org.apache.uima
Interface UimaContext

All Known Subinterfaces:

FlowControllerContext, UimaContextAdmin

public interface UimaContext

Provides access to external resources (other than the CAS). The UimaContext provides UIMA resources (e.g. Annotators, Collection Readers, CAS Consumers, CAS Initializers) with all access to external resources (other than the CAS). Examples include:

• Configuration Parameters
• Logging & Instrumentation Facilities
• Access to External Analysis Resources, such as dictionary files

Method Summary

String[]	getConfigParameterNames() Gets the names of all configuration parameters that are not declared in a group.
String[]	getConfigParameterNames(String aGroup) Gets the names of all configuration parameters in the specified group.
Object	getConfigParameterValue(String aParamName) Retrieves the value for a configuration parameter that is not defined in any group or is defined in the default group.
Object	getConfigParameterValue(String aGroupName, String aParamName) Retrieves the value for a configuration parameter in a particular group.
String[]	getConfigurationGroupNames() Gets the names of all configuration parameter groups.
String	getDataPath() Gets the data path used to locate resources.
<T extends AbstractCas> T	getEmptyCas(Class<T> aCasInterface) Get an empty CAS.
InstrumentationFacility	getInstrumentationFacility() Gets the InstrumentationFacility that a component can use to record information about its performance.
Logger	getLogger() Gets the Logger to which log output will be sent.
InputStream	getResourceAsStream(String aKey) Retrieves an InputStream for reading from the named resource.
InputStream	getResourceAsStream(String aKey, String[] aParams) Retrieves an InputStream for reading from the named resource.
String	getResourceFilePath(String aKey) Retrieves the absolute file path to the named resource.
String	getResourceFilePath(String aKey, String[] aParams) Retrieves the absolute file path to the named resource.
Object	getResourceObject(String aKey) Retrieves the named resource object.
Object	getResourceObject(String aKey, String[] aParams) Retrieves the named resource object.
URI	getResourceURI(String aKey) Retrieves the URI to the named resource.
URI	getResourceURI(String aKey, String[] aParams) Retrieves the URI to the named resource.
URL	getResourceURL(String aKey) Retrieves the URL to the named resource.
URL	getResourceURL(String aKey, String[] aParams) Retrieves the URL to the named resource.
Session	getSession() Returns the Session object, which can be used to store data that pertains to a particular client session.
SofaID[]	getSofaMappings() Deprecated. As of v2.0, annotators no longer need to explicitly call this method. CAS views can now be obtained directly by the method CAS.getView(String), and the framework will automatically do the necessary Sofa mappings.
String	mapSofaIDToComponentSofaName(String aSofaID) Retrieve the sofa name as known to the component given an absolute Sofa ID.
SofaID	mapToSofaID(String aSofaName) Deprecated. As of v2.0, annotators no longer need to explicitly call this method. CAS views can now be obtained directly by the method CAS.getView(String), and the framework will automatically do the necessary Sofa mappings.

Method Detail

getConfigParameterValue

Object getConfigParameterValue(String aParamName)

Retrieves the value for a configuration parameter that is not defined in any group or is defined in the default group.

This method returns null if the parameter is optional and has not been assigned a value. (For mandatory parameters, an exception is thrown during initialization if no value has been assigned.) This method also returns null if there is no declared configuration parameter with the specified name.

Parameters:

aParamName - the name of the parameter to look up

Returns:

the value of the parameter with the given name. The caller is expected to know the data type of the parameter. Returns null if the parameter does not exist or has not been assigned a value.

getConfigParameterValue

Object getConfigParameterValue(String aGroupName,
                               String aParamName)

Retrieves the value for a configuration parameter in a particular group. If that group contains no value for the specified parameter, the fallback strategy specified by the Analysis Engine's ConfigurationParameterDeclarations.getSearchStrategy() property will be used. The search strategy can be specified in the descriptor.

This method returns null if the parameter is optional and has not been assigned a value. (For mandatory parameters, an exception is thrown during initialization if no value has been assigned.) This method also returns null if there is no declared configuration parameter with the specified name.

Parameters:

aGroupName - the name of the group containing the parameter

aParamName - the name of the parameter to look up

Returns:

the value of the parameter with the given name. The caller is expected to know the data type of the parameter. Returns null if the parameter does not exist or has not been assigned a value.

getConfigurationGroupNames

String[] getConfigurationGroupNames()

Gets the names of all configuration parameter groups.

Returns:

an array containing the names of all configuration groups that exist for this component. Returns an empty array if no groups are declared.

getConfigParameterNames

String[] getConfigParameterNames(String aGroup)

Gets the names of all configuration parameters in the specified group.

Parameters:

aGroup - the group name

Returns:

an array containing the names of all configuration parameters declared in aGroup. Note that this does include parameters with null values. Returns an empty array if there are none (including if the group does not exist).

getConfigParameterNames

String[] getConfigParameterNames()

Gets the names of all configuration parameters that are not declared in a group.

Returns:

an array containing the names of all configuration parameters not declared in any group. Returns an empty array if there are none.

getLogger

Logger getLogger()

Gets the Logger to which log output will be sent. UIMA components should use this facility rather than writing to their own log files (or to stdout).

Returns:

an instance of a logger for use by this annotator.

getInstrumentationFacility

InstrumentationFacility getInstrumentationFacility()

Gets the InstrumentationFacility that a component can use to record information about its performance.

Returns:

an instance of the instrumentation facility

getResourceURL

URL getResourceURL(String aKey)
                   throws ResourceAccessException

Retrieves the URL to the named resource. This can be used, for example, to locate configuration or authority files. The resource should be declared in the <externalResourceDependencies> section of the descriptor.

Note that if the URL contains spaces may be encoded as %20. The URL.getPath() method does NOT decode these sequences, therefore it is not safe to call getResourceURL().getPath() and attempt to use the result as a file path. Instead, you may use getResourceURI(String) or getResourceFilePath(String).

For backwards compatibility, if the key is not declared as a resource dependency, it is looked up directly in the data path and the class path. However, this usage is deprecated and support may be dropped in future versions. ALL external resource dependencies should be declared in the descriptor.

Parameters:

aKey - the key by which the resource is identified. This key should be declared in the <externalResourceDependencies> section of the descriptor.

Returns:

the URL at which the named resource is located, null if the named resource could not be found.

Throws:

ResourceAccessException - if a failure occurs in accessing the resource

getResourceURI

URI getResourceURI(String aKey)
                   throws ResourceAccessException

Retrieves the URI to the named resource. This can be used, for example, to locate configuration or authority files. The resource should be declared in the <externalResourceDependencies> section of the descriptor.

This method is safer than getResourceURL(String) in its treatment of file paths containing spaces. This is because the URI.getPath() does perform URL decoding of that path (decoding %20 sequences to spaces) whereas URL.getPath() does not.

For backwards compatibility, if the key is not declared as a resource dependency, it is looked up directly in the data path and the class path. However, this usage is deprecated and support may be dropped in future versions. ALL external resource dependencies should be declared in the descriptor.

Parameters:

aKey - the key by which the resource is identified. This key should be declared in the <externalResourceDependencies> section of the descriptor.

Returns:

the URI at which the named resource is located, null if the named resource could not be found.

Throws:

ResourceAccessException - if a failure occurs in accessing the resource

getResourceFilePath

String getResourceFilePath(String aKey)
                           throws ResourceAccessException

Retrieves the absolute file path to the named resource. This can be used, for example, to locate configuration or authority files. The resource should be declared in the <externalResourceDependencies> section of the descriptor.

This only works if the resource is a local file. If the resource is not a local file (for example, it could be an http URL, then an exception will be thrown.

URL decoding will be done on the file path, so it is safe to use this method for file paths that contain spaces. For backwards compatibility, if the key is not declared as a resource dependency, it is looked up directly in the data path and the class path. However, this usage is deprecated and support may be dropped in future versions. ALL external resource dependencies should be declared in the descriptor.

Parameters:

aKey - the key by which the resource is identified. This key should be declared in the <externalResourceDependencies> section of the descriptor.

Returns:

the absolute file path at which the named resource is located, null if the named resource could not be found.

Throws:

ResourceAccessException - if the resource is not a local file, or if a failure occurs in accessing the resource

getResourceAsStream

InputStream getResourceAsStream(String aKey)
                                throws ResourceAccessException

Retrieves an InputStream for reading from the named resource. This can be used, for example, to locate configuration or authority files. The resource should be declared in the <externalResourceDependencies> section of the descriptor.

For backwards compatibility, if the key is not declared as a resource dependency, it is looked up directly in the data path and the class path. However, this usage is deprecated and support may be dropped in future versions. ALL external resource dependencies should be declared in the descriptor.

Parameters:

aKey - the key by which the resource is identified. This key should be declared in the <externalResourceDependencies> section of the descriptor.

Returns:

an InputStream for reading from the named resource, null if the named resource could not be found. It is the caller's responsibility to close this stream once it is no longer needed.

Throws:

ResourceAccessException - if a failure occurs in accessing the resource

getResourceObject

Object getResourceObject(String aKey)
                         throws ResourceAccessException

Retrieves the named resource object. This can be used to acquire references to external resources. The resource should be declared in the <externalResourceDependencies> section of the descriptor.

Parameters:

aKey - the key by which the resource is identified. This key should be declared in the <externalResourceDependencies> section of the descriptor.

Returns:

the object bound to aName, null if none.

Throws:

ResourceAccessException - if a failure occurs in accessing the resource

getResourceURL

URL getResourceURL(String aKey,
                   String[] aParams)
                   throws ResourceAccessException

Retrieves the URL to the named resource. This can be used, for example, to locate configuration or authority files. The resource should be declared in the <externalResourceDependencies> section of the descriptor.

Note that if the URL contains spaces they may be encoded as %20. The URL.getPath() method does NOT decode these sequences, therefore it is not safe to call getResourceURL().getPath() and attempt to use the result as a file path. Instead, you may use getResourceURI(String) or getResourceFilePath(String).

For backwards compatibility, if the key is not declared as a resource dependency, it is looked up directly in the data path and the class path. However, this usage is deprecated and support may be dropped in future versions. ALL external resource dependencies should be declared in the descriptor.

This version of this method takes an array of parameters used to further identify the resource. This can be used, for example, with resources that vary depending on the language of the document being analyzed, such as when the <fileLanguageResourceSpecifier> element is used in the component descriptor.

Parameters:

aKey - the key by which the resource is identified. This key should be declared in the <externalResourceDependencies> section of the descriptor.

aParams - parameters used to further identify the resource. When used to identify the language for a <fileLanguageResourceSpecifier>, this array should contain a single element, the ISO language code for the language of the document (e.g. "en", "de").

Returns:

the URL at which the named resource is located, null if the named resource could not be found.

Throws:

ResourceAccessException - if a failure occurs in accessing the resource

getResourceURI

URI getResourceURI(String aKey,
                   String[] aParams)
                   throws ResourceAccessException

Retrieves the URI to the named resource. This can be used, for example, to locate configuration or authority files. The resource should be declared in the <externalResourceDependencies> section of the descriptor.

This method is safer than getResourceURL(String) in its treatment of file paths containing spaces. This is because the URI.getPath() does perform URL decoding of that path (decoding %20 sequences to spaces) whereas URL.getPath() does not.

For backwards compatibility, if the key is not declared as a resource dependency, it is looked up directly in the data path and the class path. However, this usage is deprecated and support may be dropped in future versions. ALL external resource dependencies should be declared in the descriptor.

This version of this method takes an array of parameters used to further identify the resource. This can be used, for example, with resources that vary depending on the language of the document being analyzed, such as when the <fileLanguageResourceSpecifier> element is used in the component descriptor.

Parameters:

aKey - the key by which the resource is identified. This key should be declared in the <externalResourceDependencies> section of the descriptor.

Returns:

the URI at which the named resource is located, null if the named resource could not be found.

Throws:

ResourceAccessException - if a failure occurs in accessing the resource

getResourceFilePath

String getResourceFilePath(String aKey,
                           String[] aParams)
                           throws ResourceAccessException

Retrieves the absolute file path to the named resource. This can be used, for example, to locate configuration or authority files. The resource should be declared in the <externalResourceDependencies> section of the descriptor.

This only works if the resource is a local file. If the resource is not a local file (for example, it could be an http URL, then an exception will be thrown.

URL decoding will be done on the file path, so it is safe to use this method for file paths that contain spaces.

For backwards compatibility, if the key is not declared as a resource dependency, it is looked up directly in the data path and the class path. However, this usage is deprecated and support may be dropped in future versions. ALL external resource dependencies should be declared in the descriptor.

This version of this method takes an array of parameters used to further identify the resource. This can be used, for example, with resources that vary depending on the language of the document being analyzed, such as when the <fileLanguageResourceSpecifier> element is used in the component descriptor.

Parameters:

aKey - the key by which the resource is identified. This key should be declared in the <externalResourceDependencies> section of the descriptor.

Returns:

the absolute file path at which the named resource is located, null if the named resource could not be found.

Throws:

ResourceAccessException - if the resource is not a local file, or if a failure occurs in accessing the resource

getResourceAsStream

InputStream getResourceAsStream(String aKey,
                                String[] aParams)
                                throws ResourceAccessException

Retrieves an InputStream for reading from the named resource. This can be used, for example, to locate configuration or authority files. The resource should be declared in the <externalResourceDependencies> section of the descriptor.

For backwards compatibility, if the key is not declared as a resource dependency, it is looked up directly in the data path and the class path. However, this usage is deprecated and support may be dropped in future versions. ALL external resource dependencies should be declared in the descriptor.

This version of this method takes an array of parameters used to further identify the resource. This can be used, for example, with resources that vary depending on the language of the document being analyzed, such as when the <fileLanguageResourceSpecifier> element is used in the component descriptor.

Parameters:

aKey - the key by which the resource is identified. This key should bd declared in the <externalResourceDependencies> section of the descriptor.

aParams - parameters used to further identify the resource. When used to identify the language for a <fileLanguageResourceSpecifier>, this array should contain a single element, the ISO language code for the language of the document (e.g. "en", "de").

Returns:

an InputStream for reading from the named resource, null if the named resource could not be found. It is the caller's responsibility to close this stream once it is no longer needed.

Throws:

ResourceAccessException - if a failure occurs in accessing the resource

getResourceObject

Object getResourceObject(String aKey,
                         String[] aParams)
                         throws ResourceAccessException

Retrieves the named resource object. This can be used to acquire references to external resources. The resource should be declared in the <externalResourceDependencies> section of the descriptor.

This version of this method takes an array of parameters used to further identify the resource. This can be used, for example, with resources that vary depending on the language of the document being analyzed, such as when the <fileLanguageResourceSpecifier> element is used in the component descriptor.

Parameters:

aKey - the key by which the resource is identified. This key should be declared in the <externalResourceDependencies> section of the descriptor.

aParams - parameters used to further identify the resource. When used to identify the language for a <fileLanguageResourceSpecifier>, this array should contain a single element, the ISO language code for the language of the document (e.g. "en", "de").

Returns:

the object bound to aName, null if none.

Throws:

ResourceAccessException - if a failure occurs in accessing the resource

getDataPath

String getDataPath()

Gets the data path used to locate resources. This path may contain more than one directory, separated by the System path.separator character (; on windows, : on UNIX).

This method is intended to be used only for integration of legacy or third-party components that have their own resource management facility. If possible, it is recommended that you use the getResoureXXX methods instead.

Returns:

the data path

getSession

Session getSession()

Returns the Session object, which can be used to store data that pertains to a particular client session. All data that must persist across requests must be stored in the Session object and NOT in component instance variables. In some service deployments, a single component instance may serve multiple clients. In that case, the service wrapper may provide a different Session object for each client, and this method would return the appropriate Session object for the component to use for the current call.

Note that Session support is NOT implemented in any of the service wrappers (Vinci, SOAP) currently provided in the UIMA SDK.

Returns:

the current Session object

mapToSofaID

@Deprecated
SofaID mapToSofaID(String aSofaName)

Deprecated. As of v2.0, annotators no longer need to explicitly call this method. CAS views can now be obtained directly by the method CAS.getView(String), and the framework will automatically do the necessary Sofa mappings.

Retrieve actual sofa ID given a symbolic name

Parameters:

aSofaName - this component's name for a SofA

Returns:

absolute SofA ID

mapSofaIDToComponentSofaName

String mapSofaIDToComponentSofaName(String aSofaID)

Retrieve the sofa name as known to the component given an absolute Sofa ID.

Parameters:

aSofaID - absolute SofA ID

Returns:

this component's name for that SofA

getSofaMappings

@Deprecated
SofaID[] getSofaMappings()

Deprecated. As of v2.0, annotators no longer need to explicitly call this method. CAS views can now be obtained directly by the method CAS.getView(String), and the framework will automatically do the necessary Sofa mappings.

Returns:

array of SofaID objects containing mapping of component sofa name to absolute sofa id

getEmptyCas

<T extends AbstractCas> T getEmptyCas(Class<T> aCasInterface)

Get an empty CAS. This method can only be called from CAS Multipliers, and typically a CAS Multiplier would call this indirectly through its CasMultiplier_ImplBase.getEmptyCAS() or JCasMultiplier_ImplBase.getEmptyJCas() method.

This method may maintain a pool of CASes and may block if none are currently available.

Parameters:

aCasInterface - the specific CAS interface that the component wants to use (e.g. CAS or JCas). Must specify a subtype of AbstractCas.

Returns:

an empty CAS. This will be an implementation of aCasInterface.