/*=========================================================================

  Program:   Visualization Toolkit
  Module:    vtkInformationObjectBaseVectorKey.h

  Copyright (c) Ken Martin, Will Schroeder, Bill Lorensen
  All rights reserved.
  See Copyright.txt or http://www.kitware.com/Copyright.htm for details.

     This software is distributed WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even
     the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR
     PURPOSE.  See the above copyright notice for more information.

=========================================================================*/
// .NAME vtkInformationObjectBaseVectorKey - Key for vtkObjectBase vector values.
// .SECTION Description
// vtkInformationObjectBaseVectorKey is used to represent keys for double
// vector values in vtkInformation.h. NOTE the interface in this key differs
// from that in other similar keys because of our internal use of smart
// pointers.

#ifndef __vtkInformationObjectBaseVectorKey_h
#define __vtkInformationObjectBaseVectorKey_h

#include "vtkInformationKey.h"
#include "vtkCommonInformationKeyManager.h" // Manage instances of this type.

class vtkInformationObjectBaseVectorValue;

class VTK_COMMON_EXPORT vtkInformationObjectBaseVectorKey : public vtkInformationKey
{
public:
  vtkTypeRevisionMacro(vtkInformationObjectBaseVectorKey,vtkInformationKey);
  void PrintSelf(ostream& os, vtkIndent indent);
  // Description:
  // The name of the static instance and the class in which
  // it is defined(location) should be passed to the constructor.
  // Providing "requiredClass" name one can insure that only 
  // objects of type "requiredClass" are stored in vectors 
  // associated with the instance of this key type created.
  // These should be string literals as they are not coppied.
  vtkInformationObjectBaseVectorKey(const char* name,
                                    const char* location,
                                    const char* requiredClass=0);
  //
  ~vtkInformationObjectBaseVectorKey();

  // Description:
  // Clear the vector.
  void Clear(vtkInformation* info);
  // Description:
  // Resize (extend) the vector to hold n objects. Any new elements
  // created will be null initialized.
  void Resize(vtkInformation* info, int n);
  // Description:
  // Get the vector's length.
  int Size(vtkInformation* info);
  int Length(vtkInformation* info){ return this->Size(info); }
  // Description:
  // Put the value on the back of the vector, with ref counting.
  void Append(vtkInformation* info, vtkObjectBase *value);
  // Description:
  // Set element i of the vector to value. Resizes the vector
  // if needed.
  void Set(vtkInformation* info, vtkObjectBase *value, int i);
  // Description:
  // Copy n values from the range in source defined by [from  from+n-1]
  // into the range in this vector defined by [to to+n-1]. Resizes 
  // the vector if needed.
  void SetRange(vtkInformation* info,
                vtkObjectBase **source,
                int from,
                int to,
                int n);

  // Description:
  // Copy n values from the range in this vector defined by [from  from+n-1]
  // into the range in the destination vector defined by [to to+n-1]. Up
  // to you to make sure the destination is big enough.
  void GetRange(vtkInformation *info,
                vtkObjectBase **dest,
                int from,
                int to,
                int n);

  // Description:
  // Get the vtkObjectBase at a specific location in the vector.
  vtkObjectBase *Get(vtkInformation* info, int idx);

  // _escription:
  // Get a pointer to the first vtkObjectBase in the vector. We are
  // uysing a vector of smart pointers so this is not easy to
  // implement.
  // vtkObjectBase **Get(vtkInformation* info);

  // Description:
  // Copy the entry associated with this key from one information
  // object to another.  If there is no entry in the first information
  // object for this key, the value is removed from the second.
  virtual void ShallowCopy(vtkInformation* from, vtkInformation* to);

  // Description:
  // Print the key's value in an information object to a stream.
  virtual void Print(ostream& os, vtkInformation* info);

protected:
  // The type required of all objects stored with this key.
  const char* RequiredClass;

private:
  // Description:
  // Used to create the underlying vector that will be associated
  // with this key.
  void CreateObjectBase();
  // Description:
  // Check insures that if RequiredClass is set then the
  // type of aValue matches. return true if the two match.
  bool ValidateDerivedType(vtkInformation* info,vtkObjectBase* aValue);
  // Description:
  // Get the vector associated with this key, if there is
  // none then associate a new vector with this key and return
  // that.
  vtkInformationObjectBaseVectorValue *GetObjectBaseVector(vtkInformation *info);

  //
  vtkInformationObjectBaseVectorKey(const vtkInformationObjectBaseVectorKey&);  // Not implemented.
  void operator=(const vtkInformationObjectBaseVectorKey&);  // Not implemented.
};

#endif
