public interface Identifiable
A marker interface for objects uniquely identified with
an OSID Id.
Id getId()
Id
mandatory
- This method must be implemented. The
- Id
is intended to be constant and
persistent. A consumer may at any time persist the Id
for retrieval at any future time. Ideally, the Id
should consistently resolve into the designated object and not
be reused. In cases where objects are deactivated after a
certain lifetime the provider should endeavor not to
obliterate the object or its Id
but instead
should update the properties of the object including the
deactiavted status and the elimination of any unwanted pieces
of data. As such, there is no means for updating an Id
and providers should consider carefully the
identification scheme to implement.
Id
assignments for objects are strictly in the
realm of the provider and any errors should be fixed directly
with the backend supporting system. Once an Id has been
assigned in a production service it should be honored such
that it may be necessary for the backend system to support Id
aliasing to redirect the lookup to the current Id.
Use of an Id OSID may be helpful to accomplish this
task in a modular manner. boolean isCurrent()
true
if the last data retrieval was up to date,
false
otherwisemandatory
- This method must be implemented. Providers
- should return false unless all getters are
implemented using real-time queries, or some trigger process
keeps the data in this object current. Providers should
populate basic data elements at the time this object is
instantiated, or set an error, to ensure some data
availability.