madkit.kernel

Class AgentAddress

java.lang.Object

madkit.kernel.AgentAddress

All Implemented Interfaces:

Serializable

public class AgentAddress
extends Object
implements Serializable

Identifies an agent within the artificial society.

How this class works is very different from the previous versions of MaDKit. More precisely, it now corresponds to a CGR location (community;group;role) where the agent is in. So, an agent may have several AgentAddress as it could join many CGR locations.

Moreover, if the related agent leaves the corresponding CGR location, then an AgentAddress becomes invalid and no longer permits to reach this agent. For instance, a message sent using AbstractAgent.sendMessage(AgentAddress, Message) will not be delivered if the agent has leaved the related CGR location.

Since:

MaDKit 1.0

Version:

5.1

Author:

Olivier Gutknecht, Fabien Michel

See Also:

Serialized Form

Method Summary

Modifier and Type	Method and Description
boolean	equals(Object agentAddress) Tells if another address is the same.
String	getAgentNetworkID() Return a string representing a unique identifier of the binded agent over the network.
String	getCommunity() Returns the community to which this agent address is binded to.
String	getGroup() Returns the group to which this agent address is binded to.
KernelAddress	getKernelAddress()
String	getRole() Returns the role to which this agent address is binded to.
String	getSimpleAgentNetworkID() Return a string representing a shorter version of the unique identifier of the binded agent over the network.
int	hashCode() The hash code of an agent address.
boolean	isFrom(KernelAddress kernel) Tells if the address is from a specific kernel.
String	toString() Returns a string representing this address.

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

clone, finalize, getClass, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait

Method Detail

getKernelAddress

public KernelAddress getKernelAddress()

Returns:

the platform's kernelAddress to which this agent address comes from

getCommunity

public String getCommunity()

Returns the community to which this agent address is binded to.

Returns:

the name of the community to which this agent address belongs to

Since:

MaDKit 5

getGroup

public String getGroup()

Returns the group to which this agent address is binded to.

Returns:

the name of the group to which this agent address belongs to

Since:

MaDKit 5

getRole

public String getRole()

Returns the role to which this agent address is binded to.

Returns:

the role name to which this agent address belongs to

Since:

MaDKit 5

toString

public String toString()

Returns a string representing this address. This string contains the ID of the owner agent, the CGR location of this address and the KernelAddress to which this address belongs to.

Overrides:

toString in class Object

Returns:

a description of this address.

equals

public boolean equals(Object agentAddress)
               throws ClassCastException

Tells if another address is the same. If true, this means that both addresses refer to the same agent considering the same position in the artificial society.

Overrides:

equals in class Object

Parameters:

agentAddress - the address to compare.

Throws:

ClassCastException - On purpose, if the address is compared to an object with another type which is considered as a programming error.

hashCode

public final int hashCode()

The hash code of an agent address. It is the same as the underlying agent's. See AbstractAgent.hashCode()

Overrides:

hashCode in class Object

isFrom

public boolean isFrom(KernelAddress kernel)

Tells if the address is from a specific kernel. If true, This means that the agent to which this address belongs to is located on the tested kernel. So, it is just a shortcut for *

 return getKernelAddress().equals(kernel);
 

for which this address has been created was running on the local kernel.

Parameters:

kernel - the kernel address against which this address should be tested.

Returns:

true if this address belongs to the corresponding kernel.

Since:

MaDKit 5.0.4

getAgentNetworkID

public final String getAgentNetworkID()

Return a string representing a unique identifier of the binded agent over the network.

Returns:

the agent's network identifier

getSimpleAgentNetworkID

public final String getSimpleAgentNetworkID()

Return a string representing a shorter version of the unique identifier of the binded agent over the network. As a simplified version, this string may not be unique.

Returns:

a simplified version of the binded agent's network identifier

See Also:

AbstractAgent.getSimpleNetworkID()