DefaultFeatureType (Apache SIS 0.8 API)

Object
- AbstractIdentifiedType
- - DefaultFeatureType

All Implemented Interfaces:

Serializable, Deprecable
```
public class DefaultFeatureType
extends AbstractIdentifiedType
```
Abstraction of a real-world phenomena. A FeatureType instance describes the class of all feature instances of that type.
Analogy: compared to the Java language, FeatureType is equivalent to Class while Feature instances are equivalent to Object instances of that class.

Warning: This class is expected to implement a GeoAPI FeatureType interface in a future version. When such interface will be available, most references to DefaultFeatureType in the API will be replaced by references to the FeatureType interface.

Naming
The feature type name is mandatory and should be unique. Those names are the main criterion used for deciding if a feature type is assignable from another type. Names can be scoped for avoiding name collision.
Properties and inheritance
Each feature type can provide descriptions for the following properties:
In addition, a feature type can inherit the properties of one or more other feature types. Properties defined in the sub-type can override properties of the same name defined in the super-types, provided that values of the sub-type property are assignable to the super-type property.
Analogy: compared to the Java language, the above rule is similar to overriding a method with a more specific return type (a.k.a. covariant return type). This is also similar to Java arrays, which are implicitly covariant (i.e. String[] can be casted to CharSequence[], which is safe for read operations but not for write operations — the later may throw ArrayStoreException).

Instantiation
DefaultFeatureType can be instantiated directly by a call to its constructor. But a more convenient approach may be to use the FeatureTypeBuilder instead, which provides shortcuts for frequently-used operations like creating various GenericName instances sharing the same namespace.
Immutability and thread safety
Instances of this class are immutable if all properties (GenericName and InternationalString instances) and all arguments (AttributeType instances) given to the constructor are also immutable. Such immutable instances can be shared by many objects and passed between threads without synchronization.
Since:

0.5

See Also:

DefaultAttributeType, DefaultAssociationRole, AbstractFeature, DefaultFeatureTypeInfo, FeatureNaming, Serialized Form

Defined in the sis-feature module

Field Summary
- Fields inherited from class AbstractIdentifiedType
  DEFINITION_KEY, DEPRECATED_KEY, DESCRIPTION_KEY, DESIGNATION_KEY, NAME_KEY

Constructor Summary

Constructors
Constructor and Description
`DefaultFeatureType(Map<String,?> identification, boolean isAbstract, DefaultFeatureType[] superTypes, AbstractIdentifiedType... properties)` Constructs a feature type from the given properties.

Method Summary

All Methods Instance Methods Abstract Methods Concrete Methods
Modifier and Type	Method and Description
`boolean`	`equals(Object obj)` Compares this feature type with the given object for equality.
`GenericName`	`getName()`
`Collection<AbstractIdentifiedType>`	`getProperties(boolean includeSuperTypes)` Returns any feature operation, any feature attribute type and any feature association role that carries characteristics of a feature type.
`AbstractIdentifiedType`	`getProperty(String name)` Returns the attribute, operation or association role for the given name.
`Set<DefaultFeatureType>`	`getSuperTypes()` Returns the direct parents of this feature type.
`int`	`hashCode()` Returns a hash code value for this feature type.
`boolean`	`isAbstract()` Returns `true` if the feature type acts as an abstract super-type.
`boolean`	`isAssignableFrom(DefaultFeatureType type)` Returns `true` if this type is same or a super-type of the given type.
`boolean`	`isSimple()` Returns `true` if this feature type contains only attributes constrained to the [1 … 1] cardinality, or operations (no feature association).
`AbstractFeature`	`newInstance()` Creates a new feature instance of this type.
`String`	`toString()` Formats this feature in a tabular format.

Methods inherited from class AbstractIdentifiedType
getDefinition, getDescription, getDesignation, getName, getRemarks, isDeprecated

Methods inherited from class Object
clone, finalize, getClass, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait

Constructor Detail

DefaultFeatureType

public DefaultFeatureType(Map<String,?> identification,
                          boolean isAbstract,
                          DefaultFeatureType[] superTypes,
                          AbstractIdentifiedType... properties)

Constructs a feature type from the given properties. The identification map is given unchanged to the super-class constructor. The following table is a reminder of main (not all) recognized map entries:

Recognized map entries (non exhaustive list)
Map key	Value type	Returned by
"name"	`GenericName` or `String`	`AbstractIdentifiedType.getName()`
"definition"	`InternationalString` or `String`	`AbstractIdentifiedType.getDefinition()`
"designation"	`InternationalString` or `String`	`AbstractIdentifiedType.getDesignation()`
"description"	`InternationalString` or `String`	`AbstractIdentifiedType.getDescription()`
"deprecated"	`Boolean`	`AbstractIdentifiedType.isDeprecated()`

Warning: In a future SIS version, the type of array elements may be changed to org.opengis.feature.FeatureType and org.opengis.feature.PropertyType. This change is pending GeoAPI revision. In the meantime, make sure that the properties array contains only attribute types, association roles or operations, not other feature types since the later are not properties in the ISO sense.

Parameters:: identification - the name and other information to be given to this feature type.; isAbstract - if true, the feature type acts as an abstract super-type.; superTypes - the parents of this feature type, or null or empty if none.; properties - any feature operation, any feature attribute type and any feature association role that carries characteristics of a feature type.
See Also:: FeatureTypeBuilder

Method Detail
- isAbstract
```
public final boolean isAbstract()
```
  Returns true if the feature type acts as an abstract super-type. Abstract types can not be instantiated.
  
  Returns:
  
  true if the feature type acts as an abstract super-type.
- isSimple
```
public boolean isSimple()
```
  Returns true if this feature type contains only attributes constrained to the [1 … 1] cardinality, or operations (no feature association). Such feature types can be handled as a records.
  
  Returns:
  
  true if this feature type contains only simple attributes or operations.
- isAssignableFrom
```
public boolean isAssignableFrom(DefaultFeatureType type)
```
  Returns true if this type is same or a super-type of the given type. The check is based mainly on the feature type name, which should be unique. However as a safety, this method also checks that all properties in this feature type is assignable from a property of the same name in the given type.
  Analogy: if we compare FeatureType to Class in the Java language, then this method is equivalent to Class.isAssignableFrom(Class).
  
  Parameters:
  
  type - the type to be checked.
  
  Returns:
  
  true if instances of the given type can be assigned to association of this type.
- getSuperTypes
```
public final Set<DefaultFeatureType> getSuperTypes()
```
  Returns the direct parents of this feature type.
  Analogy: if we compare FeatureType to Class in the Java language, then this method is equivalent to Class.getSuperclass() except that feature types allow multi-inheritance.
  
  Warning: The type of list elements will be changed to FeatureType if and when such interface will be defined in GeoAPI.
  
  Note for subclasses: this method is final because it is invoked (indirectly) by constructors, and invoking a user-overrideable method at construction time is not recommended. Furthermore, many Apache SIS methods need guarantees about the stability of this collection.
  
  Returns:
  
  the parents of this feature type, or an empty set if none.
- getProperties
```
public Collection<AbstractIdentifiedType> getProperties(boolean includeSuperTypes)
```
  Returns any feature operation, any feature attribute type and any feature association role that carries characteristics of a feature type. The returned collection will include the properties inherited from the super-types only if includeSuperTypes is true.
  Warning: The type of list elements will be changed to PropertyType if and when such interface will be defined in GeoAPI.
  
  Parameters:
  
  includeSuperTypes - true for including the properties inherited from the super-types, or false for returning only the properties defined explicitely in this type.
  
  Returns:
  
  feature operation, attribute type and association role that carries characteristics of this feature type (not including parent types).
- getProperty
```
public AbstractIdentifiedType getProperty(String name)
                                   throws IllegalArgumentException
```
  Returns the attribute, operation or association role for the given name.
  Warning: The type of returned element will be changed to PropertyType if and when such interface will be defined in GeoAPI.
  
  Parameters:
  
  name - the name of the property to search.
  
  Returns:
  
  the property for the given name, or null if none.
  
  Throws:
  
  IllegalArgumentException - if the given argument is not a property name of this feature.
  
  See Also:
  
  AbstractFeature.getProperty(String)
- newInstance
```
public AbstractFeature newInstance()
                            throws IllegalStateException
```
  Creates a new feature instance of this type.
  Analogy: if we compare FeatureType to Class and Feature to Object in the Java language, then this method is equivalent to Class.newInstance().
  
  Returns:
  
  a new feature instance.
  
  Throws:
  
  IllegalStateException - if this feature type is abstract.
- hashCode
```
public int hashCode()
```
  Returns a hash code value for this feature type.
  
  Overrides:
  
  hashCode in class AbstractIdentifiedType
  
  Returns:
  
  the hash code for this type.
- equals
```
public boolean equals(Object obj)
```
  Compares this feature type with the given object for equality.
  
  Overrides:
  
  equals in class AbstractIdentifiedType
  
  Parameters:
  
  obj - the object to compare with this type.
  
  Returns:
  
  true if the given object is equals to this type.
- toString
```
public String toString()
```
  Formats this feature in a tabular format.
  
  Overrides:
  
  toString in class Object
  
  Returns:
  
  a string representation of this feature in a tabular format.
  
  See Also:
  
  FeatureFormat
- getName
```
public GenericName getName()
```

Class DefaultFeatureType

Field Summary

Fields inherited from class AbstractIdentifiedType

Constructor Summary

Method Summary

Methods inherited from class AbstractIdentifiedType

Methods inherited from class Object

Constructor Detail

DefaultFeatureType

Method Detail

isAbstract

isSimple

isAssignableFrom

getSuperTypes

getProperties

getProperty

newInstance

hashCode

equals

toString

getName