org.apache.uima.analysis_engine.metadata
Interface FlowConstraints

All Superinterfaces:

Cloneable, MetaDataObject, Serializable, XMLizable

All Known Subinterfaces:

CapabilityLanguageFlow, FixedFlow

public interface FlowConstraints
extends MetaDataObject

A FlowConstraints object represents constraints on the order of execution of delegate Analysis Engines within an aggregate Analysis Engine. In the most constrained case, this is a fixed flow.

This interface implements no methods for flow constraint specification. It serves as a common superclass for different ways of specifying flow constraints.

Flow constraints must refer to delegate AnalysisEngines; the FlowConstraints object refers to these AEs using String identifiers. The FlowConstraints object does not assign any particular meaning to these Strings - it is the user of the FlowConstraints object that must understand how to map them to the AnalysisEngines themselves. It may be desirable to remap these identifiers; FlowConstraints implementations must support this via the remapIDs(Map) method.

Method Summary

String	getFlowConstraintsType() Gets the type of this FlowConstraints object.
void	remapIDs(Map<String,String> aIDMap) Remaps the AE identifier Strings used in this FlowConstraints object.

Methods inherited from interface org.apache.uima.resource.metadata.MetaDataObject

clone, equals, getAttributeValue, getSourceUrl, getSourceUrlString, isModifiable, listAttributes, setAttributeValue, setSourceUrl

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

buildFromXMLElement, buildFromXMLElement, toXML, toXML, toXML, toXML

Method Detail

getFlowConstraintsType

String getFlowConstraintsType()

Gets the type of this FlowConstraints object. Each sub-interface of FlowConstraints has its own standard type identifier String. These identifier Strings are used instead of Java class names in order to ease portability of metadata to other languages.

Returns:

the type identifier String for this FlowConstraints object

remapIDs

void remapIDs(Map<String,String> aIDMap)

Remaps the AE identifier Strings used in this FlowConstraints object. This method is destructive.

Parameters:

aIDMap - a Map with String keys (the AE identifiers currently used by this object) and String values (the new IDs). Any identifiers that do not appear in this Map will not be remapped.