com.inline.feature
Interface FeatureConstructor

All Known Implementing Classes:

AbstractFeatureConstructor

public interface FeatureConstructor

extends Displayable

Feature constructors are used to create new Features and insert them into the FeatureModel. Note that FeatureConstructors are not used during the model parse process, FeatureSets allocate features directly in that case.

The process of creating a feature consists of several steps:

• Obtain the feature that will be the parent of the new feature.
• Obtain the FeatureConstructor for the desired feature type from that feature's child FeatureSet. There are three ways this can be done:
  • You can get the default constructor for the specified feature type by calling featureSet.getDefaultFeatureConstructor(type)
  • You can get the needed constructor by name: featureSet.getFeatureConstructor(type, name)
  • Or you can get the list of all existing feature constructors by calling featureSet.getFeatureConstructors(type) and then iterating through the returned set looking for the wanted constructor.
• If required, set parameters on the FeatureConstructor.
• Call construct(). It will produce the new feature. At this point the feature is not committed yet, it can be modified or even destroyed entirely without any effect on the overall model.
• If required, set properties of the feature.
• Call insert(feature) to include the new feature into the model. This still has not made the feature persistent.
• Finally, call FeatureModel.commit() to make the feature persistent. This multi-phase commit allows creation of extensive feature trees and then committing all new features at once.

See Also:

FeatureSet.getDefaultFeatureConstructor(String)

Field Summary

static java.lang.String

DISPLAY_TYPE_PREFIX By convention, this string is used as the prefix of the FeatureConstructors display type.

Method Summary

Feature	construct() Creates a new feature or features.
Feature	constructAndInsert() Optional convenience method that constructs and immediately inserts a feature.
FeatureModel	getFeatureModel() Returns the feature model that this constructor is associated with.
java.lang.String	getName() Every constructor should have a name so it can be identified for programmatic feature construction.
void	insert(Feature feature) Call this method with a feature constructed using the same constructor to insert it into the feature model.
boolean	isAddFeatureActionAllowed() Can this constructor be used directly by an AddFeatureAction?
boolean	isDefault() A feature constructor that can be used as the default one for the corresponding feature type should return true.
boolean	isEnabled() Returns true if this constructor can construct a feature (for instance, it may not be able to construct a feature if the underlying resources are read-only).

Methods inherited from interface com.inline.feature.ui.Displayable

getDisplayProperties, getDisplayType

Field Detail

DISPLAY_TYPE_PREFIX

public static final java.lang.String DISPLAY_TYPE_PREFIX

By convention, this string is used as the prefix of the FeatureConstructors display type.

Method Detail

getFeatureModel

public FeatureModel getFeatureModel()

Returns the feature model that this constructor is associated with.

getName

public java.lang.String getName()

Every constructor should have a name so it can be identified for programmatic feature construction.

isDefault

public boolean isDefault()

A feature constructor that can be used as the default one for the corresponding feature type should return true. There should be only one default constructor for each type withing the scope of the parent feature.

isEnabled

public boolean isEnabled()

Returns true if this constructor can construct a feature (for instance, it may not be able to construct a feature if the underlying resources are read-only).

isAddFeatureActionAllowed

public boolean isAddFeatureActionAllowed()

Can this constructor be used directly by an AddFeatureAction?

construct

public Feature construct()

Creates a new feature or features. You will need to call insert(feature) to actually add the feature to the feature model. If you choose not to insert it into the model after all, call feature.release().

insert

public void insert(Feature feature)
            throws InvalidFeatureException

Call this method with a feature constructed using the same constructor to insert it into the feature model. If the feature has children at this point, all those features should be automatically inserted as well. Call featureModel.commit() to make the new feature(s) persistent.

constructAndInsert

public Feature constructAndInsert()
                           throws InvalidFeatureException

Optional convenience method that constructs and immediately inserts a feature. If the constuctor does not support this operation, it should throw UnsupportedOperationException.