net.sourceforge.pmd
Interface PropertyDescriptor<T>

Type Parameters:

T -

All Superinterfaces:

Comparable<PropertyDescriptor<?>>

All Known Subinterfaces:

NumericPropertyDescriptor<T>

All Known Implementing Classes:

AbstractEnumeratedProperty, AbstractMultiNumericProperty, AbstractMultiPackagedProperty, AbstractNumericProperty, AbstractPackagedProperty, AbstractProperty, AbstractScalarProperty, BooleanMultiProperty, BooleanProperty, CharacterMultiProperty, CharacterProperty, DoubleMultiProperty, DoubleProperty, EnumeratedMultiProperty, EnumeratedProperty, FileProperty, FloatMultiProperty, FloatProperty, IntegerMultiProperty, IntegerProperty, LongMultiProperty, LongProperty, MethodMultiProperty, MethodProperty, PropertyDescriptorWrapper, StringMultiProperty, StringProperty, TypeMultiProperty, TypeProperty

public interface PropertyDescriptor<T>
extends Comparable<PropertyDescriptor<?>>

Property value descriptor that defines the use & requirements for setting property values for use within PMD and any associated GUIs. While concrete descriptor instances are static and immutable they provide validation, serialization, and default values for any specific datatypes.

Author:

Brian Remedios

Method Summary

String	asDelimitedString(T value) Formats the object onto a string suitable for storage within the property map.
Map<String,String>	attributeValuesById() Returns a map representing all the property attributes of the receiver in string form.
Object[][]	choices() Returns a set of choice tuples if available, returns null if none are defined.
T	defaultValue() Default value to use when the user hasn't specified one or when they wish to revert to a known-good state.
String	description() Describes the property and the role it plays within the rule it is specified for.
String	errorFor(Object value) Validation function that returns a diagnostic error message for a sample property value.
boolean	isMultiValue() Returns whether the property is multi-valued, i.e. an array of strings, As unary property rule properties will return a value of one, you must use the get/setProperty accessors when working with the actual values.
boolean	isRequired() Denotes whether the value is required before the rule can be executed.
char	multiValueDelimiter() Return the character being used to delimit multiple property values within a single string.
String	name() The name of the property without spaces as it serves as the key into the property map.
int	preferredRowCount() If the datatype is a String then return the preferred number of rows to allocate in the text widget, returns a value of one for all other types.
String	propertyErrorFor(Rule rule) A convenience method that returns an error string if the rule holds onto a property value that has a problem.
Class<T>	type() Denotes the value datatype.
float	uiOrder() Denotes the relative order the property field should occupy if we are using an auto-generated UI to display and edit property values.
T	valueFrom(String propertyString) If the property is multi-valued then return the separate values after parsing the propertyString provided.

Methods inherited from interface java.lang.Comparable

compareTo

Method Detail

name

String name()

The name of the property without spaces as it serves as the key into the property map.

Returns:

String

description

String description()

Describes the property and the role it plays within the rule it is specified for. Could be used in a tooltip.

Returns:

String

type

Class<T> type()

Denotes the value datatype.

Returns:

Class

isMultiValue

boolean isMultiValue()

Returns whether the property is multi-valued, i.e. an array of strings, As unary property rule properties will return a value of one, you must use the get/setProperty accessors when working with the actual values. When working with multi-value properties then the get/setProperties accessors must be used.

Returns:

boolean

defaultValue

T defaultValue()

Default value to use when the user hasn't specified one or when they wish to revert to a known-good state.

Returns:

Object

isRequired

boolean isRequired()

Denotes whether the value is required before the rule can be executed. Has no meaning for primitive types such as booleans, ints, etc.

Returns:

boolean

errorFor

String errorFor(Object value)

Validation function that returns a diagnostic error message for a sample property value. Returns null if the value is acceptable.

Parameters:

value - Object

Returns:

String

uiOrder

float uiOrder()

Denotes the relative order the property field should occupy if we are using an auto-generated UI to display and edit property values. If the value returned has a non-zero fractional part then this is can be used to place adjacent fields on the same row. Example: name -> 0.0 description 1.0 minValue -> 2.0 maxValue -> 2.1 ..would have their fields placed like: name: [ ] description: [ ] minimum: [ ] maximum: [ ]

Returns:

float

valueFrom

T valueFrom(String propertyString)
            throws IllegalArgumentException

If the property is multi-valued then return the separate values after parsing the propertyString provided. If it isn't a multi-valued property then the value will be returned within an array of size[1].

Parameters:

propertyString - String

Returns:

Object

Throws:

IllegalArgumentException - if the given string cannot be parsed

asDelimitedString

String asDelimitedString(T value)

Formats the object onto a string suitable for storage within the property map.

Parameters:

value - Object

Returns:

String

choices

Object[][] choices()

Returns a set of choice tuples if available, returns null if none are defined.

Returns:

Object[][]

propertyErrorFor

String propertyErrorFor(Rule rule)

A convenience method that returns an error string if the rule holds onto a property value that has a problem. Returns null otherwise.

Parameters:

rule - Rule

Returns:

String

multiValueDelimiter

char multiValueDelimiter()

Return the character being used to delimit multiple property values within a single string. You must ensure that this character does not appear within any rule property values to avoid deserialization errors.

Returns:

char

preferredRowCount

int preferredRowCount()

If the datatype is a String then return the preferred number of rows to allocate in the text widget, returns a value of one for all other types. Useful for multi-line XPATH editors.

Returns:

int

attributeValuesById

Map<String,String> attributeValuesById()

Returns a map representing all the property attributes of the receiver in string form.

Returns:

Map