oracle.portal.provider.v2.preference
Class Preference

java.lang.Object
  oracle.portal.provider.v2.preference.Preference

public final class Preference
extends java.lang.Object

A Preference is the 'key' through which PreferenceDataObjects are stored and retrieved from a PreferenceStore. The main component of this key is the reference path. A reference path is a string consisting of zero or more path components, each delimited by a '/' character. A path component is a string of one or more unicode characters, not including the '/' character. It is illegal for a path component to be equal to the strings "." or "..".

The idea is that a data item associated with a particular application object is stored under a reference path composed from a 'context' reference path which uniquely identifies the object within the context of its 'parent' objects, appended with a path component which uniquely identifies the data item. An example form of reference path corresponding to user-specific data associated with a portlet instance might be "<provider id>/<portlet id>/<portlet instance name>/<user name>".

To prevent one reference path naming scheme from 'clashing' with another in the preference store, the Preference key contains an additional preference type component, which should group together all reference paths of the same 'type'. A naming scheme similar to the one used for Java package names should be used to ensure uniqueness of path types, e.g. "oracle.portal.provider.v2.user".

The final component of the Preference key is the class name of the PreferenceDataObject to be stored or retrieved. This component is only mandatory if the Preference is to be read from storage, as it can be automatically determined for data objects provided for writing to storage.

Constructor Summary

Preference(java.lang.String referencePath, java.lang.String type, PreferenceDataObject data)
Constructs a Preference for writing the given data object.

Preference(java.lang.String referencePath, java.lang.String type, java.lang.String dataClassName)
Constructs a Preference for reading data with the given class.

Preference(java.lang.String contextPath, java.lang.String name, java.lang.String type, PreferenceDataObject data)
Constructs a Preference for writing the given data object.

Preference(java.lang.String contextPath, java.lang.String name, java.lang.String type, java.lang.String dataClassName)
Constructs a Preference for reading data with the given class.

Method Summary

boolean	equals(java.lang.Object obj) Indicates whether some other object is "equal to" this one.
java.lang.String	getContextPath() Gets the context path of this Preference.
PreferenceDataObject	getData() Get the data object associated with this Preference.
java.lang.Class	getDataClass() Gets the Class object representing the class of the PreferenceDataObject stored against this preference.
java.lang.String	getDataClassName() Gets the full class name of the PreferenceDataObject stored against this preference.
java.lang.String	getName() Gets the name which identifies this Preference within its context path.
java.lang.String	getReferencePath() Gets the full reference path of this Preference, consisting of a a context path followed by a unique name.
java.lang.String	getType() Gets the preference type.
int	hashCode() Returns a hash code value for the object.
void	setData(PreferenceDataObject dataObject) Sets the data object to be stored under this Preference.
void	setDataClass(java.lang.Class dataClass) Sets the Class object representing the class of the PreferenceDataObject to be loaded into this Preference.
void	setDataClass(java.lang.String dataClassName) Sets the full class name of the PreferenceDataObject to be loaded into this Preference.

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

getClass, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait

Constructor Detail

Preference

public Preference(java.lang.String contextPath,
                  java.lang.String name,
                  java.lang.String type,
                  java.lang.String dataClassName)
           throws PreferenceStoreException

Constructs a Preference for reading data with the given class.

Parameters:

contextPath - the context path of this Preference.

name - the name which identifies the preference within the context path.

type - the preference type. Should be a String name which follows the conventions for naming Java packages, e.g. "oracle.portal.provider.v2.user".

dataClassName - the full class name of the PreferenceDataObject stored under this Preference.

Throws:

PreferenceStoreException

Preference

public Preference(java.lang.String referencePath,
                  java.lang.String type,
                  java.lang.String dataClassName)
           throws PreferenceStoreException

Constructs a Preference for reading data with the given class.

Parameters:

referencePath - the full reference path of this Preference, including a context path followed by a unique name.

type - the preference type. Should be a String name which follows the conventions for naming Java packages, e.g. "oracle.portal.provider.v2.user".

dataClassName - the full class name of the PreferenceDataObject stored under this Preference.

Throws:

PreferenceStoreException

Preference

public Preference(java.lang.String contextPath,
                  java.lang.String name,
                  java.lang.String type,
                  PreferenceDataObject data)
           throws PreferenceStoreException

Constructs a Preference for writing the given data object.

Parameters:

contextPath - the context path of this Preference.

name - the name which identifies the preference within the context path.

type - the preference type. Should be a String name which follows the conventions for naming Java packages, e.g. "oracle.portal.provider.v2.user".

data - the data object to be stored.

Throws:

PreferenceStoreException

Preference

public Preference(java.lang.String referencePath,
                  java.lang.String type,
                  PreferenceDataObject data)
           throws PreferenceStoreException

Constructs a Preference for writing the given data object.

Parameters:

referencePath - the full reference path of this Preference, including a context path followed by a unique name.

type - the preference type. Should be a String name which follows the conventions for naming Java packages, e.g. "oracle.portal.provider.v2.user".

data - the data object to be stored.

Throws:

PreferenceStoreException

Method Detail

getReferencePath

public java.lang.String getReferencePath()

Gets the full reference path of this Preference, consisting of a a context path followed by a unique name.

Returns:

the full reference path of this Preference

getName

public java.lang.String getName()

Gets the name which identifies this Preference within its context path.

Returns:

the name which identifies this Preference within its context path.

getContextPath

public java.lang.String getContextPath()

Gets the context path of this Preference.

Returns:

the context path of this Preference

getType

public java.lang.String getType()

Gets the preference type.

Returns:

the preference type. Should be a String name which follows the conventions for naming Java packages, e.g. "oracle.portal.provider.v2.user".

getDataClassName

public java.lang.String getDataClassName()

Gets the full class name of the PreferenceDataObject stored against this preference.

Returns:

the full class name of the PreferenceDataObject stored against this preference, if known, or null otherwise.

getDataClass

public java.lang.Class getDataClass()
                             throws PreferenceStoreException

Gets the Class object representing the class of the PreferenceDataObject stored against this preference.

Returns:

Class object representing the class of the PreferenceDataObject stored against this preference, if known, or null otherwise.

Throws:

PreferenceStoreException - if the class is unknown, or cannot be loaded.

getData

public PreferenceDataObject getData()

Get the data object associated with this Preference. The Preference's data object must have been supplied during construction or loaded using PreferenceStore.read(oracle.portal.provider.v2.preference.Preference) for this method to return a non-null value.

Returns:

the data object associated with this Preference, or null if one hasn't yet been loaded.

setDataClass

public void setDataClass(java.lang.String dataClassName)
                  throws PreferenceStoreException

Sets the full class name of the PreferenceDataObject to be loaded into this Preference. Note that if a data object is currently held in this Preference, this will remove it as a side effect. Note also that if the named class cannot be loaded, this will not cause an exception, as it will still be possible to read the data as an input stream using PreferenceStore.getInputStream(oracle.portal.provider.v2.preference.Preference).

Parameters:

dataClassName - the full class name of the PreferenceDataObject to be loaded into this Preference.

Throws:

PreferenceStoreException - if the class is not a subclass of PreferenceDataObject.

setDataClass

public void setDataClass(java.lang.Class dataClass)
                  throws PreferenceStoreException

Sets the Class object representing the class of the PreferenceDataObject to be loaded into this Preference. Note that if a data object is currently held in this Preference, this will remove it as a side effect.

Parameters:

dataClass - the class of type PreferenceDataObject to be loaded into this Preference.

Throws:

PreferenceStoreException - if the class is not a subclass of PreferenceDataObject.

setData

public void setData(PreferenceDataObject dataObject)
             throws PreferenceStoreException

Sets the data object to be stored under this Preference.

Parameters:

dataObject - the data object to be stored under this Preference.

Throws:

PreferenceStoreException

equals

public boolean equals(java.lang.Object obj)

Indicates whether some other object is "equal to" this one.

Overrides:

equals in class java.lang.Object

Parameters:

obj - - the reference object with which to compare.

Returns:

true if this object is the same as the obj argument; false otherwise.

hashCode

public int hashCode()

Returns a hash code value for the object.

Overrides:

hashCode in class java.lang.Object

Returns:

a hash code value for this object.