1 /*
2 * Copyright 2012-2013 smartics, Kronseder & Reiner GmbH
3 *
4 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
5 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
6 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
7 *
8 * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
9 *
10 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
11 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
12 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
13 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
14 * limitations under the License.
15 */
16 package de.smartics.properties.api.config.domain.key;
17
18 import java.io.Serializable;
19
20 /**
21 * The configuration key identifies a configuration. With this key all
22 * configuration values can be accessed by their local configuration keys.
23 *
24 * @param <T> the implementing type of this interface.
25 */
26 public interface ConfigurationKey<T extends ConfigurationKey<?>> extends
27 Serializable, Comparable<T>
28 {
29
30 /**
31 * Returns <code>true</code> if this key instance has active dynamic parts.
32 * Returns <code>false</code> (otherwise) if this key instance has only static
33 * parts. The decision criteria between a static and a dynamic key is, if all
34 * keys are known at startup, or if keys have dynamic parts, like the current
35 * user or the current tenant which can change during runtime.
36 *
37 * @return <code>true</code> when this key uses dynamic parts (and not only
38 * static parts). <code>false</code> otherwise.
39 */
40 boolean hasActiveDynamicParts();
41
42 /**
43 * Returns the hash code of the object.
44 *
45 * @return the hash code.
46 */
47 int hashCode();
48
49 /**
50 * Returns <code>true</code> if the given object is semantically equal to the
51 * given object, <code>false</code> otherwise.
52 *
53 * @param object the instance to compare to.
54 * @return <code>true</code> if the given object is semantically equal to the
55 * given object, <code>false</code> otherwise.
56 */
57 boolean equals(Object object);
58
59 @Override
60 int compareTo(T o);
61
62 /**
63 * Returns the string representation of the object.
64 *
65 * @return the string representation of the object.
66 */
67 String toString();
68
69 }