

looks up the attribute value that is currently being processed

Type Parameters:

X - - the type of the attribute

Returns:

the attribute's value if found, null if not

Throws:

AttributeValidationException

getValue

<X> X getValue(String attributeName)
           throws AttributeValidationException

looks up any attribute value by name for the object being processed

Type Parameters:

X - - the type of the attribute

Parameters:

attributeName - - the name of attribute whose value is looked up

Returns:

- the attribute's value if found, null if not

Throws:

AttributeValidationException

getCleanSearchableValues

List<String> getCleanSearchableValues(String attributeName)
                                      throws AttributeValidationException

enables legacy processing of string representations of attribute values like a date range in the format 12/03/2001..1/29/2009

Parameters:

attributeName - - the attribute name

Returns:

the list of token strings for the attribute value of the named attribute

Throws:

AttributeValidationException

setAttributeName

void setAttributeName(String attributeName)

Setter for the current attribute that is being processed

Parameters:

attributeName -

clone

AttributeValueReader clone()

overrides Object.clone()

Returns:

a cloned AttributeValueReader