net.openwings.identity
Class UniqueID

java.lang.Object
  |
  +--net.openwings.identity.UniqueID

All Implemented Interfaces:

java.io.Serializable

public final class UniqueID

extends java.lang.Object

implements java.io.Serializable

This interface defines a unique identifier that can be used throughout the Openwings framework. For example:

• Component Services uses unique identifiers for services
• Container Services uses unique identifiers for processes, containers, and container managers
• Install Services uses unique identifiers for installed components

Here are the requirements for implementing this interface:

• Classes that implement this interface must have a constructor with a single byte[] parameter. This allows creation of a UniqueID that corresponds to an identifer used in some other framework.
• Identifiers must be of at least 16 bytes in length
• The number of bytes must be a multiple of 4

Here are the goals for implementing this interface:

• Generated identifiers should be unique as is feasible.
• Classes implementing this interface should protect their contents (for example, getBytes() should return a copy of the contents instead of an actual reference to a private byte[])

See Also:

Serialized Form

Constructor Summary

UniqueID(byte[] newBytes)
This constructor generates a new unique identifier based on an array of bytes.

UniqueID(java.lang.String string)
This constructor generates a new unique identifier based on a string returned from the toString() method

Method Summary

boolean	equals(java.lang.Object other) Overrides the default implementation from Object.
byte[]	getBytes() This method is provided as a convenience for conversion between different types of identifiers used in various frameworks.
int	hashCode() Overrides the default implementation from Object.
java.lang.String	toString() Returns a hex representation of the bytes as a string, with a space separating each 4-byte (int) group.

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

clone, finalize, getClass, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait

Constructor Detail

UniqueID

public UniqueID(byte[] newBytes)
         throws java.lang.IllegalArgumentException

This constructor generates a new unique identifier based on an array of bytes. It uses up to SIZE bytes of information from the array, copying the least significant bytes first

UniqueID

public UniqueID(java.lang.String string)
         throws java.lang.NumberFormatException

This constructor generates a new unique identifier based on a string returned from the toString() method

Method Detail

getBytes

public byte[] getBytes()

This method is provided as a convenience for conversion between different types of identifiers used in various frameworks.

Returns:

bytes of the unique identifier. The array is guaranteed to have a length that is a multiple of 4 greater than 16.

equals

public boolean equals(java.lang.Object other)

Overrides the default implementation from Object.

Overrides:

equals in class java.lang.Object

hashCode

public int hashCode()

Overrides the default implementation from Object.

Overrides:

hashCode in class java.lang.Object

toString

public java.lang.String toString()

Returns a hex representation of the bytes as a string, with a space separating each 4-byte (int) group.

Overrides:

toString in class java.lang.Object