com.epochx.representation
Class Variable<TYPE>

java.lang.Object
  com.epochx.representation.Node<TYPE>
      com.epochx.representation.TerminalNode<TYPE>
          com.epochx.representation.Variable<TYPE>

All Implemented Interfaces:

java.lang.Cloneable

public class Variable<TYPE>
extends TerminalNode<TYPE>

A variable is a data type which can be used as a TerminalNode in place of a predefined constant. Variables can thus have their values changed which will change the result of evaluation.

Constructor Summary

Variable(java.lang.String label)
Constructor for a new variable instance.

Method Summary

java.lang.Object	clone() Variables cannot be cloned.
boolean	equals(java.lang.Object obj) Compares an object for equivalence to this instance of Variable.
java.lang.String	getLabel() Returns the label of the variable.
void	setLabel(java.lang.String label) Replaces the variable's label with a new name.
java.lang.String	toString() Return a string representation of the variable.

Methods inherited from class com.epochx.representation.TerminalNode

evaluate, getValue, hashCode, setValue

Methods inherited from class com.epochx.representation.Node

getArity, getChild, getChildren, getDepth, getFunctionNodes, getLength, getNodesAtDepth, getNoDistinctFunctions, getNoDistinctTerminals, getNoFunctions, getNoTerminals, getNthNode, getTerminalNodes, setChild, setChildren, setNthNode

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

finalize, getClass, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait

Constructor Detail

Variable

public Variable(java.lang.String label)

Constructor for a new variable instance.

Parameters:

label - the variable's name.

Method Detail

getLabel

public java.lang.String getLabel()

Returns the label of the variable.

Returns:

the label of the variable.

setLabel

public void setLabel(java.lang.String label)

Replaces the variable's label with a new name.

Parameters:

label - the new label to assign to the variable.

toString

public java.lang.String toString()

Return a string representation of the variable.

Overrides:

toString in class TerminalNode<TYPE>

Returns:

a string representation of this variable.

equals

public boolean equals(java.lang.Object obj)

Compares an object for equivalence to this instance of Variable. Two variables are equal if they have equal labels and equal values.

Overrides:

equals in class TerminalNode<TYPE>

Parameters:

obj - an object to compare for equivalence.

Returns:

true if the object is a variable equal to this one, false otherwise.

clone

public java.lang.Object clone()

Variables cannot be cloned. Calling this method returns the same instance of Variable as this allows a variable to be treated in the same way as other nodes without preventing variable values being updateable throughout a program tree.

Overrides:

clone in class TerminalNode<TYPE>

Returns:

this instance of Variable.