org.biojava.bio
Class PropertyConstraint.ByClass

java.lang.Object
  extended byorg.biojava.bio.PropertyConstraint.ByClass
All Implemented Interfaces:
PropertyConstraint
Enclosing class:
PropertyConstraint

public static class PropertyConstraint.ByClass
extends java.lang.Object
implements PropertyConstraint

ByClass accepts a property value if it is an instance of a specific Java class.

Since:
1.3
Author:
Matthew Pocock
For general use:
Constrain a property to containing values of a particular class e.g. new ByClass(String.class) or new ByClass(Double) will ensure that the property is a String or a Double respecitvely.

Nested Class Summary
 
Nested classes inherited from class org.biojava.bio.PropertyConstraint
PropertyConstraint.And, PropertyConstraint.ByAnnotationType, PropertyConstraint.ByClass, PropertyConstraint.Enumeration, PropertyConstraint.ExactValue, PropertyConstraint.Or
 
Field Summary
 
Fields inherited from interface org.biojava.bio.PropertyConstraint
ANY, NONE
 
Constructor Summary
PropertyConstraint.ByClass(java.lang.Class cl)
          Create a new ByClass instance.
 
Method Summary
 boolean accept(java.lang.Object value)
          accept returns true if the value fulfills the constraint.
 java.lang.Class getPropertyClass()
           
 boolean subConstraintOf(PropertyConstraint subConstraint)
          subConstraintOf returns true if the constraint is a sub-constraint.
 java.lang.String toString()
           
 
Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object
clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait
 

Constructor Detail

PropertyConstraint.ByClass

public PropertyConstraint.ByClass(java.lang.Class cl)
Create a new ByClass instance.

Parameters:
cl - the Class that all properties must be assignable to
For general use:
Method Detail

getPropertyClass

public java.lang.Class getPropertyClass()

accept

public boolean accept(java.lang.Object value)
Description copied from interface: PropertyConstraint
accept returns true if the value fulfills the constraint.

Specified by:
accept in interface PropertyConstraint
Parameters:
value - an Object to check.
Returns:
a boolean.

subConstraintOf

public boolean subConstraintOf(PropertyConstraint subConstraint)
Description copied from interface: PropertyConstraint

subConstraintOf returns true if the constraint is a sub-constraint.

A pair of constraints super and sub are in a superConstraint/subConstraint relationship if every object accepted by sub is also accepted by super. To put it another way, if instanceOf was used as a set-membership indicator function over some set of objects, then the set produced by super would be a superset of that produced by sub.

It is not expected that constraints will neccesarily maintain references to super/sub types. It will be more usual to infer this relationship by introspecting the constraints themselves. For example, PropertyConstraint.ByClass will infer subConstraintOf by looking at the possible class of all items matching subConstraint.

Specified by:
subConstraintOf in interface PropertyConstraint
Parameters:
subConstraint - a PropertyConstraint to check.
Returns:
a boolean.

toString

public java.lang.String toString()