bundles/org.eclipse.core.runtime/src/org/eclipse/core/runtime/IConfigurationElement.java

package org.eclipse.core.runtime;

/*
 * (c) Copyright IBM Corp. 2000, 2001.
 * All Rights Reserved.
 */

/**
 * A configuration element, with its attributes and children, 
 * directly reflects the content and structure of the extension section
 * within the declaring plug-in's manifest (<code>plugin.xml</code>) file.
 * <p>
 * This interface also provides a way to create executable extension
 * objects.
 * </p>
 * <p>
 * This interface is not intended to be implemented by clients.
 * </p>
 */
public interface IConfigurationElement {
/**
 * Creates and returns a new instance of the executable extension 
 * identified by the named attribute of this configuration element.
 * The named attribute value must contain a fully qualified name
 * of a Java class implementing the executable extension.
 * <p>
 * The specified class is instantiated using its 0-argument public 
 * constructor. If the specified class implements the
 * <code>IExecutableExtension</code> interface, the method
 * <code>setInitializationData</code> is called, passing to the object
 * the configuration information that was used to create it. 
 * </p>
 * <p>
 * Unlike other methods on this object, invoking this method may activate 
 * the plug-in.
 * </p>
 *
 * @param propertyName the name of the property
 * @return the executable instance
 * @exception CoreException if an instance of the executable extension
 *   could not be created for any reason.
 * @see IExecutableExtension#setInitializationData
 */
public Object createExecutableExtension(String propertyName) throws CoreException;
/**
 * Returns the named attribute of this configuration element, or
 * <code>null</code> if none. 
 * <p>
 * The names of configuration element attributes
 * are the same as the attribute names of the corresponding XML element.
 * For example, the configuration markup 
 * <pre>
 * &lt;bg pattern="stripes"/&gt;
 * </pre>
 * corresponds to a configuration element named <code>"bg"</code>
 * with an attribute named <code>"pattern"</code>
 * with attribute value <code>"stripes"</code>.
 * </p>
 * <p> Note that any translation specified in the plug-in manifest
 * file is automatically applied.
 * </p>
 *
 * @see IPluginDescriptor#getResourceString 
 *
 * @param name the name of the attribute
 * @return attribute value, or <code>null</code> if none
 */
public String getAttribute(String name);
/**
 * Returns the named attribute of this configuration element, or
 * <code>null</code> if none. 
 * <p>
 * The names of configuration element attributes
 * are the same as the attribute names of the corresponding XML element.
 * For example, the configuration markup 
 * <pre>
 * &lt;bg pattern="stripes"/&gt;
 * </pre>
 * corresponds to a configuration element named <code>"bg"</code>
 * with an attribute named <code>"pattern"</code>
 * with attribute value <code>"stripes"</code>.
 * </p>
 * <p>
 * Note that any translation specified in the plug-in manifest
 * file for this attribute is <b>not</b> automatically applied.
 * </p>
 *
 * @param name the name of the attribute
 * @return attribute value, or <code>null</code> if none
 */
public String getAttributeAsIs(String name);
/**
 * Returns the names of the attributes of this configuration element.
 * Returns an empty array if this configuration element has no attributes.
 * <p>
 * The names of configuration element attributes
 * are the same as the attribute names of the corresponding XML element.
 * For example, the configuration markup 
 * <pre>
 * &lt;bg color="blue" pattern="stripes"/&gt;
 * </pre>
 * corresponds to a configuration element named <code>"bg"</code>
 * with attributes named <code>"color"</code>
 * and <code>"pattern"</code>.
 * </p>
 *
 * @return the names of the attributes 
 */
public String[] getAttributeNames();
/**
 * Returns all configuration elements that are children of this
 * configuration element. 
 * Returns an empty array if this configuration element has no children.
 * <p>
 * Each child corresponds to a nested
 * XML element in the configuration markup.
 * For example, the configuration markup 
 * <pre>
 * &lt;view&gt;
 * &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&lt;verticalHint&gt;top&lt;/verticalHint&gt;
 * &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&lt;horizontalHint&gt;left&lt;/horizontalHint&gt;
 * &lt;/view&gt;
 * </pre>
 * corresponds to a configuration element, named <code>"view"</code>,
 * with two children.
 * </p>
 *
 * @return the child configuration elements
 */
public IConfigurationElement[] getChildren();
/**
 * Returns all child configuration elements with the given name. 
 * Returns an empty array if this configuration element has no children
 * with the given name.
 *
 * @param name the name of the child configuration element
 * @return the child configuration elements with that name
 * @see #getChildren
 */
public IConfigurationElement[] getChildren(String name);
/** 
 * Returns the extension that declares this configuration element.
 *
 * @return the extension
 */
public IExtension getDeclaringExtension();
/**
 * Returns the name of this configuration element. 
 * The name of a configuration element is the same as
 * the XML tag of the corresponding XML element. 
 * For example, the configuration markup 
 * <pre>
 * &lt;wizard name="Create Project"/&gt; 
 * </pre>
 * corresponds to a configuration element named <code>"wizard"</code>.
 *
 * @return the name of this configuration element
 */
public String getName();
/**
 * Returns the text value of this configuration element.
 * For example, the configuration markup 
 * <pre>
 * &lt;script lang="javascript"&gt;.\scripts\cp.js&lt;/script&gt;
 * </pre>
 * corresponds to a configuration element <code>"script"</code>
 * with value <code>".\scripts\cp.js"</code>.
 * <p> Values may span multiple lines (i.e., contain carriage returns
 * and/or line feeds).
 * <p> Note that any translation specified in the plug-in manifest
 * file is automatically applied.
 * </p>
 *
 * @see IPluginDescriptor#getResourceString 
 *
 * @return the text value of this configuration element or <code>null</code>
 */
public String getValue();
/**
 * Returns the untranslated text value of this configuration element.
 * For example, the configuration markup 
 * <pre>
 * &lt;script lang="javascript"&gt;.\scripts\cp.js&lt;/script&gt;
 * </pre>
 * corresponds to a configuration element <code>"script"</code>
 * with value <code>".\scripts\cp.js"</code>.
 * <p> Values may span multiple lines (i.e., contain carriage returns
 * and/or line feeds).
 * <p>
 * Note that translation specified in the plug-in manifest
 * file is <b>not</b> automatically applied.
 * For example, the configuration markup 
 * <pre>
 * &lt;tooltip&gt;#hattip&lt;/tooltip&gt;
 * </pre>
 * corresponds to a configuration element, named <code>"tooltip"</code>,
 * with value <code>"#hattip"</code>.
 * </p>
 *
 * @return the untranslated text value of this configuration element or <code>null</code>
 */
public String getValueAsIs();
}