cdev.dir
Interface DirectoryItem

All Known Subinterfaces:

BitPatternDefinition, DeviceClass, DeviceData, DeviceList, DeviceMessage, DeviceProperty

public interface DirectoryItem

The parent interface of all directory interfaces. It defines some common functionality.

See Also:

DeviceData, DeviceClass, DeviceList, DeviceProperty, BitPatternDefinition, DeviceMessage

Method Summary

java.lang.String	getDescription() Gets a one-line description of the directory object.
java.lang.String	getInfo(boolean all) Abstract method: the implementation returns a multiline string with information about the object.
int	getInfoLines() Gets minimum number of lines to display the getInfo string.
int	getInfoWidth() Gets minimum line width, in characters, to display the getInfo string.
java.lang.String	getName() Gets the name of the directory object.
java.lang.String	getServiceName() Gets the name of the service which supplied the information.
java.lang.String	toString() Gets the identifier as a representation of the directory object.

Method Detail

getDescription

public java.lang.String getDescription()

Gets a one-line description of the directory object. Mainly documentation for display to users but, in some cases like in ErrorData it can convey essential information.

Returns:

the description of the directory object (null if none)

getServiceName

public java.lang.String getServiceName()

Gets the name of the service which supplied the information. In a mixed system, this identifies the subsystem that provides the data. This information may also be used by the equipment access classes to select the I/O implementation.

Returns:

the name of the service that supplied the information

getInfo

public java.lang.String getInfo(boolean all)

Abstract method: the implementation returns a multiline string with information about the object. If 'all' is true, more complete information may be returned. To be implemented in the subclass.

Parameters:

all - true if you want complete information

Returns:

the multiline information string

getInfoLines

public int getInfoLines()

Gets minimum number of lines to display the getInfo string.

Returns:

the number of lines in the information string.

getInfoWidth

public int getInfoWidth()

Gets minimum line width, in characters, to display the getInfo string.

Returns:

the number of characters per line

getName

public java.lang.String getName()

Gets the name of the directory object.

Returns:

the name of the directory object

toString

public java.lang.String toString()

Gets the identifier as a representation of the directory object. This may be the name, if it is unique for the class, or a concatenation of names like 'className/propertyName' which is unique.

Overrides:

toString in class java.lang.Object

Returns:

the representation string for the directory object