ariba.util.core
Class ReferenceSyntaxParser

java.lang.Object
  ariba.util.core.ReferenceSyntaxParser

public class ReferenceSyntaxParser
extends java.lang.Object

This class provides methods to parse Strings that may contain remote and/or local references. The syntax is as follows: $$, where 'remoteReference' specifies a String that locates the remote reference. This class does not interpret this String. It merely parse a given input string for this substring and hands it back to its caller for processing. It is illegal for this reference string to contain the '^' scope delimiter or the substring "$<" or ">$". 'alias' specifies a key whose value can be obtained from the resource specified 'remoteReference'. Again, this class does not interpret this string. It is illegal for this reference string to contain the '^' scope delimiter or the substring "$<" or ">$". The carat (^) scope delimiter is optional. If absent, this means there is no remote reference, and the substring enclosed within the $<...>$ delimiters is a local alias. Again, it is up to the caller to interpret the local alias. Note that nested references are not supported.

Field Summary

static java.lang.String	BeginDelimiter Indicates the beginning of the reference token.
static java.lang.String	EndDelimiter Indicates the end of the reference token.
static char	RemoteRefDelimiter Separates the remote reference from the alias key Would like to use colon (':') but that is too popular Don't want to confuse those tokenizers that tokenize with the colon as delimiters.
static java.lang.String	RemoteRefDelimiterString Separates the remote reference from the alias key, represented as a String Would like to use colon (':') but that is too popular Don't want to confuse those tokenizers that tokenize with the colon as delimiters.

Constructor Summary

ReferenceSyntaxParser()
Empty Constructor to instantiate this class

Method Summary

int[]	getNextReference(java.lang.String str) Returns the interval of the specified string that denotes a substring that begins and ends with the specified delimiters that this class understands.
java.lang.String[]	getReferenceAndAlias(java.lang.String strWithDelimiters) Return a array of String (of at most 2 elements) that specifies the (optional) remote reference, and the alias key.
static java.lang.String	makeReferenceString(java.lang.String reference, java.lang.String alias) Creates a string with the correct syntax understood by this class to specify a reference to a given reference/alias pair.

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

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

Field Detail

BeginDelimiter

public static final java.lang.String BeginDelimiter

Indicates the beginning of the reference token.

See Also:

Constant Field Values

EndDelimiter

public static final java.lang.String EndDelimiter

Indicates the end of the reference token.

See Also:

Constant Field Values

RemoteRefDelimiter

public static final char RemoteRefDelimiter

Separates the remote reference from the alias key Would like to use colon (':') but that is too popular Don't want to confuse those tokenizers that tokenize with the colon as delimiters.

See Also:

Constant Field Values

RemoteRefDelimiterString

public static final java.lang.String RemoteRefDelimiterString

Separates the remote reference from the alias key, represented as a String Would like to use colon (':') but that is too popular Don't want to confuse those tokenizers that tokenize with the colon as delimiters.

See Also:

Constant Field Values

Constructor Detail

ReferenceSyntaxParser

public ReferenceSyntaxParser()

Empty Constructor to instantiate this class

Method Detail

getNextReference

public int[] getNextReference(java.lang.String str)

Returns the interval of the specified string that denotes a substring that begins and ends with the specified delimiters that this class understands.

Parameters:

str - the input string that may contain 0 or more subsequences that begin and end with the specified delimiters that this class understands. If it is null or blank or empty, just return null.

Returns:

an int array (i, j) of 2 integers. The first element points to the position in the given str where the beginning delmiter starts, in this case, str[i] == '$', str[i+1] == '<'. The second elements points to the position one past the first occurrence of the end delimiter, in this case, str[j-2] = '>', str[j-1] = '$'. Clearly, i > j. Returns null if no such interval can be found. Examples: getNextReference("noReference") return null getNextReference(">$xx$$yy") return (4, 13) getNextReference("xx$$yy") return (2, 11) getNextReference("x$$yy") return (2, 13) getNextReference("$<>$") return (0,4), note that in this case it is up to the caller to handler the empty string contained by the delimiters.

getReferenceAndAlias

public java.lang.String[] getReferenceAndAlias(java.lang.String strWithDelimiters)

Return a array of String (of at most 2 elements) that specifies the (optional) remote reference, and the alias key.

Parameters:

strWithDelimiters - is a string that begins with BeginDelimiter and ends with EndDelimiter.

Returns:

string array of 2 elements (all stripped of any delimiters): Element 0: specifies the id to locate the reference resource. Note that this can be null, which means that the next element (see below) refers to a local alias. Element 1: specifies the alias to be resolved by the reference specified by element 0. Note that the elements can contain empty or blank Strings. It is up to the caller to decide if the contents of the String elements make sense.

makeReferenceString

public static java.lang.String makeReferenceString(java.lang.String reference,
                                                   java.lang.String alias)

Creates a string with the correct syntax understood by this class to specify a reference to a given reference/alias pair. This created String can later be passed back as arguments to the getNextReference or getReferenceAndAlias methods for processing by possibly another component.

Parameters:

reference - the reference. Cannot contain the carat ('^') character, or the ">$" or "$>" substrings. A value of null designates local reference.

alias - the alias, cannot be null. Cannot contain the carat ('^') character, or the ">$" or "$>" substrings.

Returns:

a reference String of the right syntax understood by this class.