ICategory


1   /*******************************************************************************
2    * Copyright (c) 2000, 2005 IBM Corporation and others.
3    * All rights reserved. This program and the accompanying materials
4    * are made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License v1.0
5    * which accompanies this distribution, and is available at
6    * http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html
7    *
8    * Contributors:
9    *     IBM Corporation - initial API and implementation
10   *******************************************************************************/
11  
12  package org.eclipse.ui.commands;
13  
14  /**
15   * <p>
16   * A category is a grouping of commands by functional area. For example, in the
17   * Eclipse workbench, "Text Editing" is a category containing various commands
18   * related to text editing. A category's primary functionality is to control the
19   * display of commands to the user. When appropriate, commands displayed to the
20   * user (e.g., keys preference page) will be grouped by category.
21   * </p>
22   * <p>
23   * An instance of <code>ICategory</code> is a handle representing a category
24   * as defined by the extension point <code>org.eclipse.ui.commands</code>.
25   * The identifier of the handle is identifier of the category being represented.
26   * </p>
27   * <p>
28   * An instance of <code>ICategory</code> can be obtained from an instance of
29   * <code>ICommandManager</code> for any identifier, whether or not a category
30   * with that identifier defined in the plugin registry.
31   * </p>
32   * <p>
33   * The handle-based nature of this API allows it to work well with runtime
34   * plugin activation and deactivation, which causes dynamic changes to the
35   * plugin registry, and therefore, potentially, dynamic changes to the set of
36   * category definitions.
37   * </p>
38   * <p>
39   * This interface is not intended to be extended or implemented by clients.
40   * </p>
41   * 
42   * @since 3.0
43   * @see ICategoryListener
44   * @see ICommandManager
45   * @see org.eclipse.core.commands.Category
46   * @deprecated Please use the "org.eclipse.core.commands" plug-in instead.
47   */
48  public interface ICategory extends Comparable   {
49  
50      /**
51       * Registers an instance of <code>ICategoryListener</code> to listen for
52       * changes to attributes of this instance.
53       * 
54       * @param categoryListener
55       *            the instance of <code>ICategoryListener</code> to register.
56       *            Must not be <code>null</code>. If an attempt is made to
57       *            register an instance of <code>ICategoryListener</code>
58       *            which is already registered with this instance, no operation
59       *            is performed.
60       */
61      void addCategoryListener(ICategoryListener categoryListener);
62  
63      /**
64       * <p>
65       * Returns the description of the category represented by this handle,
66       * suitable for display to the user.
67       * </p>
68       * <p>
69       * Notification is sent to all registered listeners if this attribute
70       * changes.
71       * </p>
72       * 
73       * @return the description of the category represented by this handle.
74       *         Guaranteed not to be <code>null</code>.
75       * @throws NotDefinedException
76       *             if the category represented by this handle is not defined.
77       */
78      String   getDescription() throws NotDefinedException;
79  
80      /**
81       * Returns the identifier of this handle.
82       * 
83       * @return the identifier of this handle. Guaranteed not to be <code>null</code>.
84       */
85      String   getId();
86  
87      /**
88       * <p>
89       * Returns the name of the category represented by this handle, suitable
90       * for display to the user.
91       * </p>
92       * <p>
93       * Notification is sent to all registered listeners if this attribute
94       * changes.
95       * </p>
96       * 
97       * @return the name of the category represented by this handle. Guaranteed
98       *         not to be <code>null</code>.
99       * @throws NotDefinedException
100      *             if the category represented by this handle is not defined.
101      */
102     String   getName() throws NotDefinedException;
103 
104     /**
105      * <p>
106      * Returns whether or not the category represented by this handle is
107      * defined.
108      * </p>
109      * <p>
110      * Notification is sent to all registered listeners if this attribute
111      * changes.
112      * </p>
113      * 
114      * @return <code>true</code>, iff the category represented by this
115      *         handle is defined.
116      */
117     boolean isDefined();
118 
119     /**
120      * Unregisters an instance of <code>ICategoryListener</code> listening
121      * for changes to attributes of this instance.
122      * 
123      * @param categoryListener
124      *            the instance of <code>ICategoryListener</code> to
125      *            unregister. Must not be <code>null</code>. If an attempt
126      *            is made to unregister an instance of <code>ICategoryListener</code>
127      *            which is not already registered with this instance, no
128      *            operation is performed.
129      */
130     void removeCategoryListener(ICategoryListener categoryListener);
131 }
132
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