jade.content.onto
Interface Introspector

All Superinterfaces:

java.io.Serializable, Serializable

All Known Implementing Classes:

MicroIntrospector, ReflectiveIntrospector

public interface Introspector

extends Serializable

This interface defines the methods to convert objects of ontological classes into/from abstract descriptors. Each ontology has an Introspector and delegates it the conversion.

Author:

Federico Bergenti - Universita` di Parma

Method Summary

void	checkClass(ObjectSchema schema, java.lang.Class javaClass, Ontology onto) Check the structure of a java class associated to an ontological element to ensure that translations to/from abstract descriptors and java objects (instances of that class) can be accomplished by this introspector.
AbsObject	externalise(java.lang.Object obj, ObjectSchema schema, java.lang.Class javaClass, Ontology referenceOnto) Translate an object of a class representing an element in an ontology into a proper abstract descriptor
java.lang.Object	internalise(AbsObject abs, ObjectSchema schema, java.lang.Class javaClass, Ontology referenceOnto) Translate an abstract descriptor into an object of a proper class representing an element in an ontology

Method Detail

externalise

public AbsObject externalise(java.lang.Object obj,
                             ObjectSchema schema,
                             java.lang.Class javaClass,
                             Ontology referenceOnto)
                      throws OntologyException

Translate an object of a class representing an element in an ontology into a proper abstract descriptor

Parameters:

referenceOnto - The reference ontology in the context of this translation i.e. the most extended ontology that extends onto (directly or indirectly).

obj - The Object to be translated

Returns:

The Abstract descriptor produced by the translation

Throws:

UnknownSchemaException - If no schema for the object to be translated is defined in the ontology that uses this Introspector

OntologyException - If some error occurs during the translation

internalise

public java.lang.Object internalise(AbsObject abs,
                                    ObjectSchema schema,
                                    java.lang.Class javaClass,
                                    Ontology referenceOnto)
                             throws UngroundedException,
                                    OntologyException

Translate an abstract descriptor into an object of a proper class representing an element in an ontology

Parameters:

referenceOnto - The reference ontology in the context of this translation i.e. the most extended ontology that extends onto (directly or indirectly).

abs - The abstract descriptor to be translated

Returns:

The Java object produced by the translation

Throws:

UngroundedException - If the abstract descriptor to be translated contains a variable

UnknownSchemaException - If no schema for the abstract descriptor to be translated is defined in the ontology that uses this Introspector

OntologyException - If some error occurs during the translation

checkClass

public void checkClass(ObjectSchema schema,
                       java.lang.Class javaClass,
                       Ontology onto)
                throws OntologyException

Check the structure of a java class associated to an ontological element to ensure that translations to/from abstract descriptors and java objects (instances of that class) can be accomplished by this introspector.

Parameters:

schema - The schema of the ontological element

javaClass - The java class associated to the ontologcal element

onto - The Ontology that uses this Introspector

Throws:

OntologyException - if the java class does not have the correct structure