001/**
002The contents of this file are subject to the Mozilla Public License Version 1.1 
003(the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance with the License. 
004You may obtain a copy of the License at http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/ 
005Software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" basis, 
006WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the 
007specific language governing rights and limitations under the License. 
008
009The Original Code is "Primitive.java".  Description: 
010"Represents the category of HL7 data types that contain a single value (in other
011  words have no subcomponents)" 
012
013The Initial Developer of the Original Code is University Health Network. Copyright (C) 
0142001.  All Rights Reserved. 
015
016Contributor(s): ______________________________________. 
017
018Alternatively, the contents of this file may be used under the terms of the 
019GNU General Public License (the "GPL"), in which case the provisions of the GPL are 
020applicable instead of those above.  If you wish to allow use of your version of this 
021file only under the terms of the GPL and not to allow others to use your version 
022of this file under the MPL, indicate your decision by deleting  the provisions above 
023and replace  them with the notice and other provisions required by the GPL License.  
024If you do not delete the provisions above, a recipient may use your version of 
025this file under either the MPL or the GPL. 
026
027*/
028
029package ca.uhn.hl7v2.model;
030
031
032/**
033 * Represents the category of HL7 data types that contain a single value (in other
034 * words have no subcomponents).  Examples include ST and ID.
035 * @author Bryan Tripp (bryan_tripp@sourceforge.net)
036 */
037public interface Primitive extends Type {
038
039  /**
040   * Returns a String representation of the value of this field.
041   *
042   * @return a String representation of the value of this field
043   */
044  public String getValue();
045
046  /**
047   * Sets the value of this field if the given value is legal in the context of the
048   * implementing class.
049   *
050   * @param value the value to be set
051   * @throws DataTypeException if the given value is not valid in this context.
052   */
053  public void setValue(String value) throws DataTypeException;
054
055}