PropertyManager.h

#ifndef MANTID_KERNEL_PROPERTYMANAGER_H_
#define MANTID_KERNEL_PROPERTYMANAGER_H_

//----------------------------------------------------------------------
// Includes
//----------------------------------------------------------------------
#include "Logger.h"
#include "MantidKernel/PropertyWithValue.h"
#include <vector>
#include <map>

namespace Mantid
{
namespace Kernel
{
/** @class PropertyManager PropertyManager.h Kernel/PropertyManager.h

    Property manager helper class.
    This class is used by algorithms and services for helping to manage their own set of properties.
    It implements the IProperty interface.
    N.B. ONCE YOU HAVE DECLARED A PROPERTY TO THE MANAGER IT IS OWNED BY THIS CLASS (I.E. DON'T DELETE IT!)

    @author Russell Taylor, Tessella Support Services plc
    @author Based on the Gaudi class PropertyMgr (see http://proj-gaudi.web.cern.ch/proj-gaudi/)
    @date 20/11/2007
    
    Copyright &copy; 2007 STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratories

    This file is part of Mantid.

    Mantid is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
    it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
    the Free Software Foundation; either version 3 of the License, or
    (at your option) any later version.

    Mantid is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
    but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
    MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
    GNU General Public License for more details.

    You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
    along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
    
    File change history is stored at: <https://svn.mantidproject.org/mantid/trunk/Code/Mantid>.
    Code Documentation is available at: <http://doxygen.mantidproject.org>
*/
class DLLExport PropertyManager
{
public:
	PropertyManager();
	virtual ~PropertyManager();
	
	// Function to declare properties (i.e. store them)
	virtual void declareProperty( Property *p );

	/** Add a property of the template type to the list of managed properties
	 *  @param name The name to assign to the property
	 *  @param value The initial value to assign to the property
	 *  @param validator Pointer to the (optional) validator. Ownership will be taken over.
	 *  @param doc The (optional) documentation string
	 *  @throw Exception::ExistsError if a property with the given name already exists
	 *  @throw std::invalid_argument  if the name argument is empty
	 */
	template <typename T>
	void declareProperty( const std::string &name, T value, 
	                      IValidator<T> *validator = new NullValidator<T>, const std::string &doc="" )
	{
	  Property *p = new PropertyWithValue<T>(name, value, validator);
    p->setDocumentation(doc);
    declareProperty(p);
	}
	
	// Specialised version of above function
	virtual void declareProperty( const std::string &name, const char* value,
	                      IValidator<std::string> *validator = new NullValidator<std::string>, const std::string &doc="" );
	
  // Sets all the declared properties from 
	virtual void setProperties( const std::string &values );
 	virtual void setProperty( const std::string &name, const std::string &value );
	virtual bool existsProperty( const std::string &name ) const;
  virtual bool validateProperties() const;
  virtual std::string getPropertyValue( const std::string &name ) const;
  virtual const std::vector< Property* >& getProperties() const;
	
private:
  /// Private copy constructor.
  PropertyManager(const PropertyManager&);
  /// Private copy assignment operator.
  PropertyManager& operator=(const PropertyManager&);
  
  /// typedef for the map holding the properties
  typedef std::map<std::string, Property*> PropertyMap;
  /// The properties under management
  PropertyMap m_properties;
  /// Stores the order that the properties were declared in
  std::vector<Property*> m_orderedProperties;
  
  /// Static reference to the logger class
  static Logger& g_log;

  Property* getPointerToProperty( const std::string &name ) const;
  
  /** Templated method to get the value of a property
   *  @param name The name of the property (case insensitive)
   *  @return The value of the property
   *  @throw std::runtime_error If an attempt is made to assign a property to a different type
   *  @throw Exception::NotFoundError If the property requested does not exist
   */
  template<typename T>
  T getValue(const std::string &name) const;
  
  /// Utility class that enables the getProperty method to be templated on return type
  struct TypedValue
  {
    /// Reference to the containing PropertyManager
    const PropertyManager& pm;
    /// The name of the property desired
    const std::string prop;
    
    /// Constructor
    TypedValue(const PropertyManager& p, const std::string &name) : pm(p), prop(name) {}
    
    /// Templated cast operator so that a TypedValue can be cast to what is actually wanted
    template<typename T>
    operator T() { return pm.getValue<T>(prop); }
  };
  
public:
  /// Get the value of a property
  virtual TypedValue getProperty( const std::string &name ) const;  
  
};

} // namespace Kernel
} // namespace Mantid

#endif /*MANTID_KERNEL_PROPERTYMANAGER_H_*/