net.agmodel.metBroker
Class MetCatalogCard

java.lang.Object
  net.agmodel.metBroker.MetCatalogCard

All Implemented Interfaces:

Serializable

public class MetCatalogCard

extends Object

implements Serializable

A MetCatalog records the periods for which a station has recorded a MetElement at a particular resolution as a list of catalogEntries.
The periods are stored in chronological order.
The list of periods is synchronised, so that multiple helpers can update the cards.
The existence of data over time can be represented by a sequence with three states:
Data Exists

============

, No Data

-------------

, and Don't Know. Rather than representing the "Don't know" case, we take a guess as to the initial state and updating it as we learn more. This simplifies things considerably, and answers the main question "To query, or not to query". A closed station might initially be represented by the following sequence:

<------------------=======================-------------------------->

A currently operating station might look like this:

 <----------------====--=====-================================>

There is always a "No data" period prior to station records being available. We could avoid representing this by assuming that data starts from the station start date. However, not all databases may store the commencement date of stations in an easily accessible form.

Author:

Matthew Laurenson

See Also:

Serialized Form

Method Summary

Duration	getResolution()
String	toString()

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

equals, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait

Method Detail

toString

public String toString()

getResolution

public Duration getResolution()