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 * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.

 *

 * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it

 * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as

 * particular file as subject to the "Classpath" exception as provided

 *

 * This code is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT

 * ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or

 * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License

 * version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that

 * accompanied this code).

 *

 * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License version

 * 2 along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,

 * Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.

 *

 */

package org.omg.CORBA;

/**

 * An object used in the DII and DSI to describe

 * arguments and return values. <code>NamedValue</code> objects

 * are also used in the <code>Context</code>

 * object routines to pass lists of property names and values.

 * <P>

 * A <code>NamedValue</code> object contains:

 * <UL>

 * <LI>a name -- If the <code>NamedValue</code> object is used to

 * describe arguments to a request, the name will be an argument

 * identifier specified in the OMG IDL interface definition

 * for the operation being described.

 * <LI>a value -- an <code>Any</code> object

 * <LI>an argument mode flag -- one of the following:

 *   <UL>

 *    <LI><code>ARG_IN.value</code>

 *    <LI><code>ARG_OUT.value</code>

 *    <LI><code>ARG_INOUT.value</code>

 *    <LI>zero -- if this <code>NamedValue</code> object represents a property

 *                in a <code>Context</code> object rather than a parameter or

 *                return value

 *   </UL>

 * </UL>

 * <P>

 * The class <code>NamedValue</code> has three methods, which

 * access its fields.  The following code fragment demonstrates

 * creating a <code>NamedValue</code> object and then accessing

 * its fields:

 * <PRE>

 *    ORB orb = ORB.init(args, null);

 *    String s = "argument_1";

 *    org.omg.CORBA.Any myAny = orb.create_any();

 *    myAny.insert_long(12345);

 *    int in = org.omg.CORBA.ARG_IN.value;

 *    org.omg.CORBA.NamedValue nv = orb.create_named_value(

 *        s, myAny, in);

 *    System.out.println("This nv name is " + nv.name());

 *    try {

 *        System.out.println("This nv value is " + nv.value().extract_long());

 *        System.out.println("This nv flag is " + nv.flags());

 *    } catch (org.omg.CORBA.BAD_OPERATION b) {

 *      System.out.println("extract failed");

 *    }

 * </PRE>

 *

 * <P>

 * If this code fragment were put into a <code>main</code> method,

 * the output would be something like the following:

 * <PRE>

 *    This nv name is argument_1

 *    This nv value is 12345

 *    This nv flag is 1

 * </PRE>

 * <P>

 * Note that the method <code>value</code> returns an <code>Any</code>

 * object. In order to access the <code>long</code> contained in the

 * <code>Any</code> object,

 * we used the method <code>extract_long</code>.

 *

 * @see Any

 * @see ARG_IN

 * @see ARG_INOUT

 * @see ARG_OUT

 *

 * @since       JDK1.2

 */

public abstract class NamedValue {

    /**

     * Retrieves the name for this <code>NamedValue</code> object.

     *

     * @return                  a <code>String</code> object representing

     *                    the name of this <code>NamedValue</code> object

     */

    public abstract String name();

    /**

     * Retrieves the value for this <code>NamedValue</code> object.

     *

     * @return                  an <code>Any</code> object containing

     *                    the value of this <code>NamedValue</code> object

     */

    public abstract Any value();

    /**

     * Retrieves the argument mode flag for this <code>NamedValue</code> object.

     *

     * @return                  an <code>int</code> representing the argument

     *                    mode for this <code>NamedValue</code> object

     */

    public abstract int flags();

}