/*
* Bibliothek - DockingFrames
* Library built on Java/Swing, allows the user to "drag and drop"
* panels containing any Swing-Component the developer likes to add.
*
* Copyright (C) 2010 Benjamin Sigg
*
* This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
* modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
* License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
* version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
*
* This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
* but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
* MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
* Lesser General Public License for more details.
*
* You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
* License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
* Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA
*
* Benjamin Sigg
* benjamin_sigg@gmx.ch
* CH - Switzerland
*/
package bibliothek.test;
/**
* Represents some field or data that can be inspected.
* @author Benjamin Sigg
*/
public interface Inspect {
/**
* Gets a human readable name for this field.
* @return a name
*/
public String getName();
/**
* Gets the value represented by this field. This value will be converted
* into a {@link String} to be shown on the screen.
* @return the value, can be <code>null</code>
*/
public Object getValue();
/**
* Gets all the children of this inspect.
* @return all the children of this inspect, the result may be <code>null</code>
* or contain <code>null</code> entries. It may also contain data that has
* cyclic dependencies.
*/
public Object[] getChildren();
/**
* Updates the contents of this {@link Inspect}. This method may only be called by the
* EDT (Event Dispatcher Thread).
* @return <code>true</code> if either name, value or children changed, <code>false</code>
* if nothing was updated
*/
public boolean update();
}