org.hecl
Class Thing

java.lang.Object
  org.hecl.Thing

public class Thing
extends java.lang.Object

The Thing class is what Hecl revolves around. "Things" can be of several types, include strings, integers, lists, hash tables.

Version:

1.1

Author:

David N. Welton

copy

protected boolean copy

literal

protected boolean literal

literal is used to indicate Things which come directly from the parser and thus should not be changed.

global

public boolean global

Thing

public Thing(java.lang.String s)

Creates a new Thing instance from a string.

Parameters:

s - a String value

Thing

public Thing(java.lang.StringBuffer s)

Creates a new Thing instance from a string buffer.

Parameters:

s - a StringBuffer value

Thing

public Thing(RealThing realthing)

Creates a new Thing instance from an internal representation.

Parameters:

realthing - a RealThing value

setVal

public void setVal(RealThing realthing)

setVal sets the internal representation of the Thing.

Parameters:

realthing - a RealThing value

setCopyVal

public void setCopyVal(RealThing realthing)

getVal

public RealThing getVal()

getVal fetches the internal value of the Thing.

Returns:

a RealThing value

emptyThing

public static final Thing emptyThing()

isTrue

public static boolean isTrue(Thing thing)
                      throws HeclException

isTrue is a convenience function that lets us know if the result of a calculation is true or false.

Parameters:

thing - a Thing value

Returns:

a boolean value

Throws:

HeclException - if an error occurs

makeref

public void makeref(Thing newval)

makeref sets the 'this' Thing to be a reference to the newval that was passed to it.

Parameters:

newval - a Thing value.

toString

public java.lang.String toString()

toString returns the String value of a Thing.

Overrides:

toString in class java.lang.Object

Returns:

a String value

hashCode

public int hashCode()

The hashCode method overrides the object hashCode method, using the hash of the string representation.

Overrides:

hashCode in class java.lang.Object

Returns:

an int value

equals

public boolean equals(java.lang.Object obj)

The equals method overrides the object equals method, using either the two objects, in the case of two ObjectThings, or the two string representations.

Overrides:

equals in class java.lang.Object

Parameters:

obj - an Object value

Returns:

a boolean value

setLiteral

public Thing setLiteral()

The setLiteral method sets the thing in question to be a literal Thing, and returns it.

Returns:

a Thing value

isLiteral

public boolean isLiteral()

deepcopy

public Thing deepcopy()
               throws HeclException

deepcopy copies the thing, its value, and any elements the value might contain.

Returns:

a Thing value

Throws:

HeclException