ca.uhn.hl7v2.model
Class AbstractType

java.lang.Object
  ca.uhn.hl7v2.model.AbstractType

All Implemented Interfaces:

Type, Serializable

Direct Known Subclasses:

AbstractComposite, AbstractPersonNameComposite, AbstractPrimitive

public abstract class AbstractType
extends Object
implements Type

An abstract Type that provides a default implementation of getName().

Author:

Bryan Tripp

See Also:

Serialized Form

Constructor Summary

AbstractType(Message message)
Creates a new instance of AbstractType

Method Summary

void	clear() Clears all data from this type
String	encode() Encodes this type using HL7 encoding.
ExtraComponents	getExtraComponents() Returns an object containing any extra (non-standard) components that have been added to this type at run-time.
Message	getMessage()
String	getName() Returns the name of the type (used in XML encoding and profile checking)
void	parse(String string) Parses the string into this type and replaces the current contents with the parsed value.
String	toString() Returns the datatype and attempts to pipe-encode it.

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

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

Constructor Detail

AbstractType

public AbstractType(Message message)

Creates a new instance of AbstractType

Parameters:

message - message to which this type belongs

Method Detail

getName

public String getName()

Returns the name of the type (used in XML encoding and profile checking)

Specified by:

getName in interface Type

getExtraComponents

public ExtraComponents getExtraComponents()

Description copied from interface: Type

Returns an object containing any extra (non-standard) components that have been added to this type at run-time. This object can also be used to add components.

Specified by:

getExtraComponents in interface Type

See Also:

Type.getExtraComponents()

getMessage

public Message getMessage()

Specified by:

getMessage in interface Type

Returns:

the message to which this Type belongs

parse

public void parse(String string)
           throws HL7Exception

Parses the string into this type and replaces the current contents with the parsed value. This method accepts HL7 encoded text and treats its input as such.

Note that this method is subtly different from calling Primitive.setValue(String), but can be quite powerful. For example, using the argument of "milk&cookies" on an ST datatype:

• If you are using Primitive.setValue(String), the ampersand is treated as an actual ampersand in the text, and the field will be treated as a single field which is encoded as "milk\T\cookies" (\T\ is the escape sequence for the subcomponent delimiter).
• If you are using parse(String), the ampersand is treated as a subcomponent delimiter, meaning that the value is set to "milk", and a second component is added with the value of "cookies".

This method makes use of the parser which is stored within the enclosing Message. At this time, only PipeParsers are supported.

Specified by:

parse in interface Type

Throws:

HL7Exception

encode

public String encode()
              throws HL7Exception

Encodes this type using HL7 encoding.

Specified by:

encode in interface Type

Throws:

HL7Exception

clear

public void clear()

Clears all data from this type

Specified by:

clear in interface Type

toString

public String toString()

Returns the datatype and attempts to pipe-encode it. For example, a string implementation might return "ST[Value^Value2]". This is only intended for logging/debugging purposes.

Overrides:

toString in class Object