de.uka.ipd.consensus.foundation.ontology
Interface ImportHandler

All Known Implementing Classes:

XTMImportHandler

public interface ImportHandler

The interface for modules that can import (and optionally merge) ontologies from a certain file format.

An ImportHandler can be registered with OntologyManager.addImportHandler(). However, it's easier just to declare all import handlers (their fully qualified classes) as a comma separated list under the "cf.importhandler" key in the ConsensusFoundation.properties configuration file.

The declared import handlers will be loaded by OntologyManager.init(). Instantiation will only be successful if one of the following constructors is available (the first one that matches will be used):

• MyImportHandler(Properties config, LoggingManager log, OntologyManager om)
• MyImportHandler(LoggingManager log, OntologyManager om)
• MyImportHandler(OntologyManager om)
• MyImportHandler()

The Properties parameter contains all entries from ConsensusFoundation.properties.

Version:

2006-06-14

Author:

Thomas Much

See Also:

OntologyManager, ExportHandler

Method Summary

boolean	canMerge() Signals whether this handler can not only load (import), but also merge ontologies
String	getDescription() Returns a short description about this import handler.
String	getExtension() Returns the file extensions of the ontology format that this handler can load, e.g.
void	importOntology(InputStream in) Imports an ontology from the given InputStream.
void	mergeOntology(InputStream in, Collection errors) If this handler supports ontology merging, this method can be called by an application to merge an ontology into the existing ontology.

Method Detail

importOntology

public void importOntology(InputStream in)
                    throws IOException,
                           OntologyManagerException

Imports an ontology from the given InputStream. This method will be called from the OntologyManager during startup of the application, it replaces an existing ontology.

This method is responsible for closing the stream!

Parameters:

in - the InputStream to read the ontology from

Throws:

IOException - if an IO error occurrs while reading the stream

OntologyManagerException - if the ontology cannot be loaded for logical reasons

mergeOntology

public void mergeOntology(InputStream in,
                          Collection errors)
                   throws IOException

If this handler supports ontology merging, this method can be called by an application to merge an ontology into the existing ontology.

This method is responsible for closing the stream!

Parameters:

in - the InputStream to read the ontology from

errors - an empty collection provided by the caller, into which the method can put all exceptions that happen during the merge

Throws:

IOException - if an IO error occurrs while reading the stream

See Also:

canMerge()

canMerge

public boolean canMerge()

Signals whether this handler can not only load (import), but also merge ontologies

Returns:

true if the handler can merge ontologies, false otherwise

See Also:

mergeOntology(InputStream, Collection)

getExtension

public String getExtension()

Returns the file extensions of the ontology format that this handler can load, e.g. "xtm".

Returns:

the file extension for the handlers ontology file format

getDescription

public String getDescription()

Returns a short description about this import handler.

Returns:

a description about this handler