org.opengis.util

Interface Cloneable

All Superinterfaces:

Cloneable

All Known Subinterfaces:

GeneralParameterValue, GridCoordinates, Matrix, ParameterValue<T>, ParameterValueGroup, XMatrix

All Known Implementing Classes:

AbstractParameter, AffineTransform2D, FloatParameter, GeneralGridCoordinates, GeneralGridCoordinates.Immutable, GeneralMatrix, GridCoordinates2D, ImagingParameters, Matrix1, Matrix2, Matrix3, Matrix4, MatrixParameters, Parameter, ParameterGroup

public interface Cloneable
extends Cloneable

Indicates that it is legal to make a field-for-field copy of instances of implementing classes. A cloneable class implements the J2SE's Cloneable standard interface and additionnaly overrides the Object.clone() method with public access.

Because the Object.clone() method has protected access, containers wanting to clone theirs elements need to 1) use Java reflection (which is less efficient than standard method calls), or 2) cast every elements to a specific type like Date (which may require a large amount of "if (x instanceof y)" checks if arbitrary classes are allowed). This Cloneable interface had a third alternative: checks only for this interface instead of a list of particular cases.

Implementors of cloneable classes may consider implementing this interface, but this is not mandatory. A large amount of independant classes like Date will continue to ignore this interface, so no rule can be enforced anyway. However this interface may help the work of containers in some case. For example a container may checks for this interface first, and uses Java reflection as a fallback.

Since:

GeoAPI 1.0

Author:

Martin Desruisseaux (IRD)

See Also:

Cloneable, "Cloneable doesn't define clone()" on Sun's bug parade

Method Summary

Modifier and Type	Method and Description
Object	clone() Creates and returns a copy of this object.

Method Detail

clone

Object clone()

Creates and returns a copy of this object. The precise meaning of "copy" may depend on the class of the object.

Returns:

A copy of this object.

See Also:

Object.clone()