A ControllerElement is the superclass for the three types of objects that are
produced by a Controller when it transitions from one state to another.
Output, Input and Transition objects all extend this class, and share the
behaviors specified here.
IMPORTANT NOTE: We don't use Logging (e.g. log4j) in this object, as it
is sometimes stored in session when the server shuts down, and must be able
to re-instantiate from the serialized form without needing to wait for
ConfigManager to be initialized.
Return a controller element based upon the xml fragment
Parameters: n - The DOM node that represents the controller-element Parameters: ce - The created controller element subclass an instantiated ControllerElement throws: ControllerException - if fragment is not a controller element
Get the value of an "attribute" for this ControllerElement item.
The attributes can
be any set of named values that the client and Controller are
both aware of.
Parameters: att - The name of the attribute whose value is wanted The value of the specified attribtue, if it exists, elsenull
Return a specific Element nested within this Element
Parameters: nestedName - the name of the element to retrieve An Element with the specified name or null if it doesn't exist
Remove this item from the "nested" items of it's parent. After
this method, the item is still valid, but is no longer nested within
it's parent
throws: ControllerException - if the current item is not nested
Remove an element from the nested elements for this item
Parameters: elementToRemove - The element to be removed from the list ofnested items. throws: ControllerException - if there is no such item nested in this item
Set the named attribute of this Output to the given value
Parameters: attrib - The name of an "attribtue" for this ControllerElement item Parameters: val - The value for this attribute
Called by the ControllerResponse to hand itself back to this
element so that it can be accessed by the elements as required
Parameters: newResponse - the new Response.
setDescription
public void setDescription(String newDescription)(Code)
Used by the controller to set the description of this element
Parameters: newDescription - The description being set by this object
Set the "parent" of this element - e.g. the element that this
element is nested within
Parameters: t - The ControllerElement that has this element as a nested item