org.instantreality.InstantIO
Class Codec

java.lang.Object
  org.instantreality.InstantIO.Codec

public final class Codec
extends java.lang.Object

Contains meta information about Encoders and Decoders.

Encoders and Decoders are used by the NetworkNode to transfer data values between software components on the network. Before any data value can be transferred via the network, Encoders and Decoders have to be written that transform data values to system and hardware independent byte streams and vice versa. For some frequently used data types, Encoders and Decoders already exist in this package, but when you need to transfer your own data types, you have to implement Encoders and Decoders, and you have to create an instance of the Codec class that contains meta information about these Encoders and Decoders and registers them in the system. The meta information consists of:

• A unique label that is used to identify the Codec.
• The data type handled by this Codec.
• The Encoder class used to encode the data values.
• The Decoder class used to decode the data values.
• The author who wrote the Encoder and Decoder classes. This information is not used by the system in any way, it simply serves documentation purposes.

For example, let's say you want to transfer Integer values via the network (a Codec for Integer of course already exists in this package, but for the sake of demonstrating the procedure whe nevertheless demonstrate how to create your own). First, you have to create classes that inherit from the Encoder and Decoder classes and implement the encoding and decoding of data values (see the documentation for these classes to get more information about how to do that). Then, you have to create an instance of the Codec class that specifies the meta information and registers the Encoder and the Decoder in the system:

 static Codec myIntCodec = new Codec(
   "Integer",
   Integer.class,
   MyIntEncoder.class,
   MyIntDecoder.class,
   "Patrick Dähne");
 

Author:

Patrick Dähne

See Also:

NetworkNode, Encoder, Decoder

Constructor Summary

Codec(java.lang.String label, java.lang.Class type, java.lang.Class encoder, java.lang.Class decoder, java.lang.String author)
Creates a new Codec object.

Method Summary

java.lang.String	getAuthor() Returns the name of the person who wrote the codec.
static java.util.Enumeration	getCodecs() Returns all codecs currently available.
java.lang.String	getLabel() Returns the label of the codec.
java.lang.Class	getType() Returns the data type that is handled by the codec.

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait

Constructor Detail

Codec

public Codec(java.lang.String label,
             java.lang.Class type,
             java.lang.Class encoder,
             java.lang.Class decoder,
             java.lang.String author)

Creates a new Codec object.

The following example demonstrates how to create a codec that handles Integer data values:

 static Codec myIntCodec = new Codec(
   "Integer",
   Integer.class,
   MyIntEncoder.class,
   MyIntDecoder.class,
   "Patrick Dähne");
 

Parameters:

label - The unique label of the Codec. This label is used to identify the Codec. Case does not matter.

type - The data type that is handled by the Codec.

encoder - The Encoder class used to encode data values.

decoder - The Decoder class used to decode data values.

author - The name of the person who wrote the codec. This information is not used by the system in any way, it simply serves documentation purposes.

Method Detail

getLabel

public java.lang.String getLabel()

Returns the label of the codec. This label is used to identify the codec.

The following example demonstrates how to print the label of a codec to the console:

 Codec codec = ...;
 System.out.println("label = " + codec.getLabel());
 

Returns:

The label of the codec.

getType

public java.lang.Class getType()

Returns the data type that is handled by the codec.

The following example demonstrates how to print the type of a codec to the console:

 Codec codec = ...;
 System.out.println("type = " + codec.getType().getName());
 

Returns:

The data type.

getAuthor

public java.lang.String getAuthor()

Returns the name of the person who wrote the codec. This information is not used by the system in any way, it simply serves documentation purposes.

The following example demonstrates how to print the author of a codec to the console:

 Codec codec = ...;
 System.out.println("author = " + codec.getAuthor());
 

Returns:

The name.

getCodecs

public static java.util.Enumeration getCodecs()

Returns all codecs currently available.

The following example demonstrates how to get an Enumeration of all codecs currently registered in the system, and prints information about all these codecs to the console:

 for (Enumeration e = Codec.getCodecs(); e.hasMoreElements(); )
 {
   Codec codec = (Codec) e.nextElement();
   System.out.println("label = " + codec.getLabel());
   System.out.println("type = " + codec.getType().getName());
   System.out.println("author = " + codec.getAuthor());
 }
 

Returns:

An enumerator that enumerates the currently available codecs.