DmcPresentationIF (dark-matter 3.1.15 API)

```
public interface DmcPresentationIF
```
The DmcPresentationIF is generally implemented by widgets that present attribute values in some form that may allow for editting/alteration by the user. Such presentations usually have a variety of common characteristics e.g. labels, tool tips, an indication that the value is mandatory/option etc.
Whatever presentation mechanism you use must be bound to the attribute that it's presenting, and this is achieved through the DmcAdapterIF. Each defined type has a generated adapter that implements the DmcAdapterIF (generated.types.adapters). The adapter has standard mechanisms to hold an existing attribute from a DMO and allow the presenter to make modifications to the value(s) in the adapter derivation. When edits are finished, the adapter can determine the modifications that have been made and add them to a DmcTypeModifierMV which can sent for processing via a Dark Matter Protocol SetRequest.
Finally, the presentation's "readiness" can be tracked by a component that implements the DmcPresentationTrackerIF interface. Exactly what "readiness" is is implementation specific, but is often related to whether or not the presentation contains a permissible value, whether it's a mandatory value and value has been provided etc. The tracker can then do things like enabling/disabling buttons, other anything else that depends on a set of presentations being "ready".

Method Summary

All Methods Instance Methods Abstract Methods
Modifier and Type	Method and Description
`DmcAdapterIF`	`getAdapter()`
`DmcObject`	`getDMO()`
`int`	`getID()`
`String`	`getLabel()`
`boolean`	`isReady()`
`boolean`	`isValid()` This allows a DmcPresentationTrackerIF implementor to trigger validation on all of its bindings and have them indicate if they're ready or not ready.
`void`	`resetToExisting()` When this method is called, the presentation should have its adapter resetToExisting() and display the original value.
`void`	`setAdapter(DmcAdapterIF adapter)` Sets the adapter associated with the attribute being displayed.
`void`	`setDMO(DmcObject dmo)` In cases where validation depends on relationships between attributes in an object, it's useful to have access to the object.
`void`	`setEmpty()` This methods allows you to set the presentation to be empty.
`void`	`setEnabled(boolean flag)` This method is used to set the state of the value presentation to enable or disable editting.
`void`	`setLabel(String label)` Sets the label to be associated with this presentation.
`void`	`setMandatory(boolean mandatory)` Sets an indication of whether or not the attribute being presented is mandatory or not.
`void`	`setReadOnly(boolean readonly)` Sets whether or not the presentation is edittable.
`void`	`setToolTip(String tooltip)` Sets the tool tip to be associated with this presentation.
`void`	`setTracker(DmcPresentationTrackerIF t, int id)` Sets the tracker that keeps tabs on whether or not all presentation components are in a ready state.
`void`	`setValueIndex(int index)` For multi-valued attributes that have a specified index (indexed attributes), the attribute should be thought of as containing a predetermined number of slots that can either empty (null) or have a value of the associated type.
`boolean`	`valueChanged()` This aspect is more tricky than it might first appear.

- Method Detail
  - setLabel
```
void setLabel(String label)
```
    Sets the label to be associated with this presentation.
    
    Parameters:
    
    label -
  - getLabel
```
String getLabel()
```
    Returns:
    
    The label of this presentation component.
  - setToolTip
```
void setToolTip(String tooltip)
```
    Sets the tool tip to be associated with this presentation.
    
    Parameters:
    
    tooltip -
  - setMandatory
```
void setMandatory(boolean mandatory)
```
    Sets an indication of whether or not the attribute being presented is mandatory or not. This value may change during the lifetime of a presentation.
    
    Parameters:
    
    mandatory - true if it's mandatory and false otherwise.
  - setReadOnly
```
void setReadOnly(boolean readonly)
```
    Sets whether or not the presentation is edittable.
    
    Parameters:
    
    readonly - true if we're read only and false otherwise.
  - setAdapter
```
void setAdapter(DmcAdapterIF adapter)
```
    Sets the adapter associated with the attribute being displayed. The existing value of the adapter may be null, but the adapter is always an instance of the type of attribute being presented.
    
    Parameters:
    
    adapter - the adapter.
  - getAdapter
```
DmcAdapterIF getAdapter()
```
    Returns:
    
    the adapter.
  - isReady
```
boolean isReady()
```
    Returns:
    
    true if you're in a state of "readiness".
  - isValid
```
boolean isValid()
```
    This allows a DmcPresentationTrackerIF implementor to trigger validation on all of its bindings and have them indicate if they're ready or not ready. The exact mechanism of checking validity is implementation specific.
    
    Returns:
    
    true if the binding is valid and false otherwise
  - setTracker
```
void setTracker(DmcPresentationTrackerIF t,
                int id)
```
    Sets the tracker that keeps tabs on whether or not all presentation components are in a ready state. Your presentation implementation should call the tracker's isReady() or isNotReady() methods when its readiness state changes.
    
    Parameters:
    
    t - The tracker component.
    
    id - A uniquely assigned identifier that you must return via the getID() method.
  - getID
```
int getID()
```
    Returns:
    
    the identifier that was assigned when setTracker() was called.
  - resetToExisting
```
void resetToExisting()
```
    When this method is called, the presentation should have its adapter resetToExisting() and display the original value. This supports things like being able to cancel a set of modifications.
  - setEmpty
```
void setEmpty()
```
    This methods allows you to set the presentation to be empty. This may be used by higher level logic associated with a form that needs to remove values from some fields due to the state of another field. The implementation should alter the associated value adapter to be empty.
  - valueChanged
```
boolean valueChanged()
```
    This aspect is more tricky than it might first appear. Although the adapter has a valueChanged() method on it that could be used by a DmcPresentationTrackerIF component, that method can't take into account changes in the presentation state that are caused by partial user input. For example, if you decide to present a multi-valued attribute as a comma separated set of values, and the user enters a comma at the end of your input component, the presentation has changed (and change listeners would be interested - for example to enable a Cancel button). However, because the input is only partial, you haven't altered the underlying adapter value.
    So, this method should indicate whether or not the presentation has outwardly changed in any way.
    
    Returns:
    
    true if there have been any user interaction and false otherwise
  - setEnabled
```
void setEnabled(boolean flag)
```
    This method is used to set the state of the value presentation to enable or disable editting.
    
    Parameters:
    
    flag - true to enable editing and false otherwise
  - setValueIndex
```
void setValueIndex(int index)
```
    For multi-valued attributes that have a specified index (indexed attributes), the attribute should be thought of as containing a predetermined number of slots that can either empty (null) or have a value of the associated type. When a form binding is generated for an indexed attribute, it actually creates a separate editor instance for each possible index. When the editor (the component that implements the DmcPresentationIF interface) is initialized, it will be told which index of the attribute it is responsible for displaying/editting.
    
    Parameters:
    
    index -
  - setDMO
```
void setDMO(DmcObject dmo)
```
    In cases where validation depends on relationships between attributes in an object, it's useful to have access to the object.
    
    Parameters:
    
    dmo - The associated DMO.
  - getDMO
```
DmcObject getDMO()
```
    Returns:
    
    the object previously set via setDMO.

Interface DmcPresentationIF

Method Summary

Method Detail

setLabel

getLabel

setToolTip

setMandatory

setReadOnly

setAdapter

getAdapter

isReady

isValid

setTracker

getID

resetToExisting

setEmpty

valueChanged

setEnabled

setValueIndex

setDMO

getDMO