Remote SOF - An OSGI-like modularization framework for C++ supporting distributed software modules

#ifndef PROPERTIES_H
#define PROPERTIES_H

#include <map>
#include <string>

namespace sof { namespace framework {

using namespace std;

/**
 * The <code>Properties</code> object describes a service
 * object. Each property entry in the <code>Properties</code>
 * object consists of a key/value pair.
 * When a service is registered with the framework
 * the service object is specified by the class name and a
 * <code>Properties</code> object. This allows to register
 * several service object of the same type (class name) but
 * with different properties.<br>
 * So the service listeners are able to distinguish between
 * service objects of the same type by using the provided
 * properties.
 *
 * @author magr74
 */
class Properties
{
	private:

		/**
		 * The internal storage of the properties.
		 */
		map<string,string> mapper;

	public:

		/**
		 * Stores a property entry.
		 *
		 * @param key
		 *			The identifier of the property.
		 *
		 * @param value
		 *			The value of the property.
		 */
		void put( const string &key, const string &value );

		/**
		 * Retrieves (not removing) a property value.
		 *
		 * @param key
		 *			The key of the property.
		 *
		 * @return
		 *			The property value relating to the key.
		 */
		string get( const string &key );

		/**
		 * Returns a string representation of the properties
		 * object.
		 *
		 * @return
		 *			A string containing all key/value pairs in
		 *			a readable form.
		 */
		string toString() const;

		/**
		 * Compares this property object with a
		 * specified object.
		 */
		bool operator==( const Properties& props );

		/**
		 * Returns the number of entries in the 
		 * <code>Properties</code> object.
		 */
		int getSize() const;

		/**
		 * Returns an iterator for the internal map structure.
		 *
		 * @return
		 *		The iterator instance.
		 */
		map<string,string>::const_iterator begin() const;

		/**
		 * Returns an iterator for the internal map structure.
		 *
		 * @return
		 *		The iterator instance.
		 */
		map<string,string>::const_iterator end() const;

};

}}
#endif