uk.ac.starlink.gbin
Interface Representation<T>

public interface Representation<T>

Defines how an object type in a GBIN file will be represented when the GBIN file is turned into a table.

Since:

3 Sep 2015

Method Summary

java.lang.Class<T>	getContentClass() Returns the object type with which this representation presents values.
boolean	isColumn() Indicates whether values presented by this object are suitable for use as columns in a table.
T	representValue(java.lang.Object value) Transforms a raw data value to the value as presented by this representation.

Method Detail

getContentClass

java.lang.Class<T> getContentClass()

Returns the object type with which this representation presents values. All calls to representValue must return an instance of this class (or null).

Returns:

representation class for values

representValue

T representValue(java.lang.Object value)

Transforms a raw data value to the value as presented by this representation.

Parameters:

value - raw value obtained from GBIN file

Returns:

presented value of object, must be compatible with declared content class

isColumn

boolean isColumn()

Indicates whether values presented by this object are suitable for use as columns in a table. If not, the assumption is that it's a structured object, and its component parts may be recursed through to acquire multiple records corresponding to one value presented here.

Returns:

true iff represented values are suitable column values