source: trunk/nom/idl/nomclassmanager.idl@ 286

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* The Original Code is "NOM" Netlabs Object Model
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/** \file nomclassmanager.idl 
    
Class definition file for the NOM class NOMClassMgr
*/

#ifndef nomcm_idl
#define nomcm_idl

#include "nomobj.idl"

/** \interface NOMClassMgr

    The NOMClassMgr class provides methods for managing the whole
    object system. One single instance is created and a pointer is to it is
    put into the global variable \i NOMClassMgrObject.
    
 */
interface NOMClassMgr : NOMObject
{
#ifdef __NOM_IDL_COMPILER__
  filestem=nomclassmanager;
#endif
  NOMCLASSVERSION(1, 0 );

  /**
     Find the class with the given nomId in the internal class list managed by the
     class manager.

     \remark This method is only a stub for now.

     \par How to override
     This method is usually not overriden.

     \param classId The id of the class to be found.
     \param ulMajorVersion This parameter is not used at the moment and should be set to 0.
     \param ulMinorVersion This parameter is not used at the moment and should be set to 0.
     \return
     The class with the given name or NULL if not found.
   */
  PNOMObject nomFindClassFromId(in long classId, 
                            in long ulMajorVersion, 
                            in long ulMinorVersion);
  
  /**
     Find the class with the given name in the internal class list managed by the
     class manager. 
     
     \remark
     This method will return classes and metaclasses.

     \par How to override
     This method is usually not overriden.
     
     \param className The name of the class to be found as a C string.
     \param ulMajorVersion This parameter is not used at the moment and should be set to 0.
     \param ulMinorVersion This parameter is not used at the moment and should be set to 0.
     \return
     The class with the given name or NULL if not found.
   */
  PNOMObject nomFindClassFromName(in string className, 
                              in long ulMajorVersion, 
                              in long ulNinorVersion);

  /**
     Register a given class in the internal list of classes.
     
     We register mtabs as unique pointers to classes. It's possible to get every
     information from an mtab. We don't use the class name because in case of
     meta classes several different meta classes for creating different objects 
     may have the same name because the default meta class is always NOMClass.
     The mtab of each of this meta classes is different.

     In addition to maintaining a list of registered classes we also register the
     mtab in a balanced binary tree for fast retrieval. The data in this tree is
     used by nomIsObject() to check if a block of memory is actually an object by
     checking the memories mtab pointer against the registered list of mtabs.

     \remarks Classes are registered usually from within nomClassReady(). 

     \par How to override
     This method is usually not overriden.

     \param classMtab The mtab of the class to be registered.
   */
  void nomRegisterClass(in gpointer classMtab);

  /**
     Get the internal list of classes.

     \remarks This method is only for NOM kernel implemeters. You can gather all
     information of this list by using provided methods.

     \par How to override:
     This method is usually not overriden.

     \return
     A pointer on the head of a GData list. Note that this is not a copy.

   */
  PGData nomGetClassList();

  /**
     This method returns a pointer to a class specific private structure holding additional
     information. The structure is only used by the NOM kernel.

     \remarks This method is only for NOM kernel implemeters.

     \par How to override:
     This method is usually not overriden.

     \param className The class name as a C string.
     \return A nomClsInfo pointer for the given class. This structure is private and only used
     internally.
   */
  gpointer nomGetClassInfoPtrFromName(in string className);

  /**
     Register a method with the class manager. The data is used to find the class
     implementing a method from the method name.

     \param classMtab The mtab of a class.
     \param chrMethodName Method to be registered. 
   */
  void nomRegisterMethod(in gpointer classMtab, in string chrMethodName);

  /**
     Method to check if the given object is indeed an object or just arbitrary
     storage. This is done by checking the mtab in the given object against a registered
     list of mtabs.

     \remarks You probably want to use the function nomIsObj() instead which subsequently
     calls this method.

     \par How to override:
     This method is usually not overriden.

     \param nomObject The object to be checked.

     \returns True if the given object is a NOMObject.
   */
  boolean nomIsObject(in PNOMObject nomObject);

  /**
     This method substitutes \e oldClass with \e replacementClass. This means that after
     replacing whenever class \e oldClass is requested \e replacementClass is returned.
     \e oldClassNew() will create \e replacementClass objects etc.

     The class \e replacementClass must be a direct subclass of \e oldClass.

     \remark Both classes must already be registered with the class manager when calling this
     method.

     \par How to override:
     This method is usually not overriden.

     \param oldClass The class to be replaced
     \param replacementClass The class which will be used instead of \e oldClass 
     \returns TRUE if replacement succeeded.

     \warning
     This method is not implemented yet.

   */
  boolean nomSubstituteClass(in string oldClass, in string replacementClass);

  /**
     Query the name of the DLL in which the class can be found. The name can be used to
     dynamically load the DLL get the class exports and finally create the class.

     \remark The returned path is in the system encoding.

     \warning
     This method is not implemented yet.
   */
  string nomQueryDLLForClass(in string chrClassName);
  /**
     Override of nomInit(). The list of methods and the list of classes are initialized
     in that method. In addition the balanced binary tree for registering mtabs is created.
   */
  NOMOVERRIDE(nomInit);

  /**
     The list of registered classes. Normal classes and metaclasses are registered.
     The method nomGetClassList() can be used to get it.
     If doing so be aware that it's the real thing no copy.
   */     
  NOMINSTANCEVAR(PGData gdataClassList); 

  /**
     The list of registered methods.
   */     
  NOMINSTANCEVAR(PGData gdataMethodList);

  /**
     Balanced binary tree holding the mtabs of all known classes. You can't access
     this from the outside. It's entirely private to NOMClassMgr.
   */
  NOMINSTANCEVAR(PGTree pClassListTree); 
  /* nomInit : override;*/

};

#endif  /* nomcm_idl */