001/*
002 The 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.
004 You may obtain a copy of the License at http://www.mozilla.org/MPL/
005 Software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" basis,
006 WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the License for the
007 specific language governing rights and limitations under the License.
008
009 The Original Code is "Variable.java".  Description:
010 "Interface type for Varies"
011
012 The Initial Developer of the Original Code is University Health Network. Copyright (C)
013 2015.  All Rights Reserved.
014
015 Contributor(s): ______________________________________.
016
017 Alternatively, the contents of this file may be used under the terms of the
018 GNU General Public License (the "GPL"), in which case the provisions of the GPL are
019 applicable instead of those above.  If you wish to allow use of your version of this
020 file only under the terms of the GPL and not to allow others to use your version
021 of this file under the MPL, indicate your decision by deleting  the provisions above
022 and replace  them with the notice and other provisions required by the GPL License.
023 If you do not delete the provisions above, a recipient may use your version of
024 this file under either the MPL or the GPL.
025 */
026
027package ca.uhn.hl7v2.model;
028
029/**
030 * Interface type for Varies
031 */
032public interface Variable extends Type {
033
034    /**
035     * Returns the data contained by this instance of Variable.  Returns a {@link ca.uhn.hl7v2.model.GenericPrimitive} unless
036     * {@link #setData(Type)} has been called.
037     *
038     * @return the data contained by this instance of Variable
039     */
040    Type getData();
041
042    /**
043     * Sets the data contained by this instance of Variable.  If a data object already exists,
044     * then its values are copied to the incoming data object before the old one is replaced.
045     * For example, if {@link #getData()} returns an ST with the value "19901012" and you call
046     * setData(new DT()), then subsequent calls to {@link #getData()} will return the same DT, with the value
047     * set to "19901012".
048     *
049     * @param data the data to be set for this Varies instance
050     * @throws DataTypeException if the data could not be set
051     */
052    void setData(Type data) throws DataTypeException;
053
054}