org.apache.directory.api.ldap.model.entry
Interface Value<T>

All Superinterfaces:

Cloneable, Comparable<Value<T>>, Externalizable, Serializable

All Known Implementing Classes:

AbstractValue, BinaryValue, StringValue

public interface Value<T>
extends Cloneable, Externalizable, Comparable<Value<T>>

A interface for wrapping attribute values stored into an EntryAttribute. These values can be a String or a byte[].

Author:

Apache Directory Project

Field Summary

static boolean	BINARY
static boolean	STRING Two flags used to tell if the value is HR or not in serialization

Method Summary

Value<T>	clone() Clone a Value
AttributeType	getAttributeType() Get the associated AttributeType
byte[]	getBytes() Get the wrapped value as a byte[].
T	getNormReference() Gets a reference to the the normalized (canonical) representation for the wrapped value.
T	getNormValue() Gets the normalized (canonical) representation for the wrapped string.
T	getReference() Gets a reference to the wrapped value.
String	getString() Get the wrapped value as a String.
T	getValue() Get the wrapped value.
boolean	isHumanReadable() Tells if the current value is Human Readable
boolean	isInstanceOf(AttributeType attributeType) Check if the value is stored into an instance of the given AttributeType, or one of its ascendant.
boolean	isNull() Check if the contained value is null or not
boolean	isSchemaAware() Tells if the value is schema aware or not.
boolean	isValid(SyntaxChecker checker) Uses the syntaxChecker associated with the attributeType to check if the value is valid.
int	length()

Methods inherited from interface java.io.Externalizable

readExternal, writeExternal

Methods inherited from interface java.lang.Comparable

compareTo

Field Detail

STRING

static final boolean STRING

Two flags used to tell if the value is HR or not in serialization

See Also:

Constant Field Values

BINARY

static final boolean BINARY

See Also:

Constant Field Values

Method Detail

clone

Value<T> clone()

Clone a Value

Returns:

A cloned value

isNull

boolean isNull()

Check if the contained value is null or not

Returns:

true if the inner value is null.

getAttributeType

AttributeType getAttributeType()

Get the associated AttributeType

Returns:

The AttributeType

isInstanceOf

boolean isInstanceOf(AttributeType attributeType)

Check if the value is stored into an instance of the given AttributeType, or one of its ascendant. For instance, if the Value is associated with a CommonName, checking for Name will match.

Parameters:

attributeType - The AttributeType we are looking at

Returns:

true if the value is associated with the given attributeType or one of its ascendant

getValue

T getValue()

Get the wrapped value. It will return a copy, not a reference.

Returns:

a copy of the wrapped value

getBytes

byte[] getBytes()

Get the wrapped value as a byte[]. If the original value is binary, this method will return a copy of the wrapped byte[]

Returns:

the wrapped value as a byte[]

getString

String getString()

Get the wrapped value as a String. If the original value is binary, this method will return the value as if it was an UTF-8 encoded String.

Returns:

the wrapped value as a String

getReference

T getReference()

Gets a reference to the wrapped value. Warning ! The value is not copied !!!

Returns:

a direct handle on the value that is wrapped

isSchemaAware

boolean isSchemaAware()

Tells if the value is schema aware or not.

Returns:

true if the value is sxhema aware

isValid

boolean isValid(SyntaxChecker checker)
                throws LdapInvalidAttributeValueException

Uses the syntaxChecker associated with the attributeType to check if the value is valid.

Parameters:

checker - the SyntaxChecker to use to validate the value

Returns:

true if the value is valid

Throws:

LdapInvalidAttributeValueException - if the value cannot be validated

getNormValue

T getNormValue()

Gets the normalized (canonical) representation for the wrapped string. If the wrapped String is null, null is returned, otherwise the normalized form is returned. If the normalizedValue is null, then this method will attempt to generate it from the wrapped value.

Returns:

gets the normalized value

getNormReference

T getNormReference()

Gets a reference to the the normalized (canonical) representation for the wrapped value.

Returns:

gets a reference to the normalized value

isHumanReadable

boolean isHumanReadable()

Tells if the current value is Human Readable

Returns:

true if the value is a String, false otherwise

length

int length()

Returns:

The length of the interned value