org.osid.ontology

Interface SubjectAdminSession

All Superinterfaces:

java.lang.AutoCloseable, java.io.Closeable, OsidSession

All Known Subinterfaces:

SubjectBatchAdminSession

public interface SubjectAdminSession
extends OsidSession

This session creates, updates, and deletes Subjects. The data for create and update is provided by the consumer via the form object. OsidForms are requested for each create or update and may not be reused.

Create and update operations differ in their usage. To create a Subject, a SubjectForm is requested using getSubjectFormForCreate() specifying the desired record Types or none if no record Types are needed. The returned SubjectForm will indicate that it is to be used with a create operation and can be used to examine metdata or validate data prior to creation. Once the SubjectForm is submiited to a create operation, it cannot be reused with another create operation unless the first operation was unsuccessful. Each SubjectForm corresponds to an attempted transaction.

For updates, SubjectForms are requested to the Subject Id that is to be updated using getSubjectFormForUpdate(). Similarly, the SubjectForm has metadata about the data that can be updated and it can perform validation before submitting the update. The SubjectForm can only be used once for a successful update and cannot be reused.

The delete operations delete Subjects. To unmap a Subject from the current Ontology, the SubjectOntologyAssignmentSession should be used. These delete operations attempt to remove the Subject itself thus removing it from all known Ontology catalogs.

This session includes an Id aliasing mechanism to assign an external Id to an internally assigned Id.

Method Summary

Methods

Modifier and Type	Method and Description
void	aliasSubject(Id subjectId, Id aliasId) Adds an Id to a Subject for the purpose of creating compatibility.
boolean	canCreateSubjects() Tests if this user can create Subjects.
boolean	canCreateSubjectWithRecordTypes(Type[] subjectRecordTypes) Tests if this user can create a single Subject using the desired record interface types.
boolean	canDeleteSubjects() Tests if this user can delete Subjects.
boolean	canManageSubjectAliases() Tests if this user can manage Id aliases for Subjects.
boolean	canUpdateSubjects() Tests if this user can update Subjects.
Subject	createSubject(SubjectForm subjectForm) Creates a new Subject.
void	deleteSubject(Id subjectId) Deletes the Subject identified by the given Id.
Ontology	getOntology() Gets the Ontology associated with this session.
Id	getOntologyId() Gets the Ontology Id associated with this session.
SubjectForm	getSubjectFormForCreate(Type[] subjectRecordTypes) Gets the subject form for creating new subjects.
SubjectForm	getSubjectFormForUpdate(Id subjectId) Gets the subject form for updating an existing subject.
void	updateSubject(SubjectForm subjectForm) Updates an existing subject.

Methods inherited from interface org.osid.OsidSession

getAuthenticatedAgent, getAuthenticatedAgentId, getClockRate, getDate, getEffectiveAgent, getEffectiveAgentId, getFormatType, getLocale, isAuthenticated, startTransaction, supportsTransactions

Methods inherited from interface org.osid.binding.java.OsidSession

close

Methods inherited from interface java.io.Closeable

close

Method Detail

getOntologyId

Id getOntologyId()

Gets the Ontology Id associated with this session.

Returns:

the Ontology Id associated with this session

Compliance:

mandatory - This method must be implemented.

getOntology

Ontology getOntology()
                     throws OperationFailedException,
                            PermissionDeniedException

Gets the Ontology associated with this session.

Returns:

the Ontology associated with this session

Throws:

OperationFailedException - unable to complete request

PermissionDeniedException - authorization failure

Compliance:

mandatory - This method must be implemented.

canCreateSubjects

boolean canCreateSubjects()

Tests if this user can create Subjects. A return of true does not guarantee successful authorization. A return of false indicates that it is known creating a subject will result in a PERMISSION_DENIED. This is intended as a hint to an application that may opt not to offer create operations to an unauthorized user.

Returns:

false if Subject creation is not authorized, true otherwise

Compliance:

mandatory - This method must be implemented.

canCreateSubjectWithRecordTypes

boolean canCreateSubjectWithRecordTypes(Type[] subjectRecordTypes)

Tests if this user can create a single Subject using the desired record interface types. While OntologyManager.getSubjectRecordTypes() can be used to examine which record interfaces are supported, this method tests which record(s) are required for creating a specific Subject. Providing an empty array tests if a Subject can be created with no records.

Parameters:

subjectRecordTypes - array of subject record types

Returns:

true if Subject creation using the specified record Types is supported, false otherwise

Throws:

NullArgumentException - subjectRecordTypes is null

Compliance:

mandatory - This method must be implemented.

getSubjectFormForCreate

SubjectForm getSubjectFormForCreate(Type[] subjectRecordTypes)
                                    throws OperationFailedException,
                                           PermissionDeniedException

Gets the subject form for creating new subjects. A new form should be requested for each create transaction.

Parameters:

subjectRecordTypes - array of subject record types

Returns:

the subject form

Throws:

NullArgumentException - subjectRecordTypes is null

OperationFailedException - unable to complete request

PermissionDeniedException - authorization failure

UnsupportedException - unable to get form for requested record types

Compliance:

mandatory - This method must be implemented.

createSubject

Subject createSubject(SubjectForm subjectForm)
                      throws OperationFailedException,
                             PermissionDeniedException

Creates a new Subject.

Parameters:

subjectForm - the form for this Subject

Returns:

the new Subject

Throws:

IllegalStateException - subjectForm already used in a create transaction

InvalidArgumentException - one or more of the form elements is invalid

NullArgumentException - subjectForm is null

OperationFailedException - unable to complete request

PermissionDeniedException - authorization failure

UnsupportedException - subjectForm did not originate from getSubjectFormForCreate()

Compliance:

mandatory - This method must be implemented.

canUpdateSubjects

boolean canUpdateSubjects()

Tests if this user can update Subjects. A return of true does not guarantee successful authorization. A return of false indicates that it is known updating a Subject will result in a PERMISSION_DENIED. This is intended as a hint to an application that may opt not to offer update operations to an unauthorized user.

Returns:

false if subject modification is not authorized, true otherwise

Compliance:

mandatory - This method must be implemented.

getSubjectFormForUpdate

SubjectForm getSubjectFormForUpdate(Id subjectId)
                                    throws NotFoundException,
                                           OperationFailedException,
                                           PermissionDeniedException

Gets the subject form for updating an existing subject. A new subject form should be requested for each update transaction.

Parameters:

subjectId - the Id of the Subject

Returns:

the subject form

Throws:

NotFoundException - subjectId is not found

NullArgumentException - subjectId is null

OperationFailedException - unable to complete request

PermissionDeniedException - authorization failure

Compliance:

mandatory - This method must be implemented.

updateSubject

void updateSubject(SubjectForm subjectForm)
                   throws OperationFailedException,
                          PermissionDeniedException

Updates an existing subject.

Parameters:

subjectForm - the form containing the elements to be updated

Throws:

IllegalStateException - subjectForm already used in an update transaction

InvalidArgumentException - the form contains an invalid value

NullArgumentException - subjectForm is null

OperationFailedException - unable to complete request

PermissionDeniedException - authorization failure

UnsupportedException - subjectForm did not originate from getSubjectFormForUpdate()

Compliance:

mandatory - This method must be implemented.

canDeleteSubjects

boolean canDeleteSubjects()

Tests if this user can delete Subjects. A return of true does not guarantee successful authorization. A return of false indicates that it is known deleting a Subject will result in a PERMISSION_DENIED. This is intended as a hint to an application that may opt not to offer delete operations to an unauthorized user.

Returns:

false if Subject deletion is not authorized, true otherwise

Compliance:

mandatory - This method must be implemented.

deleteSubject

void deleteSubject(Id subjectId)
                   throws NotFoundException,
                          OperationFailedException,
                          PermissionDeniedException

Deletes the Subject identified by the given Id.

Parameters:

subjectId - the Id of the Subject to delete

Throws:

NotFoundException - a Subject was not found identified by the given Id

NullArgumentException - subjectId is null

OperationFailedException - unable to complete request

PermissionDeniedException - authorization failure

Compliance:

mandatory - This method must be implemented.

canManageSubjectAliases

boolean canManageSubjectAliases()

Tests if this user can manage Id aliases for Subjects. A return of true does not guarantee successful authorization. A return of false indicates that it is known changing an alias will result in a PERMISSION_DENIED. This is intended as a hint to an application that may opt not to offer alias operations to an unauthorized user.

Returns:

false if Subject aliasing is not authorized, true otherwise

Compliance:

mandatory - This method must be implemented.

aliasSubject

void aliasSubject(Id subjectId,
                Id aliasId)
                  throws AlreadyExistsException,
                         NotFoundException,
                         OperationFailedException,
                         PermissionDeniedException

Adds an Id to a Subject for the purpose of creating compatibility. The primary Id of the Subject is determined by the provider. The new Id performs as an alias to the primary Id. If the alias is a pointer to another subject, it is reassigned to the given subject Id.

Parameters:

subjectId - the Id of a Subject

aliasId - the alias Id

Throws:

AlreadyExistsException - aliasId is already assigned

NotFoundException - subjectId not found

NullArgumentException - subjectId or aliasId is null

OperationFailedException - unable to complete request

PermissionDeniedException - authorization failure

Compliance:

mandatory - This method must be implemented.