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	/*
	* Copyright (c) 1999, 2013, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
	* 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
	* published by the Free Software Foundation. Oracle designates this
	* particular file as subject to the "Classpath" exception as provided
	* by Oracle in the LICENSE file that accompanied this code.
	*
	* 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.
	*
	* Please contact Oracle, 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood Shores, CA 94065 USA
	* or visit www.oracle.com if you need additional information or have any
	* questions.
	*/

	package javax.naming.directory;

	import java.util.Vector;
	import java.util.Enumeration;
	import java.util.NoSuchElementException;

	import javax.naming.NamingException;
	import javax.naming.NamingEnumeration;
	import javax.naming.OperationNotSupportedException;

	/**
	* This interface represents an attribute associated with a named object.
	*<p>
	* In a directory, named objects can have associated with them
	* attributes. The <tt>Attribute</tt> interface represents an attribute associated
	* with a named object. An attribute contains 0 or more, possibly null, values.
	* The attribute values can be ordered or unordered (see <tt>isOrdered()</tt>).
	* If the values are unordered, no duplicates are allowed.
	* If the values are ordered, duplicates are allowed.
	*<p>
	* The content and representation of an attribute and its values is defined by
	* the attribute's <em>schema</em>. The schema contains information
	* about the attribute's syntax and other properties about the attribute.
	* See <tt>getAttributeDefinition()</tt> and
	* <tt>getAttributeSyntaxDefinition()</tt>
	* for details regarding how to get schema information about an attribute
	* if the underlying directory service supports schemas.
	*<p>
	* Equality of two attributes is determined by the implementation class.
	* A simple implementation can use <tt>Object.equals()</tt> to determine equality
	* of attribute values, while a more sophisticated implementation might
	* make use of schema information to determine equality.
	* Similarly, one implementation might provide a static storage
	* structure which simply returns the values passed to its
	* constructor, while another implementation might define <tt>get()</tt> and
	* <tt>getAll()</tt>.
	* to get the values dynamically from the directory.
	*<p>
	* Note that updates to <tt>Attribute</tt> (such as adding or removing a
	* value) do not affect the corresponding representation of the attribute
	* in the directory. Updates to the directory can only be effected
	* using operations in the <tt>DirContext</tt> interface.
	*
	* @author Rosanna Lee
	* @author Scott Seligman
	*
	* @see BasicAttribute
	* @since 1.3
	*/
	public interface Attribute extends Cloneable, java.io.Serializable {
	/**
	* Retrieves an enumeration of the attribute's values.
	* The behaviour of this enumeration is unspecified
	* if the attribute's values are added, changed,
	* or removed while the enumeration is in progress.
	* If the attribute values are ordered, the enumeration's items
	* will be ordered.
	*
	* @return A non-null enumeration of the attribute's values.
	* Each element of the enumeration is a possibly null Object. The object's
	* class is the class of the attribute value. The element is null
	* if the attribute's value is null.
	* If the attribute has zero values, an empty enumeration
	* is returned.
	* @exception NamingException
	* If a naming exception was encountered while retrieving
	* the values.
	* @see #isOrdered
	*/
	NamingEnumeration<?> getAll() throws NamingException;

	/**
	* Retrieves one of this attribute's values.
	* If the attribute has more than one value and is unordered, any one of
	* the values is returned.
	* If the attribute has more than one value and is ordered, the
	* first value is returned.
	*
	* @return A possibly null object representing one of
	* the attribute's value. It is null if the attribute's value
	* is null.
	* @exception NamingException
	* If a naming exception was encountered while retrieving
	* the value.
	* @exception java.util.NoSuchElementException
	* If this attribute has no values.
	*/
	Object get() throws NamingException;

	/**
	* Retrieves the number of values in this attribute.
	*
	* @return The nonnegative number of values in this attribute.
	*/
	int size();

	/**
	* Retrieves the id of this attribute.
	*
	* @return The id of this attribute. It cannot be null.
	*/
	String getID();

	/**
	* Determines whether a value is in the attribute.
	* Equality is determined by the implementation, which may use
	* <tt>Object.equals()</tt> or schema information to determine equality.
	*
	* @param attrVal The possibly null value to check. If null, check
	* whether the attribute has an attribute value whose value is null.
	* @return true if attrVal is one of this attribute's values; false otherwise.
	* @see java.lang.Object#equals
	* @see BasicAttribute#equals
	*/
	boolean contains(Object attrVal);
	/**
	* Adds a new value to the attribute.
	* If the attribute values are unordered and
	* <tt>attrVal</tt> is already in the attribute, this method does nothing.
	* If the attribute values are ordered, <tt>attrVal</tt> is added to the end of
	* the list of attribute values.
	*<p>
	* Equality is determined by the implementation, which may use
	* <tt>Object.equals()</tt> or schema information to determine equality.
	*
	* @param attrVal The new possibly null value to add. If null, null
	* is added as an attribute value.
	* @return true if a value was added; false otherwise.
	*/
	boolean add(Object attrVal);

	/**
	* Removes a specified value from the attribute.
	* If <tt>attrval</tt> is not in the attribute, this method does nothing.
	* If the attribute values are ordered, the first occurrence of
	* <tt>attrVal</tt> is removed and attribute values at indices greater
	* than the removed
	* value are shifted up towards the head of the list (and their indices
	* decremented by one).
	*<p>
	* Equality is determined by the implementation, which may use
	* <tt>Object.equals()</tt> or schema information to determine equality.
	*
	* @param attrval The possibly null value to remove from this attribute.
	* If null, remove the attribute value that is null.
	* @return true if the value was removed; false otherwise.
	*/
	boolean remove(Object attrval);

	/**
	* Removes all values from this attribute.
	*/
	void clear();

	/**
	* Retrieves the syntax definition associated with the attribute.
	* An attribute's syntax definition specifies the format
	* of the attribute's value(s). Note that this is different from
	* the attribute value's representation as a Java object. Syntax
	* definition refers to the directory's notion of <em>syntax</em>.
	*<p>
	* For example, even though a value might be
	* a Java String object, its directory syntax might be "Printable String"
	* or "Telephone Number". Or a value might be a byte array, and its
	* directory syntax is "JPEG" or "Certificate".
	* For example, if this attribute's syntax is "JPEG",
	* this method would return the syntax definition for "JPEG".
	* <p>
	* The information that you can retrieve from a syntax definition
	* is directory-dependent.
	*<p>
	* If an implementation does not support schemas, it should throw
	* OperationNotSupportedException. If an implementation does support
	* schemas, it should define this method to return the appropriate
	* information.
	* @return The attribute's syntax definition. Null if the implementation
	* supports schemas but this particular attribute does not have
	* any schema information.
	* @exception OperationNotSupportedException If getting the schema
	* is not supported.
	* @exception NamingException If a naming exception occurs while getting
	* the schema.
	*/

	DirContext getAttributeSyntaxDefinition() throws NamingException;

	/**
	* Retrieves the attribute's schema definition.
	* An attribute's schema definition contains information
	* such as whether the attribute is multivalued or single-valued,
	* the matching rules to use when comparing the attribute's values.
	*
	* The information that you can retrieve from an attribute definition
	* is directory-dependent.
	*
	*<p>
	* If an implementation does not support schemas, it should throw
	* OperationNotSupportedException. If an implementation does support
	* schemas, it should define this method to return the appropriate
	* information.
	* @return This attribute's schema definition. Null if the implementation
	* supports schemas but this particular attribute does not have
	* any schema information.
	* @exception OperationNotSupportedException If getting the schema
	* is not supported.
	* @exception NamingException If a naming exception occurs while getting
	* the schema.
	*/
	DirContext getAttributeDefinition() throws NamingException;

	/**
	* Makes a copy of the attribute.
	* The copy contains the same attribute values as the original attribute:
	* the attribute values are not themselves cloned.
	* Changes to the copy will not affect the original and vice versa.
	*
	* @return A non-null copy of the attribute.
	*/
	Object clone();

	//----------- Methods to support ordered multivalued attributes

	/**
	* Determines whether this attribute's values are ordered.
	* If an attribute's values are ordered, duplicate values are allowed.
	* If an attribute's values are unordered, they are presented
	* in any order and there are no duplicate values.
	* @return true if this attribute's values are ordered; false otherwise.
	* @see #get(int)
	* @see #remove(int)
	* @see #add(int, java.lang.Object)
	* @see #set(int, java.lang.Object)
	*/
	boolean isOrdered();

	/**
	* Retrieves the attribute value from the ordered list of attribute values.
	* This method returns the value at the <tt>ix</tt> index of the list of
	* attribute values.
	* If the attribute values are unordered,
	* this method returns the value that happens to be at that index.
	* @param ix The index of the value in the ordered list of attribute values.
	* {@code 0 <= ix < size()}.
	* @return The possibly null attribute value at index <tt>ix</tt>;
	* null if the attribute value is null.
	* @exception NamingException If a naming exception was encountered while
	* retrieving the value.
	* @exception IndexOutOfBoundsException If <tt>ix</tt> is outside the specified range.
	*/
	Object get(int ix) throws NamingException;

	/**
	* Removes an attribute value from the ordered list of attribute values.
	* This method removes the value at the <tt>ix</tt> index of the list of
	* attribute values.
	* If the attribute values are unordered,
	* this method removes the value that happens to be at that index.
	* Values located at indices greater than <tt>ix</tt> are shifted up towards
	* the front of the list (and their indices decremented by one).
	*
	* @param ix The index of the value to remove.
	* {@code 0 <= ix < size()}.
	* @return The possibly null attribute value at index <tt>ix</tt> that was removed;
	* null if the attribute value is null.
	* @exception IndexOutOfBoundsException If <tt>ix</tt> is outside the specified range.
	*/
	Object remove(int ix);

	/**
	* Adds an attribute value to the ordered list of attribute values.
	* This method adds <tt>attrVal</tt> to the list of attribute values at
	* index <tt>ix</tt>.
	* Values located at indices at or greater than <tt>ix</tt> are
	* shifted down towards the end of the list (and their indices incremented
	* by one).
	* If the attribute values are unordered and already have <tt>attrVal</tt>,
	* <tt>IllegalStateException</tt> is thrown.
	*
	* @param ix The index in the ordered list of attribute values to add the new value.
	* {@code 0 <= ix <= size()}.
	* @param attrVal The possibly null attribute value to add; if null, null is
	* the value added.
	* @exception IndexOutOfBoundsException If <tt>ix</tt> is outside the specified range.
	* @exception IllegalStateException If the attribute values are unordered and
	* <tt>attrVal</tt> is one of those values.
	*/
	void add(int ix, Object attrVal);


	/**
	* Sets an attribute value in the ordered list of attribute values.
	* This method sets the value at the <tt>ix</tt> index of the list of
	* attribute values to be <tt>attrVal</tt>. The old value is removed.
	* If the attribute values are unordered,
	* this method sets the value that happens to be at that index
	* to <tt>attrVal</tt>, unless <tt>attrVal</tt> is already one of the values.
	* In that case, <tt>IllegalStateException</tt> is thrown.
	*
	* @param ix The index of the value in the ordered list of attribute values.
	* {@code 0 <= ix < size()}.
	* @param attrVal The possibly null attribute value to use.
	* If null, 'null' replaces the old value.
	* @return The possibly null attribute value at index ix that was replaced.
	* Null if the attribute value was null.
	* @exception IndexOutOfBoundsException If <tt>ix</tt> is outside the specified range.
	* @exception IllegalStateException If <tt>attrVal</tt> already exists and the
	* attribute values are unordered.
	*/
	Object set(int ix, Object attrVal);

	/**
	* Use serialVersionUID from JNDI 1.1.1 for interoperability.
	*/
	static final long serialVersionUID = 8707690322213556804L;
	}

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