001/*
002 * $Id: Element.java 6010 2020-04-01 10:39:15Z kredel $
003 */
004
005package edu.jas.structure;
006
007
008import java.io.Serializable;
009
010
011/**
012 * Element interface. Basic functionality of elements, e.g. compareTo, equals,
013 * clone.
014 * <p>
015 * <b>Note:</b> extension of <code>Cloneable</code> removed in 2012-08-18,
016 * <code>clone()</code> is renamed to <code>copy()</code>. See also the
017 * discussion in <a href="http://www.artima.com/intv/bloch13.html">Bloch on
018 * Cloning</a>.
019 * @param <C> element type.
020 * @author Heinz Kredel
021 */
022
023public interface Element<C extends Element<C>> extends Comparable<C>, Serializable {
024
025
026    /**
027     * Clone this Element.
028     * @return Creates and returns a copy of this Element.
029     */
030    public C copy();
031
032
033    /**
034     * Test if this is equal to b.
035     * @param b
036     * @return true if this is equal to b, else false.
037     */
038    public boolean equals(Object b);
039
040
041    /**
042     * Hashcode of this Element.
043     * @return the hashCode.
044     */
045    public int hashCode();
046
047
048    /**
049     * Compare this to b. I.e. this &lt; b iff this.compareTo(b) &lt; 0.
050     * <b>Note:</b> may not be meaningful if structure has no order.
051     * @param b
052     * @return 0 if this is equal to b, -1 if this is less then b, else +1.
053     */
054    public int compareTo(C b);
055
056
057    /**
058     * Get the corresponding element factory.
059     * @return factory for this Element.
060     */
061    public ElemFactory<C> factory();
062
063
064    /**
065     * Get a scripting compatible string representation.
066     * @return script compatible representation for this Element.
067     */
068    public String toScript();
069
070
071    /**
072     * Get a scripting compatible string representation of the factory.
073     * @return script compatible representation for this ElemFactory.
074     */
075    public String toScriptFactory();
076
077}