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i_data_element Class Reference
[Error Management]

Interface to a data element. More...

#include <aux_data_holder.hxx>

List of all members.

Public Member Functions

virtual std::string description () const =0
 Describes the contents of this data element.
virtual std::string type () const =0
 Returns the C++ data type of the contents.
virtual void * value ()=0
 Returns a generic handle to the actual data.


Detailed Description

Interface to a data element.


Role: Provides an interface to a data element along with a description and type. The actual C++ type of the data content is specified by the "type()" function. To get the actual data, the caller has to typecast the address returned by the "value()" function.


Member Function Documentation

virtual std::string i_data_element::description (  )  const [pure virtual]

Describes the contents of this data element.

virtual std::string i_data_element::type (  )  const [pure virtual]

Returns the C++ data type of the contents.

virtual void* i_data_element::value (  )  [pure virtual]

Returns a generic handle to the actual data.

This handle needs to be type-casted to the respective type as specified by the type() function. For example, if the type() function returns "SPAposition" then the return of this function should be type-casted to 'SPAposition*'. The returned object is owned by this interface, and hence should not be deleted.