org.josef.ejb

Interface ValueObjectInterface

All Superinterfaces:

Serializable

All Known Implementing Classes:

ValueObject

@Status(stage=TEST,
        unitTests=ABSENT)
public interface ValueObjectInterface
extends Serializable

Interface for all value objects.
Value objects, sometimes called Data Transfer Objects (DTO) are 'data objects with simple validation'. Value objects are normally passed between a client and an EJB Session Bean to increase performance. Without value objects getting a single field like name, address, zip or state, requires a remote method call. With value objects all of these fields can be fetched with a single remote method call.
Value objects are responsible for:

• Validations on attribute level
• Validations on class level (multiple attributes)

Version:

1.0 $Revision: 2840 $

Author:

Martijn Baels, Kees Schotanus

Method Summary

Modifier and Type	Method and Description
ValueObjectInterface	copyFrom(ValueObjectInterface source) Copies the content of the supplied source into this ValueObject.
Long	getObjectId() Gets the Object ID of this ValueObject.
Integer	getVersion() Gets the version of this ValueObject.
void	validate() Validates the state of the data in this ValueObject.

Method Detail

getObjectId

Long getObjectId()

Gets the Object ID of this ValueObject.

Returns:

The unique Object identifier (Object ID).

getVersion

Integer getVersion()

Gets the version of this ValueObject.

Returns:

The version of this ValueObject.

copyFrom

ValueObjectInterface copyFrom(ValueObjectInterface source)
                       throws InvalidStateException

Copies the content of the supplied source into this ValueObject.
The Object ID and the version are not copied.

Parameters:

source - The source to copy data from.

Returns:

This ValueObject with content copied from the supplied source.

Throws:

InvalidStateException - When the supplied source is in an invalid state and therefore can not be copied.

NullPointerException - When the supplied source is null.

validate

void validate()
       throws InvalidStateException

Validates the state of the data in this ValueObject.

Throws:

InvalidStateException - In case the data in this ValueObject is not in a valid state.
This could happen for example when mandatory fields are not set.