Interface Ontology

All Superinterfaces:

Browsable, Extensible, Federateable, Identifiable, OsidCatalog, OsidObject, Sourceable

public interface Ontology
extends OsidCatalog

An ontology defines a collection of subjects.

Method Summary

Modifier and Type	Method	Description
OntologyRecord	getOntologyRecord(Type ontologyRecordType)	Gets the ontology record corresponding to the given Ontology record Type .This method is used to retrieve an object implementing the requested record.

Methods inherited from interface Browsable

getProperties, getPropertiesByRecordType

Modifier and Type	Method	Description
PropertyList	getProperties()	Gets a list of properties.
PropertyList	getPropertiesByRecordType(Type recordType)	Gets a list of properties corresponding to the specified record type.

Methods inherited from interface Extensible

getRecordTypes, hasRecordType

Modifier and Type	Method	Description
TypeList	getRecordTypes()	Gets the record types available in this object.
boolean	hasRecordType(Type recordType)	Tests if this object supports the given record Type .

Methods inherited from interface Identifiable

getId, isCurrent

Modifier and Type	Method	Description
Id	getId()	Gets the Id associated with this instance of this OSID object.
boolean	isCurrent()	Tests to see if the last method invoked retrieved up-to-date data.

Methods inherited from interface OsidObject

getDescription, getDisplayName, getGenusType, isOfGenusType

Modifier and Type	Method	Description
DisplayText	getDescription()	Gets the description associated with this instance of this OSID object.
DisplayText	getDisplayName()	Gets the preferred display name associated with this instance of this OSID object appropriate for display to the user.
Type	getGenusType()	Gets the genus type of this object.
boolean	isOfGenusType(Type genusType)	Tests if this object is of the given genus Type .

Methods inherited from interface Sourceable

getBranding, getBrandingIds, getLicense, getProvider, getProviderId

Modifier and Type	Method	Description
AssetList	getBranding()	Gets a branding, such as an image or logo, expressed using the Asset interface.
IdList	getBrandingIds()	Gets the branding asset Ids .
DisplayText	getLicense()	Gets the terms of usage.
Resource	getProvider()	Gets the Resource representing the provider.
Id	getProviderId()	Gets the Id of the provider.

Method Details

getOntologyRecord

OntologyRecord getOntologyRecord(Type ontologyRecordType)
                          throws OperationFailedException

Gets the ontology record corresponding to the given Ontology record Type .This method is used to retrieve an object implementing the requested record. The ontologyRecordType may be the Type returned in getRecordTypes() or any of its parents in a Type hierarchy where hasRecordType(ontologyRecordType) is true .

Parameters:

ontologyRecordType - an ontology record type

Returns:

the ontology record

Throws:

NullArgumentException - ontologyRecordType is null

OperationFailedException - unable to complete request

UnsupportedException - hasRecordType(ontologyRecordType) is false

Compliance:

mandatory - This method must be implemented.