DmcObject (dark-matter 3.1.15 API)

java.lang.Object
- org.dmd.dmc.DmcObject

All Implemented Interfaces:

Serializable

Direct Known Subclasses:

ActifactGeneratorDMO, ActionTriggerInfoDMO, BaseObjDMO, ClientCountFilterDMO, ComplexTypeTestDMO, DmgConfigDMO, DMPMessageDMO, DSDefinitionDMO, ExtendedRefHSDMO, ExtendedRefMVDMO, ExtendedRefMVIDXDMO, ExtendedRefSVDMO, ExtendedRefTSDMO, GenerationContextDMO, HierarchicObjectDMO, IntegerNamedObjectDMO, MethodGeneratorDMO, NameContainerTestDMO, NamedObjHMDMO, NamedObjHSDMO, NamedObjMVDMO, NamedObjMVIDXDMO, NamedObjSVDMO, NamedObjTMDMO, NamedObjTSDMO, ParseTestDMO, PrimitiveHMDMO, PrimitiveHSDMO, PrimitiveMVDMO, PrimitiveMVIDXDMO, PrimitiveSVDMO, PrimitiveTMDMO, PrimitiveTSDMO, RuleDataDMO, TemplateDMO, TestAbstractExtendedDMO, TestAbstractFixedDMO, TestBasicNamedObjectExtendedDMO, TestBasicNamedObjectFixedDMO, TestBasicObjectFixedDMO, TestMultiLevelSubpackageDMO, TestOneLevelSubpackageDMO, TestOneLevelSubpackageExtendedDMO, UnnamedObjHSDMO, UnnamedObjMVDMO, UnnamedObjMVIDXDMO, UnnamedObjSVDMO, UnnamedObjTSDMO, UsingIndexedAttributesDMO, UsingObjRefHMDMO, UUIDNamedObjectDMO, WrapperGeneratorDMO
```
public abstract class DmcObject
extends Object
implements Serializable
```
The Dark Matter Core (DMC) Object is the basic entity on which all aspects of the Dark Matter Data framework are based.
The DMC object is basically a typed holder for a collection of attributes. At this level, the DMC is abstract; it is the derived, auto-generated, Dark Matter Objects (DMOs) that give a DMC identity. Storing the attributes as a collection introduces a small amount of overhead to DMOs, but allows for operational concepts such as serialization, modification, formatting, cloning, staging etc. that are all provided automatically. It also allows for the use of DMOs in environments where accessing values by name (for example in GWT-based applications) is a necessity.
In addition to the attribute collection, the only constant overhead for a DMC object is the info Vector. The info Vector will contain various information at various times during the life cycle of an object, but will only take up additional space as required. Again, there is some overhead, but the benefits of that overhead are very useful.
There are currently 6 additional pieces of information stored for a DMC object:
- CONTAINER[0] - if the DMO is wrapped by a DMW generated class, this holds the reference to the DMW. This supports the automatic casting of a DMO to its DMW wrapper type via the use of auto generated Iterable classes.
- BACKREFS[1] - in order to behave nicely with Java garbage collection, the named object reference mechanisms of Dark Matter will maintain knowledge of which resolved reference attributes are pointing at a particular DMO instance. If the DMO is deleted, it can automatically remove the reference to itself in the reference attributes. This is a work around for the fact that the GWT JRE Emulation mechanisms don't support the java.lang.ref.WeakReference mechanisms. Back reference tracking must be enabled via the DmcOmni.instance.backRefTracking() method.
- MODIFIER[2] - the Modifier is used to record changes that are made to an object so that the modifications can be distributed via the Dark Matter Protocol Event (DMPEvent) and then applied to remote objects. This mechanism supports very succinct notification of changes to objects and only includes the object deltas, not the entire object. The MODIFIER and the LASTVAL (described next) will only exist on the object if it has been modified.
- LASTVAL[3] - the LASTVAL is just a handle to the last value that was added to or deleted from a multi-valued attribute. It is required to support the Modifier concept.
- MODREC[4] - the MODREC flag is just a Boolean to indicate that the object is a temporary construct that will be used as a MODification RECorder to populate a DmcTypeModifier with a set of changes to be applied to an object in a cache or a remote object. This value is set when a DMO/DMW is constructed with a DmcTypeModifierMV. This distinction is required to prevent applying backrefs to an object when an object referring to it is in MODREC mode. If we didn't keep track of this, we would wind up tracking references twice.
- STAGING[5] - the STAGING flag is used to indicate that the current object is a staging area for the evaluation of a set of modifications that are about to be applied to an existing object. This mechanism exists to facilitate the application of validation rules to the results of a set of modifications. Instead of cloning an entire object, which could be costly, a staging object will only clone the attributes of a target object that are referred to in the modifications; the other attributes of the staging object are merely references to those in the target object. The staging object can then be passed to the rule manager for validation and, if the resulting object is valid, the modifier can be applied to the target object. While in STAGING mode, the object reference tracking mechanisms are disabled so that we don't track changes that could, in the end not be valid (and also, we don't want to apply them twice).
See Also:

Serialized Form

Field Summary

Fields
Modifier and Type Field and Description

static DmcAttributeInfo __objectClass

protected Map<Integer,DmcAttribute<?>> attributes

Fields
Modifier and Type	Field and Description
`static DmcAttributeInfo`	`__objectClass`
`protected Map<Integer,DmcAttribute<?>>`	`attributes`

Constructor Summary

Constructors
Modifier	Constructor and Description
	`DmcObject()`
`protected`	`DmcObject(String oc)` A protected constructor for derived classes that lets us set the object class attribute from the most specific derived class.

Method Summary

All Methods Instance Methods Abstract Methods Concrete Methods
Modifier and Type	Method and Description
`<T extends DmcAttribute<?>> T`	`add(DmcAttributeInfo ai, DmcAttribute<?> attr)` This method adds a value to a multi-valued attribute.
`<T extends DmcAttribute<?>> T`	`add(String attrName, DmcAttribute<?> attr)` This method adds a value to a multi-valued attribute.
`void`	`addAux(ClassDefinitionREF cd)` Adds the specified auxiliary class name to the object.
`void`	`addAux(String cd)` Adds the specified auxiliary class name to the object.
`void`	`addBackref(Modifier mod)` This method is used when we're tracking backrefs.
`boolean`	`allowsAttribute(DmcAttributeInfo ai)` We cycle through the DmcClassInfo associated with our object class and any auxiliary classes and determine if the attribute is allowable.
`boolean`	`applyModifier(DmcTypeModifier mods)` This method applies the modification operations defined in the modifier to this object.
`void`	`clearReferenceInfo()` This method should be used with extreme caution! It will forceably unresolve all reference attributes on the object and clear any back reference tracking information.
`DmcObject`	`cloneIt()`
`<T extends DmcAttribute<?>> T`	`del(DmcAttributeInfo ai, Object value)` This method deletes a value from a multi-valued attribute.
`<T extends DmcAttribute<?>> T`	`del(String attrName, Object value)` This method deletes a value from a multi-valued attribute.
`protected void`	`delFromEmptyAttribute(DmcAttribute<?> mod, Object value)` This method is called in generated DMOs to handle the case where we're using an empty DMO to create a modifier.
`void`	`deserializeIt(DmcInputStreamIF dis)` Deserializes an object.
`boolean`	`equals(Object obj)` This method performs an attribute by attribute comparison of this object with the specified object and returns true if they are equal.
`DmcAttribute<?>`	`get(DmcAttributeInfo ai)` Returns the holder of the value for the named attribute.
`DmcAttribute<?>`	`get(Integer id)` Returns the holder of the value for the named attribute.
`DmcAttribute<?>`	`get(String name)` Returns the holder of value for the named attribute.
`Map<Integer,DmcAttribute<?>>`	`getAdditionalAttributes()` If this object has a class type of EXTENSIBLE, we return the set of attributes that are not part of the class or its auxiliary classes i.e.
`DmcAttributeInfo`	`getAttributeInfo(Integer id)` This method is generally used by object parsers to determine whether or not an attribute is allowed by any of the classes in our objectClass attribute.
`DmcAttributeInfo`	`getAttributeInfo(String an)` This method is generally used by object parsers to determine whether or not an attribute is natively supported by a DMO (in which case it returns the attribute info) or whether the attribute in question is associated with an auxiliary class (in which case we get the appropriate attribute info from the AttributeDefinition).
`Iterator<DmcAttribute<?>>`	`getAttributeIterator()`
`ArrayList<String>`	`getAttributeNames(boolean onlySV)` Retrieves the names of attributes in this object.
`Map<Integer,DmcAttribute<?>>`	`getAttributes()`
`protected Map<Integer,HashMap<String,DmcAttributeValidator>>`	`getAttributeValidators()`
`DmcTypeModifierMV`	`getBackref()` Returns the set of modifiers that indicate the back references to this object from other objects.
`String`	`getBackRefs()` Returns the references to this object formatted as a String.
`ClassDefinitionREF`	`getConstructionClass()`
`DmcClassInfo`	`getConstructionClassInfo()`
`String`	`getConstructionClassName()`
`DmcContainerIF`	`getContainer()`
`DataTypeEnum`	`getDataType()`
`String`	`getFullClassName()`
`protected Object`	`getLastValue()` This method is used within DmcObject when adding modify operations for add()/del().
`DmcTypeModifierMV`	`getModifier()`
`abstract DmcObject`	`getNew()` Auto-generated derived classes override this to return an empty instance of themselves.
`Iterator<ClassDefinitionREF>`	`getObjectClass()`
`protected Map<String,DmcObjectValidator>`	`getObjectValidators()`
`ArrayList<DmcObject>`	`getReferringObjects()` Returns the objects that are referring to this object.
`ArrayList<DmcObject>`	`getReferringObjectsViaAttribute(DmcAttributeInfo ai)`
`abstract DmcObject`	`getSlice(DmcSliceInfo info)` Auto-generated derived classes override this to return an instance of themselves with just the specified slice of attributes.
`DmcObject`	`getStagingObject(DmcTypeModifier mods)` This method will return a "staging" object associated with the proposed modifications that are passed as argument.
`boolean`	`hasAux(String cd)` Determines if the specified class is in our ocl.
`boolean`	`hasValue(DmcAttributeInfo ai)` Indicates if there's an explicit value set for the specified attribute.
`protected Boolean`	`isModrec()`
`boolean`	`isReferenced()`
`protected Boolean`	`isStaging()`
`protected void`	`modrec(Boolean f)`
`protected <T extends DmcAttribute<?>> T`	`nth(DmcAttributeInfo ai, int index, DmcAttribute<?> attr, Object previous)` This method adds a value to a multi-valued attribute.
`protected void`	`nthNullFromEmptyAttribute(DmcAttributeInfo ai, int idx)` This method is called in generated DMOs to handle the case where we're using an empty DMO to create a modifier.
`int`	`numberOfAttributes()`
`protected void`	`populateSlice(DmcObject sliceContainer, DmcSliceInfo info)` This method will take the specified slice of attributes out of this object and populate the object that holds the slice.
`int`	`referenceCount()`
`<T extends DmcAttribute<?>> T`	`rem(DmcAttributeInfo ai)` Removes the specified attribute from the object.
`<T extends DmcAttribute<?>> T`	`rem(String attrName)` Removes the specified attribute from the object.
`void`	`removeAux(String cd)` Removes the specified auxiliary class name from the object.
`void`	`removeBackref(Modifier mod)` This method is used to remove back references from an object to the objects that refer to it.
`void`	`resolveReferences(DmcNameResolverIF rx)` This method is generally called by code that uses a DmoObjectFactory to create DMO instances.
`protected void`	`resolveReferences(DmcNameResolverIF rx, boolean skipClass, DmcNameClashResolverIF ncr)` We perform object resolution and optionally skip the class attribute.
`void`	`resolveReferences(DmcNameResolverWithClashSupportIF rx, DmcNameClashResolverIF ncr)` This method is used to resolve references in names spaces where object names can clash.
`void`	`resolveReferencesExceptClass(DmcNameResolverIF rx)` This method is used to resolve references in environments where the complete schema and its associated ClassDefinition objects are not available e.g.
`void`	`resolveReferencesExceptClass(DmcNameResolverWithClashSupportIF rx, DmcNameClashResolverIF ncr)` This method is used to resolve references in environments where the complete schema and its associated ClassDefinition objects are not available e.g.
`void`	`serializeIt(DmcOutputStreamIF dos)` Serializes the object using Dark Matter serialization techniques.
`<T extends DmcAttribute<?>> T`	`set(DmcAttributeInfo ai, DmcAttribute<?> attr)` This method sets the value of a single-valued attribute.
`<T extends DmcAttribute<?>> T`	`set(String attrName, DmcAttribute<?> attr)` This method sets the value of a single-valued attribute.
`void`	`setContainer(DmcContainerIF c)` Sets the container that's currently wrapping this object.
`protected void`	`setLastValue(Object val)` This method is called in the add()/del() methods on DMOs to store the last value that was added/deleted from a multi-valued attribute.
`void`	`setModifier(DmcTypeModifierMV m)` This method sets the modifier of the object which will track all changes made to the object.
`DmcObject`	`shallowCopy()`
`protected void`	`staging(Boolean f)`
`boolean`	`supportsBackrefTracking()` If a class of object doesn't support back reference tracking, it will overload this method to return false.
`String`	`toCompactJSON()`
`void`	`toCompactJSON(StringBuffer sb)`
`String`	`toJSON()`
`String`	`toJSON(int padding, String indent)`
`void`	`toJSON(StringBuffer sb, int padding, String indent)`
`String`	`toOIF()` Returns the object in Object Instance Format (OIF).
`String`	`toOIF(int padding)` Returns the object in Object Instance Format (OIF) with the attribute name left justified in an amount of space indicated by padding.
`String`	`toOIFNoPadding()` Returns the object in Object Instance Format (OIF).
`String`	`toPersistentOIF()` Returns the object in Object Instance Format (OIF).
`String`	`toPersistentOIF(int padding)` Returns the object in Object Instance Format (OIF) with the attribute name left justified in an amount of space indicated by padding.
`String`	`toString()` Returns the object in its native Object Instance Format.
`void`	`youAreDeleted()` This method should be called by whatever mechanism you're using to manage a collection of DMOs.

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object
clone, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait

- Field Detail
  - __objectClass
```
public static final DmcAttributeInfo __objectClass
```
  - attributes
```
protected Map<Integer,DmcAttribute<?>> attributes
```
- Constructor Detail
  - DmcObject
```
public DmcObject()
```
  - DmcObject
```
protected DmcObject(String oc)
```
    A protected constructor for derived classes that lets us set the object class attribute from the most specific derived class.
    
    Parameters:
    
    oc - The class name.
- Method Detail
  - numberOfAttributes
```
public int numberOfAttributes()
```
    Returns:
    
    the number of attributes excluding the objectClass.
  - getObjectClass
```
public Iterator<ClassDefinitionREF> getObjectClass()
```
    Returns:
    
    The class definition reference for this object. Realize that this may just contain the name of the class, not the reference to the ClassDefinition itself; it all depends on the operational context.
  - getConstructionClass
```
public ClassDefinitionREF getConstructionClass()
```
    Returns:
    
    The class definition reference for this object. Realize that this may just contain the name of the class, not the reference to the ClassDefinition itself; it all depends on the operational context.
  - getConstructionClassInfo
```
public DmcClassInfo getConstructionClassInfo()
```
    Returns:
    
    The class info associated with this object.
  - getAttributeIterator
```
public Iterator<DmcAttribute<?>> getAttributeIterator()
```
    Returns:
    
    an iterator over this object's attribute values.
  - supportsBackrefTracking
```
public boolean supportsBackrefTracking()
```
    If a class of object doesn't support back reference tracking, it will overload this method to return false. Otherwise, back reference tracking can be turned on for all objects. This distinction is important for things like Dark Matter Protocol messages where we would want to ensure that object references could be resolved, but we wouldn't want to update back references in those objects to which the messages referred.
    
    Returns:
    
    true if the object supports backref tracking.
  - allowsAttribute
```
public boolean allowsAttribute(DmcAttributeInfo ai)
```
    We cycle through the DmcClassInfo associated with our object class and any auxiliary classes and determine if the attribute is allowable.
    
    Parameters:
    
    ai - The attribute info for the attribute in question.
    
    Returns:
    
    true is the attribute is allowed and false otherwise.
  - getNew
```
public abstract DmcObject getNew()
```
    Auto-generated derived classes override this to return an empty instance of themselves. This supports cloning.
    
    Returns:
    
    An instance of the derived class.
  - getSlice
```
public abstract DmcObject getSlice(DmcSliceInfo info)
```
    Auto-generated derived classes override this to return an instance of themselves with just the specified slice of attributes. In the case of named objects, the object name is always part of the slice.
    
    Parameters:
    
    info - the slice info
    
    Returns:
    
    An instance of the derived class with the specified slice of attributes.
  - getAttributeValidators
```
protected Map<Integer,HashMap<String,DmcAttributeValidator>> getAttributeValidators()
```
  - getObjectValidators
```
protected Map<String,DmcObjectValidator> getObjectValidators()
```
  - setContainer
```
public void setContainer(DmcContainerIF c)
```
    Sets the container that's currently wrapping this object.
    
    Parameters:
    
    c - the container.
  - getContainer
```
public DmcContainerIF getContainer()
```
    Returns:
    
    The container that's currently wrapping this object or null if there isn't one.
  - addBackref
```
public void addBackref(Modifier mod)
```
    This method is used when we're tracking backrefs. The modifier will contain the OPPOSITE of the SET/ADD operation that's creating a reference to THIS object.
    
    Parameters:
    
    mod - the modifier
  - isReferenced
```
public boolean isReferenced()
```
    Returns:
    
    true if this object has any other objects referring to it. This mechanism is only valid if you've turned on back reference tracking via DmcOmni.
  - referenceCount
```
public int referenceCount()
```
    Returns:
    
    the number of references to this object. This mechanism is only valid if you've turned on back reference tracking via DmcOmni.
  - removeBackref
```
public void removeBackref(Modifier mod)
```
    This method is used to remove back references from an object to the objects that refer to it. Back reference tracking is controlled via the DmcOmni. You shouldn't be calling this directly - if you do, all bets are off!
    
    Parameters:
    
    mod - The modifier representing the removal operation for the back reference.
  - getBackref
```
public DmcTypeModifierMV getBackref()
```
    Returns the set of modifiers that indicate the back references to this object from other objects. This is only valid if you've turned on back reference tracking via the DmcOmni. DON'T ALTER THE RETURNED VALUE - YOU'VE BEEN WARNED.
    
    Returns:
    
    the set of modifiers that will remove the references.
  - setModifier
```
public void setModifier(DmcTypeModifierMV m)
```
    This method sets the modifier of the object which will track all changes made to the object. Set the modifier to null to stop change tracking.
    
    Parameters:
    
    m - where modifications will be stored
  - getModifier
```
public DmcTypeModifierMV getModifier()
```
    Returns:
    
    the current set of modifications (if any were made).
  - setLastValue
```
protected void setLastValue(Object val)
```
    This method is called in the add()/del() methods on DMOs to store the last value that was added/deleted from a multi-valued attribute.
    
    Parameters:
    
    val - the last value added/deleted
  - getLastValue
```
protected Object getLastValue()
```
    This method is used within DmcObject when adding modify operations for add()/del().
    
    Returns:
    
    The last value added or deleted.
  - modrec
```
protected void modrec(Boolean f)
```
    Parameters:
    
    f - When a DMO is constructed with A DmcTypeModifier, this flag is set to true.
  - isModrec
```
protected Boolean isModrec()
```
    Returns:
    
    whether this is a modification recorder or not
  - staging
```
protected void staging(Boolean f)
```
    Parameters:
    
    f - when a DMO is constructed in staging mode, this flag is set to true.
  - isStaging
```
protected Boolean isStaging()
```
    Returns:
    
    whether we're in staging mode or not
  - youAreDeleted
```
public void youAreDeleted()
```
    This method should be called by whatever mechanism you're using to manage a collection of DMOs. It will automatically removed references to this object that are contained in object reference attributes if you have set DmcOmni.backRefTracking(true).
  - getAttributeInfo
```
public DmcAttributeInfo getAttributeInfo(String an)
```
    This method is generally used by object parsers to determine whether or not an attribute is natively supported by a DMO (in which case it returns the attribute info) or whether the attribute in question is associated with an auxiliary class (in which case we get the appropriate attribute info from the AttributeDefinition).
    
    Parameters:
    
    an - The attribute id.
    
    Returns:
    
    The attribute info or null.
  - getAttributeInfo
```
public DmcAttributeInfo getAttributeInfo(Integer id)
```
    This method is generally used by object parsers to determine whether or not an attribute is allowed by any of the classes in our objectClass attribute.
    
    Parameters:
    
    id - The attribute id.
    
    Returns:
    
    The attribute info or null.
  - getConstructionClassName
```
public String getConstructionClassName()
```
    Returns:
    
    The class name of this object.
  - getFullClassName
```
public String getFullClassName()
```
    Returns:
    
    The full class name of this object with auxiliary classes included
  - addAux
```
public void addAux(String cd)
            throws DmcValueException
```
    Adds the specified auxiliary class name to the object.
    
    Parameters:
    
    cd - The auxiliary class name.
    
    Throws:
    
    DmcValueException - if class name not valid
  - addAux
```
public void addAux(ClassDefinitionREF cd)
            throws DmcValueException
```
    Adds the specified auxiliary class name to the object.
    
    Parameters:
    
    cd - The auxiliary class name.
    
    Throws:
    
    DmcValueException - if class reference incorrect
  - removeAux
```
public void removeAux(String cd)
```
    Removes the specified auxiliary class name from the object.
    
    Parameters:
    
    cd - The auxiliary class name.
  - hasAux
```
public boolean hasAux(String cd)
```
    Determines if the specified class is in our ocl.
    
    Parameters:
    
    cd - The auxiliary class name.
    
    Returns:
    
    true if we have specified auxiliary class
  - get
```
public DmcAttribute<?> get(String name)
```
    Returns the holder of value for the named attribute. Use this with caution! This is generally used only by derived wrapper classes of DmcObject.
    
    Parameters:
    
    name - The name of the attribute.
    
    Returns:
    
    DmcAttribute
  - get
```
public DmcAttribute<?> get(Integer id)
```
    Returns the holder of the value for the named attribute. Use this with caution! This is generally used only by derived wrapper classes of DmcObject.
    
    Parameters:
    
    id - the id of the attribute.
    
    Returns:
    
    DmcAttribute
  - get
```
public DmcAttribute<?> get(DmcAttributeInfo ai)
```
    Returns the holder of the value for the named attribute. Use this with caution! This is generally used only by derived wrapper classes of DmcObject.
    
    Parameters:
    
    ai - the attribute info definition.
    
    Returns:
    
    DmcAttribute
  - hasValue
```
public boolean hasValue(DmcAttributeInfo ai)
```
    Indicates if there's an explicit value set for the specified attribute. This can be useful in cases where we want to determine if a value has been explicitly set, as opposed to a wrapper method that is returning a default value that has been provided for an attribute.
    
    Parameters:
    
    ai - the attribute info definition.
    
    Returns:
    
    true if there's a value and false otherwise
  - getAttributeNames
```
public ArrayList<String> getAttributeNames(boolean onlySV)
```
    Retrieves the names of attributes in this object. If you only want the single valued attributes.
    
    Parameters:
    
    onlySV - if true, will only return single valued attribute names.
    
    Returns:
    
    The set of attribute names.
  - getAttributes
```
public Map<Integer,DmcAttribute<?>> getAttributes()
```
    Returns:
    
    The attributes that comprise this object. USE THIS WITH CAUTION!
  - set
```
public <T extends DmcAttribute<?>> T set(String attrName,
                                         DmcAttribute<?> attr)
                                  throws DmcValueException
```
    This method sets the value of a single-valued attribute. If you had previously set the same attribute to a different type, you get a class cast exception.
    
    Type Parameters:
    
    T - the attribute type
    
    Parameters:
    
    attrName - The attribute name.
    
    attr - The attribute to be stored.
    
    Returns:
    
    the attribute instance
    
    Throws:
    
    DmcValueException - if value is incorrect
  - set
```
public <T extends DmcAttribute<?>> T set(DmcAttributeInfo ai,
                                         DmcAttribute<?> attr)
                                  throws DmcValueException
```
    This method sets the value of a single-valued attribute.
    
    Type Parameters:
    
    T - the attribute type
    
    Parameters:
    
    ai - the attribute info.
    
    attr - the attribute to be stored.
    
    Returns:
    
    the attribute instance
    
    Throws:
    
    DmcValueException - if value is incorrect
  - add
```
public <T extends DmcAttribute<?>> T add(String attrName,
                                         DmcAttribute<?> attr)
                                  throws DmcValueException
```
    This method adds a value to a multi-valued attribute. If you had previously set the same attribute to a different type, you get a class cast exception.
    
    Type Parameters:
    
    T - the attribute type
    
    Parameters:
    
    attrName - The attribute name.
    
    attr - The attribute value to be stored.
    
    Returns:
    
    the attribute instance
    
    Throws:
    
    DmcValueException - if value is incorrect
  - add
```
public <T extends DmcAttribute<?>> T add(DmcAttributeInfo ai,
                                         DmcAttribute<?> attr)
                                  throws DmcValueException
```
    This method adds a value to a multi-valued attribute. If you had previously set the same attribute to a different type, you get a class cast exception.
    
    Type Parameters:
    
    T - the attribute type
    
    Parameters:
    
    ai - The attribute info.
    
    attr - The attribute value to be stored.
    
    Returns:
    
    the attribute instance
    
    Throws:
    
    DmcValueException - if value is incorrect
  - del
```
public <T extends DmcAttribute<?>> T del(String attrName,
                                         Object value)
```
    This method deletes a value from a multi-valued attribute.
    
    Type Parameters:
    
    T - The class
    
    Parameters:
    
    attrName - The attribute name.
    
    value - The value to be stored.
    
    Returns:
    
    the attribute instance
  - delFromEmptyAttribute
```
protected void delFromEmptyAttribute(DmcAttribute<?> mod,
                                     Object value)
```
    This method is called in generated DMOs to handle the case where we're using an empty DMO to create a modifier. When we perform del(), we have no attribute, so the DMO del() method constructs the DmcAttribute on our behalf.
    
    Parameters:
    
    mod - The appropriately typed attribute holder.
    
    value - The value to be deleted.
  - del
```
public <T extends DmcAttribute<?>> T del(DmcAttributeInfo ai,
                                         Object value)
```
    This method deletes a value from a multi-valued attribute.
    
    Type Parameters:
    
    T - The class
    
    Parameters:
    
    ai - the attribute info.
    
    value - the value to be stored.
    
    Returns:
    
    the attribute instance
  - rem
```
public <T extends DmcAttribute<?>> T rem(String attrName)
```
    Removes the specified attribute from the object.
    
    Type Parameters:
    
    T - the attribute type
    
    Parameters:
    
    attrName - The attribute name.
    
    Returns:
    
    the attribute instance
  - rem
```
public <T extends DmcAttribute<?>> T rem(DmcAttributeInfo ai)
```
    Removes the specified attribute from the object.
    
    Type Parameters:
    
    T - the attribute type
    
    Parameters:
    
    ai - the attribute info.
    
    Returns:
    
    the attribute instance
  - nthNullFromEmptyAttribute
```
protected void nthNullFromEmptyAttribute(DmcAttributeInfo ai,
                                         int idx)
```
    This method is called in generated DMOs to handle the case where we're using an empty DMO to create a modifier. When we perform setNth(#,null), we have no attribute, so we create a specialized modifier.
    
    Parameters:
    
    ai - The attribute info
    
    idx - The index of the value to be deleted.
  - nth
```
protected <T extends DmcAttribute<?>> T nth(DmcAttributeInfo ai,
                                            int index,
                                            DmcAttribute<?> attr,
                                            Object previous)
                                     throws DmcValueException
```
    This method adds a value to a multi-valued attribute. If you had previously set the same attribute to a different type, you get a class cast exception.
    
    Type Parameters:
    
    T - the attribute type
    
    Parameters:
    
    ai - The attribute info.
    
    index - The insertion index.
    
    attr - The attribute value to be stored.
    
    previous - The previous value.
    
    Returns:
    
    the attribute instance
    
    Throws:
    
    DmcValueException - if the value is incorrect
  - toString
```
public String toString()
```
    Returns the object in its native Object Instance Format.
    
    Overrides:
    
    toString in class Object
  - getBackRefs
```
public String getBackRefs()
```
    Returns the references to this object formatted as a String. This will only return a value if you've turned on backref tracking via the DmcOmni. The output will appear as follows:
```
 References to: obj1 (1395193582)
   (ObjWithRefs) obj3 via SV objRef
 
```
    The first line indicates the name of the object followed by the identity hash code for the object, which can be useful when determining the actual object instance you're referring to. The subsequent lines indicate the class of object doing the referring, its name and the attribute via which the reference is maintained.
    Returns:
    
    references returned as a String
  - getReferringObjects
```
public ArrayList<DmcObject> getReferringObjects()
```
    Returns the objects that are referring to this object. This will only return a value if you've turned on backref tracking via the DmcOmni.
    
    Returns:
    
    the objects that refer to us
  - getReferringObjectsViaAttribute
```
public ArrayList<DmcObject> getReferringObjectsViaAttribute(DmcAttributeInfo ai)
```
    Parameters:
    
    ai - the attribute info
    
    Returns:
    
    the objects that are referring to this object via the specified attribute. This will only return a value if you've turned on backref tracking via the DmcOmni.
  - toOIF
```
public String toOIF()
```
    Returns the object in Object Instance Format (OIF). The attribute values will be automatically aligned beyond the length of the longest attribute name.
    
    Returns:
    
    The String representation of the object.
  - toPersistentOIF
```
public String toPersistentOIF()
```
    Returns the object in Object Instance Format (OIF). The attribute values will be automatically aligned beyond the length of the longest attribute name. Only attributes with DataType PERSISTENT will be returned.
    
    Returns:
    
    The String representation of the object.
  - toOIFNoPadding
```
public String toOIFNoPadding()
```
    Returns the object in Object Instance Format (OIF).
    
    Returns:
    
    The String representation of the object.
  - toOIF
```
public String toOIF(int padding)
```
    Returns the object in Object Instance Format (OIF) with the attribute name left justified in an amount of space indicated by padding. This just provides a more readable version of the object.
    
    Parameters:
    
    padding - The amount of space in which to display the attribute names.
    
    Returns:
    
    The String representation of the object.
  - toPersistentOIF
```
public String toPersistentOIF(int padding)
```
    Returns the object in Object Instance Format (OIF) with the attribute name left justified in an amount of space indicated by padding. This just provides a more readable version of the object.
    Only attributes with DataType PERSISTENT will be displayed.
    
    Parameters:
    
    padding - The amount of space in which to display the attribute names.
    
    Returns:
    
    The String representation of the object.
  - toJSON
```
public String toJSON()
```
  - toJSON
```
public String toJSON(int padding,
                     String indent)
```
  - toJSON
```
public void toJSON(StringBuffer sb,
                   int padding,
                   String indent)
```
  - toCompactJSON
```
public String toCompactJSON()
```
  - toCompactJSON
```
public void toCompactJSON(StringBuffer sb)
```
  - resolveReferences
```
public void resolveReferences(DmcNameResolverIF rx)
                       throws DmcValueExceptionSet
```
    This method is generally called by code that uses a DmoObjectFactory to create DMO instances. At this level, there is no concept of schemas, merely named objects. All this method does is attempt to resolve references to named objects using the provided name resolver.
    
    Parameters:
    
    rx - A name resolver.
    
    Throws:
    
    DmcValueExceptionSet - if there are problems resolving
  - resolveReferencesExceptClass
```
public void resolveReferencesExceptClass(DmcNameResolverIF rx)
                                  throws DmcValueExceptionSet
```
    This method is used to resolve references in environments where the complete schema and its associated ClassDefinition objects are not available e.g. in GWT UIs. Resolution is performed as usual, but we skip the object class.
    
    Parameters:
    
    rx - A name resolver.
    
    Throws:
    
    DmcValueExceptionSet - if there are problems resolving
  - resolveReferences
```
public void resolveReferences(DmcNameResolverWithClashSupportIF rx,
                              DmcNameClashResolverIF ncr)
                       throws DmcValueExceptionSet
```
    This method is used to resolve references in names spaces where object names can clash. This includes domain specific definition sets such as the dark-matter schema, Model View Whatever (MVW) or other sets of definitions. The concept here is that it's convenient to use simple strings as names for things and only use fully qualified names when it's necessary to distinguish between ambiguous/clashing names.
    
    Parameters:
    
    rx - the name resolver
    
    ncr - the clash resolver
    
    Throws:
    
    DmcValueExceptionSet - if there are problems resolving
  - resolveReferencesExceptClass
```
public void resolveReferencesExceptClass(DmcNameResolverWithClashSupportIF rx,
                                         DmcNameClashResolverIF ncr)
                                  throws DmcValueExceptionSet
```
    This method is used to resolve references in environments where the complete schema and its associated ClassDefinition objects are not available e.g. in GWT UIs. Resolution is performed as usual, but we skip the object class.
    This method is used to resolve references in names spaces where object names can clash. This includes domain specific definition sets such as the dark-matter schema, Model View Whatever (MVW) or other sets of definitions. The concept here is that it's convenient to use simple strings as names for things and only use fully qualified names when it's necessary to distinguish between ambiguous/clashing names.
    
    Parameters:
    
    rx - the name resolver
    
    ncr - the clash resolver
    
    Throws:
    
    DmcValueExceptionSet - if there are problems resolving
  - resolveReferences
```
protected void resolveReferences(DmcNameResolverIF rx,
                                 boolean skipClass,
                                 DmcNameClashResolverIF ncr)
                          throws DmcValueExceptionSet
```
    We perform object resolution and optionally skip the class attribute.
    
    Parameters:
    
    rx - A name resolver.
    
    skipClass - Indicates whether we should skip the class attribute or not.
    
    ncr - the name clash resolver
    
    Throws:
    
    DmcValueExceptionSet - if there are problems resolving
  - cloneIt
```
public DmcObject cloneIt()
```
  - shallowCopy
```
public DmcObject shallowCopy()
```
    Returns:
    
    a shallow copy of this object.
  - populateSlice
```
protected void populateSlice(DmcObject sliceContainer,
                             DmcSliceInfo info)
```
    This method will take the specified slice of attributes out of this object and populate the object that holds the slice.
    
    Parameters:
    
    sliceContainer - the container that will get the slice of attributes if they exist.
    
    info - The specification of the slice.
  - applyModifier
```
public boolean applyModifier(DmcTypeModifier mods)
                      throws DmcValueExceptionSet,
                             DmcValueException
```
    This method applies the modification operations defined in the modifier to this object.
    
    Parameters:
    
    mods - The modifications to be applied.
    
    Returns:
    
    true if any changes were made to the object and false otherwise.
    
    Throws:
    
    DmcValueExceptionSet - if multiple value problems
    
    DmcValueException - if value problems
  - getAdditionalAttributes
```
public Map<Integer,DmcAttribute<?>> getAdditionalAttributes()
```
    If this object has a class type of EXTENSIBLE, we return the set of attributes that are not part of the class or its auxiliary classes i.e. the additional attributes.
    
    Returns:
    
    null if this object is not extensible or the additional attributes otherwise.
  - getDataType
```
public DataTypeEnum getDataType()
```
    Returns:
    
    the data type of our construction class if we're in an operational context where the underlying class definition is available; otherwise, UNKNOWN is returned.
  - serializeIt
```
public void serializeIt(DmcOutputStreamIF dos)
                 throws Exception,
                        DmcValueException
```
    Serializes the object using Dark Matter serialization techniques.
    
    Parameters:
    
    dos -
    
    Throws:
    
    Exception - if there are IO problems
    
    DmcValueException - if there are value problems
  - deserializeIt
```
public void deserializeIt(DmcInputStreamIF dis)
                   throws Exception
```
    Deserializes an object.
    
    Parameters:
    
    dis - the input stream
    
    Throws:
    
    Exception - if any problems encountered.
  - equals
```
public boolean equals(Object obj)
```
    This method performs an attribute by attribute comparison of this object with the specified object and returns true if they are equal.
    
    Overrides:
    
    equals in class Object
    
    Returns:
    
    true if we equal the specified object
  - clearReferenceInfo
```
public void clearReferenceInfo()
```
    This method should be used with extreme caution! It will forceably unresolve all reference attributes on the object and clear any back reference tracking information.
  - getStagingObject
```
public DmcObject getStagingObject(DmcTypeModifier mods)
```
    This method will return a "staging" object associated with the proposed modifications that are passed as argument. The purpose of staging objects is to allow for the validation of a set of modifications before actually applying them to the target object.
    
    Parameters:
    
    mods - the modification that might be applied
    
    Returns:
    
    the staging object

Class DmcObject

Field Summary

Constructor Summary

Method Summary

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

Field Detail

__objectClass

attributes

Constructor Detail

DmcObject

DmcObject

Method Detail

numberOfAttributes

getObjectClass

getConstructionClass

getConstructionClassInfo

getAttributeIterator

supportsBackrefTracking

allowsAttribute

getNew

getSlice

getAttributeValidators

getObjectValidators

setContainer

getContainer

addBackref

isReferenced

referenceCount

removeBackref

getBackref

setModifier

getModifier

setLastValue

getLastValue

modrec

isModrec

staging

isStaging

youAreDeleted

getAttributeInfo

getAttributeInfo

getConstructionClassName

getFullClassName

addAux

addAux

removeAux

hasAux

get

get

get

hasValue

getAttributeNames

getAttributes

set

set

add

add

del

delFromEmptyAttribute

del

rem

rem

nthNullFromEmptyAttribute

nth

toString

getBackRefs

getReferringObjects

getReferringObjectsViaAttribute

toOIF

toPersistentOIF

toOIFNoPadding

toOIF

toPersistentOIF

toJSON

toJSON

toJSON

toCompactJSON

toCompactJSON

resolveReferences

resolveReferencesExceptClass