Package ca.cgjennings.apps.arkham.component.design

Interface DesignSupport<G extends GameComponent>

  • All Known Implementing Classes:
    AbstractVerbalDesignSupport, LegacyDesignSupport, VerbalDesignSupportAdapter
    public interface DesignSupport<G extends GameComponent>
    A design support provides feedback to the user about the design of their game component. The goal of a design support is to help the user produce better designs. Some ways of doing this are:
    1. help the user to explore the space of possible designs more thoroughly by helping them discover alternatives
    2. help the user to compare their design to known designs or to other variations of the current design
    3. help the user to understand the possible consequences of their design decisions
    4. inform the user when the design does not meet the usual design rules for the component type

    A game component either includes design support or it does not. If it includes design support, then it will have a single design support instance

    Since:
    3.0
    Author:
    Chris Jennings

    • Method Summary

      All Methods Instance Methods Abstract Methods 
      Modifier and Type Method Description
      java.awt.Component createSupportView()
      Creates an interface component that will display or visualize the design support for the user.
      G getGameComponent()
      Returns the game component being supported.
      boolean isDesignValid()
      Returns true if the component's design is valid.
      void markChanged()
      When a support is attached to an editor, the editor will call this to mark the analysis as out of date when the component is edited.
      void updateSupportView​(java.awt.Component view)
      Updates a support view created by this design support to reflect the current design analysis.

    • Method Detail

      • getGameComponent

        G getGameComponent()
        Returns the game component being supported. A given instance of a design support can only ever support one component.
        Returns:
        this support's supported component

      • markChanged

        void markChanged()
        When a support is attached to an editor, the editor will call this to mark the analysis as out of date when the component is edited.

      • createSupportView

        java.awt.Component createSupportView()
        Creates an interface component that will display or visualize the design support for the user. An editor for a game component that includes design support may create a view to add to its interface. It will then pass its view to the design support when it wants the design support to update the support content.
        Returns:
        a component that visualizes a design support analysis

      • updateSupportView

        void updateSupportView​(java.awt.Component view)
        Updates a support view created by this design support to reflect the current design analysis. Because it may be costly to create this visualization, the view is not expected to update automatically. Instead, the game component editor will monitor the component for changes and then schedule an update of the the view for some future time.
        Parameters:
        view - the view to update; the result if a component that was not created by calling this support's createSupportView() method is undefined

      • isDesignValid

        boolean isDesignValid()
        Returns true if the component's design is valid. The exact meaning of "valid" depends on the component type, but the general intent is that invalid components break the usual design rules for the component type in such a way that the resulting component may be unfair. Strange Eons does not use this value itself, but there are preference settings that allow users to request that their components should be marked if this returns false. (It is up to the plug-in author to implement this in the component's Sheets.
        Returns:
        true if the design is valid