001/* java.beans.DesignMode
002   Copyright (C) 1999, 2006, Free Software Foundation, Inc.
003
004This file is part of GNU Classpath.
005
006GNU Classpath is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
007it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
008the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option)
009any later version.
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013MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
014General Public License for more details.
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017along with GNU Classpath; see the file COPYING.  If not, write to the
018Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA
01902110-1301 USA.
020
021Linking this library statically or dynamically with other modules is
022making a combined work based on this library.  Thus, the terms and
023conditions of the GNU General Public License cover the whole
024combination.
025
026As a special exception, the copyright holders of this library give you
027permission to link this library with independent modules to produce an
028executable, regardless of the license terms of these independent
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030terms of your choice, provided that you also meet, for each linked
031independent module, the terms and conditions of the license of that
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033or based on this library.  If you modify this library, you may extend
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036exception statement from your version. */
037
038
039package java.beans;
040
041/**
042 * <code>BeanContextChild</code> implementors implement this to get information
043 * about whether they are in a design time or runtime environment.
044 * The reason this is restricted to <code>BeanContextChild</code>ren is that
045 * only things in the <code>BeanContext</code> hierarchy are given this
046 * information in the first place.
047 *
048 * @author John Keiser
049 * @since JDK1.2
050 * @see java.beans.beancontext.BeanContextChild
051 */
052public interface DesignMode
053{
054
055  /**
056   * Use this name when firing <code>PropertyChangeEvent</code>s from your Bean.
057   */
058  String PROPERTYNAME = "designTime";
059
060  /**
061   * The environment will call this method on your
062   * <code>BeanContextChild</code> when it is registered in a parent
063   * <code>BeanContext</code> or when behavior needs to switch from
064   * design time to runtime behavior (or vice versa).
065   * <P>
066   *
067   * <code>BeanContext</code>s are required to fire
068   * <code>PropertyChangeEvent</code>s when properties change.
069   * <code>designTime</code> is a property, and therefore when you
070   * implement <code>setDesignTime()</code>, you need to fire a
071   * <code>PropertyChangeEvent</code> with the old value, the new
072   * value and using <code>PROPERTYNAME</code> as the property name.
073   *
074   * @param designTime the new value of design time,
075   *        <code>true</code> if it is design time,
076   *        <code>false</code> if it is runtime.
077   *
078   * @fixme I'm frankly not really sure whether it's the case that
079   *        the BeanContext can <em>change</em> the status of the Bean from
080   *        design time to runtime.  But it appears that it may be so.
081   *
082   * @see java.beans.PropertyChangeEvent
083   * @see java.beans.beancontext.BeanContext
084   * @see #PROPERTYNAME
085   */
086  void setDesignTime(boolean designTime);
087
088  /**
089   * This method should tell whether it is design time or runtime.
090   * @return <code>true</code> if design time, <code>false</code> if
091   *         runtime.
092   */
093  boolean isDesignTime();
094
095}