org.protempa.proposition

Interface Proposition

All Superinterfaces:

PropositionCheckedVisitable, PropositionVisitable

All Known Subinterfaces:

Parameter

All Known Implementing Classes:

AbstractParameter, AbstractProposition, Constant, Context, Event, PrimitiveParameter, TemporalParameter, TemporalProposition

public interface Proposition
extends PropositionVisitable, PropositionCheckedVisitable

A data record. All implementations of this interface have property change support methods, but no change events are fired at present. In Proposition, the equals() method is used to compare two instances of Proposition. Two propositions are equal if they have the same datasource backend id, and unique identifier. If either instance has a null datasource backend id, or null unique identifier, a object refernce check is made for equality. The create, update, delete and download timestamp fields are database audit- style fields to indicate when the record was created in the source system, updated in the source system, deleted from the source system, and downloaded from the source system. A data source backend may provide its own timestamps if the source system does not provide accurate values. The create and download timestamps are not used in any data computations. The update timestamp is intended for use by query results handlers to determine when a record has been updated. The presence of a non-null delete timestamp is intended for use by query results handlers to determine whether a record has been deleted. In the future, the temporal abstraction process may use these fields.

Author:

Andrew Post

Method Summary

Modifier and Type	Method and Description
Date	getCreateDate() Gets the timestamp this proposition was created in the source system, or for derived propositions, the timestamp it was created through the temporal abstraction process.
Date	getDeleteDate() Gets the timestamp this proposition was deleted from the source system, or for derived propositions, the timestamp it was invalidated due to data changes.
Date	getDownloadDate() Gets the timestamp this proposition was downloaded from the source system.
String	getId() Gets this proposition's data type.
Value	getProperty(String name) Gets the value of the specified property.
String[]	getPropertyNames() Get the property names for the proposition
String[]	getReferenceNames() Get the reference names for the proposition
List<UniqueId>	getReferences(String name) Gets the global unique identifiers for the propositions that have the specified 1:N relationship with this proposition.
SourceSystem	getSourceSystem() Returns the data source type of the Proposition.
UniqueId	getUniqueId() Gets this proposition's global unique identifier.
Date	getUpdateDate() Gets the timestamp when this proposition was last updated in the source system, or for derived propositions, the timestamp it was last updated through the temporal abstraction process.
boolean	isEqual(Object prop) Determines if the specified object is a Proposition and has the same field values as this proposition.

Methods inherited from interface org.protempa.proposition.visitor.PropositionVisitable

accept

Methods inherited from interface org.protempa.proposition.visitor.PropositionCheckedVisitable

acceptChecked

Method Detail

getId

String getId()

Gets this proposition's data type.

Returns:

the identification String for the type of data represented by this proposition.

getSourceSystem

SourceSystem getSourceSystem()

Returns the data source type of the Proposition.

Returns:

a SourceSystem.

isEqual

boolean isEqual(Object prop)

Determines if the specified object is a Proposition and has the same field values as this proposition.

Parameters:

prop - an Object.

Returns:

true if the specified object is a Proposition and has the same field values, false otherwise.

getProperty

Value getProperty(String name)

Gets the value of the specified property.

Parameters:

name - the name String of a valid property. Cannot be null.

Returns:

the Value of the specified property.

getReferences

List<UniqueId> getReferences(String name)

Gets the global unique identifiers for the propositions that have the specified 1:N relationship with this proposition.

Parameters:

name - the name of the relationship. Cannot be null.

Returns:

a List of global unique identifiers. Guaranteed not null.

See Also:

to get the propositions with the specified relationship.

getPropertyNames

String[] getPropertyNames()

Get the property names for the proposition

Returns:

an array containing the names of all the properties contained

getReferenceNames

String[] getReferenceNames()

Get the reference names for the proposition

Returns:

an array containing the names of all the references contained

getUniqueId

UniqueId getUniqueId()

Gets this proposition's global unique identifier.

Returns:

a UniqueIdentifier.

getDownloadDate

Date getDownloadDate()

Gets the timestamp this proposition was downloaded from the source system. If this proposition was derived, gets the date it was derived. A null value means the proposition was not downloaded from a source system, or the source system did not provide an accurate downloaded timestamp. Protempa does not use this timestamp in any fashion to control how propositions are used in computing temporal abstractions.

Returns:

a timestamp, null.

getCreateDate

Date getCreateDate()

Gets the timestamp this proposition was created in the source system, or for derived propositions, the timestamp it was created through the temporal abstraction process. A null value means the create timestamp was not recorded, or the source system did not have an accurate created timestamp. Returned values may be in the future, if that is what the source system provided. Protempa does not use this timestamp in any fashion to control how propositions are used in computing temporal abstractions.

Returns:

a timestamp, or null.

getUpdateDate

Date getUpdateDate()

Gets the timestamp when this proposition was last updated in the source system, or for derived propositions, the timestamp it was last updated through the temporal abstraction process. Used to determine when a proposition has been updated. A null value means that the proposition's value has not been updated. When a source system does not provide accurate update timestamps, a data source backend may set this value to the downloaded timestamp to ensure that Protempa does not miss an update.

Returns:

a timestamp, or null.

getDeleteDate

Date getDeleteDate()

Gets the timestamp this proposition was deleted from the source system, or for derived propositions, the timestamp it was invalidated due to data changes. Used to determine when to delete or invalidate a proposition. A null value means the proposition should not be deleted. Any non-null timestamp will cause the proposition to be deleted, even a timestamp in the future. A data source backend may set this timestamp to the downloaded timestamp if it knows a proposition should be deleted but the source system does not provide an accurate delete timestamp.

Returns:

a timestamp, or null.