/*_############################################################################
  _## 
  _##  SNMP4J - Variable.java  
  _## 
  _##  Copyright (C) 2003-2026  Frank Fock (SNMP4J.org)
  _##  
  _##  Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  _##  you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
  _##  You may obtain a copy of the License at
  _##  
  _##      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
  _##  
  _##  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
  _##  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
  _##  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
  _##  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
  _##  limitations under the License.
  _##  
  _##########################################################################*/
package org.snmp4j.smi;

import org.snmp4j.asn1.BERSerializable;

/**
 * The {@code Variable} interface defines common attributes of all SNMP variables.
 * <p>
 * Before version 1.8, Variable has been an abstract class which has been renamed to {@link AbstractVariable}.
 *
 * @author Frank Fock
 * @version 1.8
 * @since 1.8
 */
public interface Variable extends Cloneable, Comparable<Variable>, BERSerializable {

    /**
     * This definition of a serialVersionUID for the Variable interface has been made for backward compatibility with
     * SNMP4J 1.7.x or earlier serialized Variable instances.
     */
    long serialVersionUID = 1395840752909725320L;

    boolean equals(Object o);

    int compareTo(Variable o);

    int hashCode();

    /**
     * Clones this variable. Cloning can be used by the SNMP4J API to better support concurrency by creating a clone for
     * internal processing. The content of this object is independent to the content of the clone. Thus, changes to the
     * clone will have no effect to this object.
     *
     * @return a new instance of this {@code Variable} with the same value.
     */
    Object clone();

    /**
     * Gets the ASN.1 syntax identifier value of this SNMP variable.
     *
     * @return an integer value &lt; 128 for regular SMI objects and a value &gt;= 128 for exception values like
     * noSuchObject, noSuchInstance, and endOfMibView.
     */
    int getSyntax();

    /**
     * Checks whether this variable represents an exception like noSuchObject, noSuchInstance, and endOfMibView.
     *
     * @return {@code true} if the syntax of this variable is an instance of {@code Null} and its syntax equals one of
     * the following:
     * <UL>
     * <LI>{@link SMIConstants#EXCEPTION_NO_SUCH_OBJECT}</LI>
     * <LI>{@link SMIConstants#EXCEPTION_NO_SUCH_INSTANCE}</LI>
     * <LI>{@link SMIConstants#EXCEPTION_END_OF_MIB_VIEW}</LI>
     * </UL>
     */
    boolean isException();

    /**
     * Gets a string representation of the variable.
     *
     * @return a string representation of the variable's value.
     */
    String toString();

    /**
     * Returns an integer representation of this variable if such a representation exists.
     *
     * @return an integer value (if the native representation of this variable would be a long, then the long value will
     * be casted to int).
     * @throws UnsupportedOperationException
     *         if an integer representation does not exists for this Variable.
     */
    int toInt();

    /**
     * Returns a long representation of this variable if such a representation exists.
     *
     * @return a long value.
     * @throws UnsupportedOperationException
     *         if a long representation does not exists for this Variable.
     */
    long toLong();


    /**
     * Gets a textual description of this Variable.
     *
     * @return a textual description like 'Integer32' as used in the Structure of Management Information (SMI) modules.
     * '?' is returned if the syntax is unknown.
     */
    String getSyntaxString();

    /**
     * Converts the value of this {@code Variable} to a (sub-)index value.
     *
     * @param impliedLength
     *         specifies if the sub-index has an implied length. This parameter applies to variable length variables
     *         only (e.g. {@link OctetString} and {@link OID}). For other variables it has no effect.
     *
     * @return an OID that represents this value as an (sub-)index.
     * @throws UnsupportedOperationException
     *         if this variable cannot be used in an index.
     */
    OID toSubIndex(boolean impliedLength);

    /**
     * Sets the value of this {@code Variable} from the supplied (sub-)index.
     *
     * @param subIndex
     *         the sub-index OID.
     * @param impliedLength
     *         specifies if the sub-index has an implied length. This parameter applies to variable length variables
     *         only (e.g. {@link OctetString} and {@link OID}). For other variables it has no effect.
     *
     * @throws UnsupportedOperationException
     *         if this variable cannot be used in an index.
     */
    void fromSubIndex(OID subIndex, boolean impliedLength);

    /**
     * Indicates whether this variable is dynamic. If a variable is dynamic, precautions have to be taken when a
     * Variable is serialized using BER encoding, because between determining the length with {@link #getBERLength()}
     * for encoding enclosing SEQUENCES and the actual encoding of the Variable itself with {@link #encodeBER} changes
     * to the value need to be blocked by synchronization. In order to ensure proper synchronization if a {@code
     * Variable} is dynamic, modifications of the variables content need to synchronize on the {@code Variable}
     * instance. This can be achieved for the standard SMI Variable implementations for example by
     * <pre>
     *    public static modifyVariable(Integer32 variable, int value)
     *      synchronize(variable) {
     *        variable.setValue(value);
     *      }
     *    }
     * </pre>
     *
     * @return {@code true} if the variable might change its value between two calls to {@link #getBERLength()} and
     * {@link #encodeBER} and {@code false} if the value is immutable or if its value does not change while
     * serialization because of measures taken by the implementor (i.e. variable cloning).
     */
    boolean isDynamic();
}
