/*
 * Copyright 1997-2007 Sun Microsystems, Inc.  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.  Sun designates this
 * particular file as subject to the "Classpath" exception as provided
 * by Sun 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 Sun Microsystems, Inc., 4150 Network Circle, Santa Clara,
 * CA 95054 USA or visit www.sun.com if you need additional information or
 * have any questions.
 */


package com.sun.jmx.snmp;


import java.io.Serializable;

/**
 * Is an abstract representation of an SNMP Value.
 * All classes provided for dealing with SNMP types should derive from this
 * class.
 *
 * <p><b>This API is a Sun Microsystems internal API  and is subject
 * to change without notice.</b></p>
 */

public abstract class SnmpValue implements Cloneable, Serializable, SnmpDataTypeEnums {

    /**
     * Returns a <CODE>String</CODE> form containing ASN.1 tagging information.
     * @return The <CODE>String</CODE> form.
     */
    public String toAsn1String() {
        return "[" + getTypeName() + "] " + toString();
    }

    /**
     * Returns the value encoded as an OID.
     * The method is particularly useful when dealing with indexed table made of
     * several SNMP variables.
     * @return The value encoded as an OID.
     */
    public abstract SnmpOid toOid() ;

    /**
     * Returns a textual description of the object.
     * @return ASN.1 textual description.
     */
    public abstract String getTypeName() ;

    /**
     * Same as clone, but you cannot perform cloning using this object because
     * clone is protected. This method should call <CODE>clone()</CODE>.
     * @return The <CODE>SnmpValue</CODE> clone.
     */
    public abstract SnmpValue duplicate() ;

    /**
     * This method returns <CODE>false</CODE> by default and is redefined
     * in the {@link com.sun.jmx.snmp.SnmpNull} class.
     */
    public boolean isNoSuchObjectValue() {
        return false;
    }

    /**
     * This method returns <CODE>false</CODE> by default and is redefined
     * in the {@link com.sun.jmx.snmp.SnmpNull} class.
     */
    public boolean isNoSuchInstanceValue() {
        return false;
    }

    /**
     * This method returns <CODE>false</CODE> by default and is redefined
     * in the {@link com.sun.jmx.snmp.SnmpNull} class.
     */
    public boolean isEndOfMibViewValue() {
        return false;
    }
}