org.apache.uima.analysis_engine
Interface ResultSpecification

All Superinterfaces:

Cloneable, Serializable, XMLizable

public interface ResultSpecification
extends XMLizable, Serializable, Cloneable

A ResultSpecification is a set of desired outputs from a Analysis Engine or Annotator. Each output is a reference to either a Type or a Feature.

Annotator implementations may, but are not required to, check the ResultSpecification passed as a parameter to their AnalysisComponent.setResultSpecification(ResultSpecification)}, and produce only those Types and Features that are part of the ResultSpecification. Annotators can call the containsType(String) and containsFeature(String) to determine which types and features belong to this ResultSpecification and should be produced.

The containsType(...) method also returns true for subtypes of types specified in the result specification. The containsFeature(...) method also returns true for all features of a type if the type's allAnnotatorFeatures flag is set. As a corner case, the containsFeature may return true in this case even if the feature is not actually part of the type system.

ResultSpecifications are language enabled to allow different values to be set and returned, based on a ISO language identifier. There are two styles of the get and add methods that add these specifications to an instance of a ResultSpecification: one takes an additional parameter specifying the language(s), the other doesn't have this parameter. Using the one without the language parameter is equivalent to using the "x-unspecified" language. The functions that add ResultSpecifications can do this for multiple languages at once because the language parameter is an array of strings. The functions to retrieve a ResultSpecification specify one particular language.

Result Specifications for particular types or features have an associated set of languages which they are set for. That associated set of languages can include the "x-unspecified" language; if it does, then a query for that feature for any language will match.

If a type or feature's set of languages does not include "x-unspecified", then a query using "x-unspecified" (either as the language passed, or by default, if no language is passed) returns false.

A result specification entry having a language set may contain languages with country codes, such as zh-cn for example. A query for zh-cn would match, but a query for zh would not match, if this entry only had the zh-cn language specified.

But, a result specification entry having a language set containing just zh will match queries that specify zh-cn as the language, because a result-specification of zh is implied to mean the language zh regardless of the country.

Sometimes the methods to change the result specification replace the language(s), other times, the language(s) are merged with any existing specification already present in the result specification for the particular type or feature.

• Methods to "set" result types and/or features (or both) replace the current settings, for all languages.
• Methods to "add" 1 type or feature, with no language(s) specified replace the current language setting for that type or feature with x-unspecified, except for the following 2 methods
• Methods addResultType and addFeatureType, with languages specified, augment any existing languages that might already be specified for that type or feature.

Prior to any querying using the containsType or containsFeature methods, the type system in use for this result specification may be specified by calling setTypeSystem(typeSystem). If it is available, the results of the containsType and containsFeature methods will be true for subtypes of the original types. The language specification in the ResultSpecification for a derived sub type is computed as the union of all of the langauges specified for its supertypes. Likewise, the The allAnnotatorFeatures flag of a subtype is the logical union of this property for all of its supertypes.

The computation to enable this behavior for subtypes is called "compiling" the result specification, and is done automatically, but only when needed, and when there is an available type system specified for this result specification object, using the setTypeSystem or compile methods. The result of this computation is "cached". If the result specification is subsequently updated in such a way as to make this computation invalid, the cache is invalidated, and another compile operation will be transparently done, when and if needed.

Method Summary

void	addCapabilities(Capability[] aCapabilities) Adds the output types and features from the specified capabilities to this ResultSpecification.
void	addCapabilities(Capability[] aCapabilities, boolean aOutputs) Adds either outputs or inputs from the specified capabilities to this ResultSpecification.
void	addResultFeature(String aFullFeatureName) Adds a Feature to this ResultSpecification for the language x-unspecified.
void	addResultFeature(String aFullFeatureName, String[] aLanguageIDs) Adds a Feature to this ResultSpecification for the specified languages.
void	addResultType(String aTypeName, boolean aAllAnnotatorFeatures) Adds an Type to this ResultSpecification for the language x-unspecified.
void	addResultType(String aTypeName, boolean aAllAnnotatorFeatures, String[] aLanguageIDs) Adds an Type to this ResultSpecification for the specified languages.
void	addResultTypeOrFeature(TypeOrFeature aTypeOrFeature) Adds a Result Type or Feature to this ResultSpecification for the language x-unspecified.
void	addResultTypeOrFeature(TypeOrFeature aTypeOrFeature, String[] aLanguageIDs) Adds a Result Type or Feature to this ResultSpecification for the specified languages.
Object	clone() create a copy of the current object.
void	compile(TypeSystem aTypeSystem) Deprecated. as of 2.2.2 Now called automatically internally when needed
boolean	containsFeature(String aFullFeatureName) Determines whether this ResultSpecification contains the specified Feature for the language x-unspecified.
boolean	containsFeature(String aFullFeatureName, String aLanguage) Determines whether this ResultSpecification contains the specified Feature for the specified language.
boolean	containsType(String aTypeName) Determines whether this ResultSpecification contains the specified Type for the language x-unspecified.
boolean	containsType(String aTypeName, String aLanguage) Determines whether this ResultSpecification contains the specified Type for the specified language.
TypeOrFeature[]	getResultTypesAndFeatures() Retrieves the Types and Features that the AnalysisEngine or Annotator is requested to produce for the default language x-unspecified (that is, regardless any language specification).
TypeOrFeature[]	getResultTypesAndFeatures(String language) Retrieves the Types and Features that the AnalysisEngine or Annotator is requested to produce for the specified language.
TypeSystem	getTypeSystem() get the type system associated with this result specification.
void	removeTypeOrFeature(TypeOrFeature aTypeOrFeature) removes the specified TypeOrFeature from this ResultSpecification.
void	setResultTypesAndFeatures(TypeOrFeature[] aTypesAndFeatures) Sets the Types and Features that the AnalysisEngine or Annotator is requested to produce for the language x-unspecified, and removes all other type or feature information, that may be previously present (e.g., for other languages)
void	setResultTypesAndFeatures(TypeOrFeature[] aTypesAndFeatures, String[] aLanguageIDs) Sets the Types and Features that the AnalysisEngine or Annotator is requested to produce for the specified languages, and removes all other type or feature information, that may be previously present (e.g., for other languages).
void	setTypeSystem(TypeSystem ts) set the type system associated with this result specification.

Methods inherited from interface org.apache.uima.util.XMLizable

buildFromXMLElement, buildFromXMLElement, toXML, toXML, toXML, toXML

Method Detail

getResultTypesAndFeatures

TypeOrFeature[] getResultTypesAndFeatures()

Retrieves the Types and Features that the AnalysisEngine or Annotator is requested to produce for the default language x-unspecified (that is, regardless any language specification).

The set of types and features returned are just the ones that have been explicitly set or added to the ResultSpecification, and doesn't include any derived subtypes, even if this ResultSpecification has been compiled.

Returns:

an array of TypeOrFeature objects that define the result types and features for the language x-unspecified.

getResultTypesAndFeatures

TypeOrFeature[] getResultTypesAndFeatures(String language)

Retrieves the Types and Features that the AnalysisEngine or Annotator is requested to produce for the specified language. See the class comment for how languages are compared.

The set of types and features returned are just the ones that have been explicitly set or added to the ResultSpecification, and doesn't include any derived subtypes, even if this ResultSpecification has been compiled.

Returns:

an array of TypeOrFeature objects that define the result types and features for the specified language.

setResultTypesAndFeatures

void setResultTypesAndFeatures(TypeOrFeature[] aTypesAndFeatures)

Sets the Types and Features that the AnalysisEngine or Annotator is requested to produce for the language x-unspecified, and removes all other type or feature information, that may be previously present (e.g., for other languages)

Parameters:

aTypesAndFeatures - an array of TypeOrFeature objects that define the result types and features for the language x-unspecified.

setResultTypesAndFeatures

void setResultTypesAndFeatures(TypeOrFeature[] aTypesAndFeatures,
                               String[] aLanguageIDs)

Sets the Types and Features that the AnalysisEngine or Annotator is requested to produce for the specified languages, and removes all other type or feature information, that may be previously present (e.g., for other languages).

Parameters:

aTypesAndFeatures - an array of TypeOrFeature objects that define the result types and features for the specified languages.

aLanguageIDs - an array of ISO language identifiers.

addResultTypeOrFeature

void addResultTypeOrFeature(TypeOrFeature aTypeOrFeature)

Adds a Result Type or Feature to this ResultSpecification for the language x-unspecified. If there is already a same-named TypeOrFeature object contained in the result spec, its language specification for this ToF will be replaced with x-unspecified, and its allAnnotatorFeatures flag will be replaced with the parameter's.

Parameters:

aTypeOrFeature - the Type or Feature to add for the language x-unspecified

addResultTypeOrFeature

void addResultTypeOrFeature(TypeOrFeature aTypeOrFeature,
                            String[] aLanguageIDs)

Adds a Result Type or Feature to this ResultSpecification for the specified languages. If there is already a same-named TypeOrFeature object contained in the result spec, the language specification for this ToF will be replaced with the specified languages, and its allAnnotatorFeatures flag will be replaced with the parameter's. If null is passed in for the aLanguageIDs, this is treated as if one language, x-unspecified, was given.

Parameters:

aTypeOrFeature - the Type or Feature to add for the specified languages

aLanguageIDs - an array of ISO language identifiers.

addResultType

void addResultType(String aTypeName,
                   boolean aAllAnnotatorFeatures)

Adds an Type to this ResultSpecification for the language x-unspecified. If the current Type is already contained in the result spec, the language specification for this Type will be replaced with x-unspecified, and its allAnnotatorFeatures flag will be replaced with the parameter's.

Parameters:

aTypeName - the name of the Type to add for the language x-unspecified

aAllAnnotatorFeatures - whether all features of this type should also be produced

addResultType

void addResultType(String aTypeName,
                   boolean aAllAnnotatorFeatures,
                   String[] aLanguageIDs)

Adds an Type to this ResultSpecification for the specified languages. If the given Type is already contained in the result spec, the languages specified will be added to those already associated with the Type in this ResultSpec. The given type's allAnnotatorFeatures is logically "or"ed with any existing value. If null is passed in for the aLanguageIDs, this is treated as if one language, x-unspecified, was given.

Parameters:

aTypeName - the name of the Type to add for the specified languages

aAllAnnotatorFeatures - whether all features of this type should also be produced

aLanguageIDs - an array of ISO language identifiers.

addResultFeature

void addResultFeature(String aFullFeatureName)

Adds a Feature to this ResultSpecification for the language x-unspecified. If the given Type is already contained in the result spec, the languages associated with that type will be replaced by x-unspecified.

Parameters:

aFullFeatureName - the fully-qualified name of the Feature to add for the language x-unspecified

addResultFeature

void addResultFeature(String aFullFeatureName,
                      String[] aLanguageIDs)

Adds a Feature to this ResultSpecification for the specified languages. If the current Feature is already contained in the result spec, the language specification for this Feature will be augmented (added to) with the specified languages. If null is passed in for the aLanguageIDs, this is treated as if one language, x-unspecified, was given.

Parameters:

aFullFeatureName - the fully-qualified name of the Feature to add for the specified languages

aLanguageIDs - an array of ISO language identifiers.

compile

@Deprecated
void compile(TypeSystem aTypeSystem)

Deprecated. as of 2.2.2 Now called automatically internally when needed

Compiles this ResultSpecification using a specific TypeSystem. The result is cached and used by the containsType(String) and containsFeature(String) methods to properly consider the inheritance of types and to restrict allAnnotatorFeatures to just those features defined in the type system when this ResultSpecification contains Types with allAnnotatorFeatures set to true.

This method is called automatically internally when needed. Framework code, Annotators and Applications do not need to call it.

Parameters:

aTypeSystem - the Type System used to determine which features belong to each Type

containsType

boolean containsType(String aTypeName)

Determines whether this ResultSpecification contains the specified Type for the language x-unspecified. If a type system is available to the result specification, a type will be considered to be contained in the result spec, also, if it is a subtype of the types originally specified to be in the result specification.

Parameters:

aTypeName - the name of the type

Returns:

true if and only if this ResultSpecification contains the type with name aTypeName.

containsType

boolean containsType(String aTypeName,
                     String aLanguage)

Determines whether this ResultSpecification contains the specified Type for the specified language. A type is considered to be contained in the result spec, also, if it is a subtype of the types originally specified to be in the result specification for this language.

Parameters:

aTypeName - the name of the type

aLanguage - the language to search for. A null value or the value x-unspecified for this argument disables the language test - any language will match. The language is matched after excluding any country code, if present.

Returns:

true if and only if this ResultSpecification contains the type with name aTypeName for the specified language.

containsFeature

boolean containsFeature(String aFullFeatureName)

Determines whether this ResultSpecification contains the specified Feature for the language x-unspecified. Feature names are fully qualified, consisting of the type name plus the feature-of-that-type name. A feature ttt:fff is contained in the result spec if that fff is specified for type ttt or any supertype of ttt in the result spec. A feature can be specified in the result spec explicitly or by specifying a type or supertype of the feature's type having the allAnnotatorFeatures flag set.

Parameters:

aFullFeatureName - the fully-qualified name of the feature, in the form MyTypeName:MyFeatureName.

Returns:

true if and only if this ResultSpecification contains the feature with name aFullFeatureName.

containsFeature

boolean containsFeature(String aFullFeatureName,
                        String aLanguage)

Determines whether this ResultSpecification contains the specified Feature for the specified language. Feature names are fully qualified, consisting of the type name plus the feature-of-that-type name. A feature ttt:fff is contained in the result spec if that fff is specified for type ttt or any supertype of ttt in the result spec. A feature can be specified in the result spec explicitly or by specifying a type or supertype of the feature's type having the allAnnotatorFeatures flag set.

Parameters:

aFullFeatureName - the fully-qualified name of the feature, in the form MyTypeName:MyFeatureName.

aLanguage - the language to search for. A null value or the value x-unspecified for this argument disables the language test - any language will match. A value with a country code in addition to a language will match a result-spec without the country code.

Returns:

true if and only if this ResultSpecification contains the feature with name aFullFeatureName for the specified language.

addCapabilities

void addCapabilities(Capability[] aCapabilities)

Adds the output types and features from the specified capabilities to this ResultSpecification.

If a Type being added is already contained in the ResultSpecification, the languages from the Capabilities entry for this type will be added to those already associated with the Type in this ResultSpec. The given capability instance's allAnnotatorFeatures is logically "or"ed with any existing value.

Parameters:

aCapabilities - capabilities to add

addCapabilities

void addCapabilities(Capability[] aCapabilities,
                     boolean aOutputs)

Adds either outputs or inputs from the specified capabilities to this ResultSpecification.

If a Type being added is already contained in the ResultSpecification, the languages from the Capabilities entry for this type will be added to those already associated with the Type in this ResultSpec. The given capability instance's allAnnotatorFeatures is logically "or"ed with any existing value.

Parameters:

aCapabilities - capabilities to add

aOutputs - true to add the output types/features to this ResultSpecification, false to add the input types/features to this ResultSpecification.

removeTypeOrFeature

void removeTypeOrFeature(TypeOrFeature aTypeOrFeature)

removes the specified TypeOrFeature from this ResultSpecification.

Parameters:

aTypeOrFeature - the Type or Feature to remove

clone

Object clone()

create a copy of the current object.

Returns:

Object returns a copy of the current object

setTypeSystem

void setTypeSystem(TypeSystem ts)

set the type system associated with this result specification. It is used to augment any types with their subtypes

Parameters:

ts - the CAS Type System

getTypeSystem

TypeSystem getTypeSystem()

get the type system associated with this result specification.