Fully qualified names (FQNs)

[belaban]

I have added the class Fqn, which represents a fully qualified name, ie. the concatenation of relative names from the root to a given node. It used to be a string, e.g. "/a/b/c". Now *anything* can be a relative name, as long as it is
- an Object (no primitive type)
- implements equals() and hashCode() and
- is serializable

Example:
Fqn fqn=new Fqn(new Integer(322649));
fqn.add("second name");
fqn.add(new Boolean(true));


TreeCache cache;
cache.put(fqn, "age", new Integer(38));

or

EntityBeanPk key;
Fqn fqn=new Fqn(key);
cache.put(key, "attr1", "value1");


The string notation is still supported, but this new class will allow for (a) potentially faster lookup and (b) eliminate the need to convert already existing keys (e.g. EntityBeanPk) into strings.

Bela

[izhidov]

I have a question about FQN. In its hashCode() calculation, it adds up the hash codes for its members. It could it lead to same hash code for two different FQNs so I was wondering if you think its a problem and what potential resolution could be.

[belaban]

Sure, but 2 different Strings could map to the same hashCode as well.

Hash codes don't have to be collision-free.
Bela