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java.lang.Object
   |
   +----utah.npm.core.Lockable
           |
           +----utah.npm.core.NPMObject
                   |
                   +----utah.npm.core.Reference

Summary

public final class  Reference
     extends utah.npm.core.NPMObject
{
          // Fields 2
     public static final Reference NullReference;
     Link link_;

          // Constructors 4
     public Reference();
     public Reference(int);
     public Reference(Refable);
     public Reference(Refable, int);

          // Methods 13
     static String typeName();

     public boolean check();
     public boolean compare(Reference);
     public void destroy();
     public boolean equals(Object);
     public void nullify();
     void s_associate(Link);
     void s_associate(Refable);
     Link s_getLink();
     private void s_init(Refable, int);
     int s_type();
     public String toString();
     public Class type();
}

A Reference object is a cross-process capability to any Reference-able NPMObject.

Version:

NPMJava 0.5.0 April, 1998

Author:

Patrick Tullmann tullmann@cs.utah.edu

See Also: Refable

Cross Reference

Returned By:

Refable.reference()

   public static final Reference NullReference

   Link link_

link_ points to the Refable, indirectly. The link_ is always vaild (a Link is allocated by the constructor.) Though, the Link may point to the null object.

Constructors

· Reference

Summary  |  Top

   public Reference() 

Construct a null reference. It can be defined to Reference a specific object by using the reference method of the target object.

See Also: Refable.reference

   public Reference(Refable refObj) 

Construct a new reference that will refer to the provided object.

Parameter	Description
refObj	the object the reference will refer to

   public Reference(int hashCode) 

Construct a null reference with the given hash code.

Parameter	Description
hashCode	the hash code for this reference

See Also: Refable.reference

   public Reference(Refable refObj, 
                    int hashCode) 

Construct a reference to the provided object with the provided hash code.

Parameter	Description
refObj	the object to create a reference to
hashCode	the hashCode of the reference object (not the refObj)

   private void s_init(Refable refObj, 
                       int hashCode) 

Private initialization that happens after the constructor is called.

   public Class type() 

Return Class of object this object points to.

Returns:

Class object for object this reference points to, or null if this reference is null.

   public void destroy() 

Destroy this reference object.

Overrides:

destroy in class NPMObject

   public boolean compare(Reference otherRef) 

Returns true if this and given ref point to the same object. If both refs are null, returns true. If one ref is null, returns false.

Parameter	Description
otherRef	the reference to compare this reference to

Returns:

true if this and otherRef point to the same object, false otherwise.

   public void nullify() 

Nullify a reference, clearing its link to whatever its touching. After this opertion, this.compare(Reference.NullReference) will return true.

   public boolean equals(Object obj) 

Equality is determined by the objects a Reference points to. If two References refer to the exact same object they are "equal."

Parameter	Description
obj	the Object to compare to.

Returns:

true if obj is a Reference object that points to the same object as this.

Overrides:

equals in class Object

See Also: compare

   public boolean check() 

Return true if this reference is valid.

Returns:

true if this reference is valid (non-null).

   public String toString() 

Return a string representation of this Reference (includes the type and hashCode of the target object.

Returns:

a string representation of this Reference

Overrides:

toString in class NPMObject

   void s_associate(Refable obj) 

Associate the given object with the under-lying Link in this Reference.

Parameter	Description
obj	the object to associate this Reference with.

See Also: Link

   void s_associate(Link newLink) 

Associate this reference with object pointed to by the given Link.

Parameter	Description
newLink	a link to the object to associate this reference with

See Also: Link

   Link s_getLink() 

Get the under-lying Link object this Reference is using.

Returns:

the link object this Reference is using.

   static String typeName() 

Return the type of this object as a string, "Reference".

Returns:

the string "Reference"

Overrides:

typeName in class NPMObject

   int s_type() 

Return the type of this object, NPMObject.ReferenceType

Returns:

NPMObject.ReferenceType

Overrides:

s_type in class NPMObject

See Also: NPMObject.ReferenceType

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