simplenlg.phrasespec

Class NPPhraseSpec

java.lang.Object

simplenlg.framework.NLGElement

simplenlg.framework.PhraseElement

simplenlg.phrasespec.NPPhraseSpec

public class NPPhraseSpec
extends PhraseElement

This class defines a noun phrase. It is essentially a wrapper around the PhraseElement class, with methods for setting common constituents such as specifier. For example, the setNoun method in this class sets the head of the element to be the specified noun

From an API perspective, this class is a simplified version of the NPPhraseSpec class in simplenlg V3. It provides an alternative way for creating syntactic structures, compared to directly manipulating a V4 PhraseElement.

Methods are provided for setting and getting the following constituents:

• Specifier (eg, "the")
• PreModifier (eg, "green")
• Noun (eg, "apple")
• PostModifier (eg, "in the shop")

NOTE: The setModifier method will attempt to automatically determine whether a modifier should be expressed as a PreModifier, or PostModifier

NOTE: Specifiers are currently pretty basic, this needs more development

Features (such as number) must be accessed via the setFeature and getFeature methods (inherited from NLGElement). Features which are often set on NPPhraseSpec include

• Number (eg, "the apple" vs "the apples")
• Possessive (eg, "John" vs "John's")
• Pronominal (eg, "the apple" vs "it")

NPPhraseSpec are produced by the createNounPhrase method of a PhraseFactory

Version:

4.1

Author:

E. Reiter, University of Aberdeen.

Field Summary

Fields inherited from class simplenlg.framework.NLGElement

features

Constructor Summary

Constructors

Constructor and Description
NPPhraseSpec(NLGFactory phraseFactory)

Method Summary

Modifier and Type	Method and Description
void	addModifier(Object modifier) Add a modifier to an NP Use heuristics to decide where it goes
NLGElement	getDeterminer() getDeterminer - Convenience method for when a person tries to get a determiner (e.g.
NLGElement	getNoun()
NLGElement	getSpecifier()
void	setDeterminer(Object determiner) setDeterminer - Convenience method for when a person tries to set a determiner (e.g.
void	setHead(Object newHead) Sets the head, or main component, of this current phrase.
void	setNoun(Object noun) sets the noun (head) of a noun phrase
void	setSpecifier(Object specifier) sets the specifier of a noun phrase.

Methods inherited from class simplenlg.framework.PhraseElement

addComplement, addComplement, addFrontModifier, addFrontModifier, addPostModifier, addPostModifier, addPreModifier, addPreModifier, clearComplements, getChildren, getFrontModifiers, getHead, getPostModifiers, getPreModifiers, printTree, setComplement, setComplement, setFrontModifier, setFrontModifier, setPostModifier, setPostModifier, setPreModifier, setPreModifier

Methods inherited from class simplenlg.framework.NLGElement

clearAllFeatures, equals, equals, getAllFeatureNames, getAllFeatures, getCategory, getFactory, getFeature, getFeatureAsBoolean, getFeatureAsDouble, getFeatureAsElement, getFeatureAsElementList, getFeatureAsFloat, getFeatureAsInteger, getFeatureAsList, getFeatureAsLong, getFeatureAsString, getFeatureAsStringList, getParent, getRealisation, getTense, hasFeature, isA, isNegated, isPlural, removeFeature, setCategory, setFactory, setFeature, setFeature, setFeature, setFeature, setFeature, setFeature, setNegated, setParent, setPlural, setRealisation, setTense, toString

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

clone, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait

Constructor Detail

NPPhraseSpec

public NPPhraseSpec(NLGFactory phraseFactory)

Method Detail

setHead

public void setHead(Object newHead)

Description copied from class: PhraseElement

Sets the head, or main component, of this current phrase. For example, the head for a verb phrase should be a verb while the head of a noun phrase should be a noun. Strings are converted to StringElements. If null is passed in as the new head then the head feature is removed.

Overrides:

setHead in class PhraseElement

Parameters:

newHead - the new value for the head of this phrase.

setNoun

public void setNoun(Object noun)

sets the noun (head) of a noun phrase

getNoun

public NLGElement getNoun()

Returns:

noun (head) of noun phrase

setDeterminer

public void setDeterminer(Object determiner)

setDeterminer - Convenience method for when a person tries to set a determiner (e.g. "the") to a NPPhraseSpec.

Overrides:

setDeterminer in class PhraseElement

Parameters:

determiner - the new determiner for the phrase.

getDeterminer

public NLGElement getDeterminer()

getDeterminer - Convenience method for when a person tries to get a determiner (e.g. "the") from a NPPhraseSpec.

setSpecifier

public void setSpecifier(Object specifier)

sets the specifier of a noun phrase. Can be determiner (eg "the"), possessive (eg, "John's")

getSpecifier

public NLGElement getSpecifier()

Returns:

specifier (eg, determiner) of noun phrase

addModifier

public void addModifier(Object modifier)

Add a modifier to an NP Use heuristics to decide where it goes

Overrides:

addModifier in class PhraseElement