/*************************************************************************
 *
 *  OpenOffice.org - a multi-platform office productivity suite
 *
 *  $RCSfile: UIElement.idl,v $
 *
 *  $Revision: 1.4 $
 *
 *  last change: $Author: rt $ $Date: 2005/09/08 08:24:55 $
 *
 *  The Contents of this file are made available subject to
 *  the terms of GNU Lesser General Public License Version 2.1.
 *
 *
 *    GNU Lesser General Public License Version 2.1
 *    =============================================
 *    Copyright 2005 by Sun Microsystems, Inc.
 *    901 San Antonio Road, Palo Alto, CA 94303, USA
 *
 *    This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
 *    modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
 *    License version 2.1, as published by the Free Software Foundation.
 *
 *    This library 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
 *    Lesser General Public License for more details.
 *
 *    You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
 *    License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
 *    Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston,
 *    MA  02111-1307  USA
 *
 ************************************************************************/

#ifndef __com_sun_star_ui_UIElement_idl__
#define __com_sun_star_ui_UIElement_idl__

#ifndef __com_sun_star_frame_XFrame_idl__
#include <com/sun/star/frame/XFrame.idl>
#endif

#ifndef __com_sun_star_ui_XUIElement_idl__
#include <com//sun/star/ui/XUIElement.idl>
#endif

#ifndef __com_sun_star_beans_XPropertySet_idl__ 
#include <com/sun/star/beans/XPropertySet.idl>
#endif

#ifndef __com_sun_star_ui_UIElementType_idl__
#include <com//sun/star/ui/UIElementType.idl>
#endif

#ifndef __com_sun_star_lang_XInitialization_idl__
#include <com/sun/star/lang/XInitialization.idl>
#endif

#ifndef __com_sun_star_lang_XComponent_idl__
#include <com/sun/star/lang/XComponent.idl>
#endif

#ifndef __com_sun_star_util_XUpdatable_idl__
#include <com/sun/star/util/XUpdatable.idl>
#endif

//============================================================================= 

module com { module sun { module star { module ui {

//============================================================================= 

/** specifies a user interface element.

    <p>
    A user interface element consists of a unique identifier and a type specifier. It
    provides an interface to retrieve a special purpose interface which depends on 
    the specific user interface element type. Every user interface must be initialized
    before it can be used.
    </p>
    
    @since OOo 2.0.0
*/

service UIElement
{
    /** provides a function to retrieve a special purpose interface which depends on 
        the specific user interface element type.
    */
    interface ::com::sun::star::ui::XUIElement;

    /** interface to initialize a user interface element instance. 
    
        A user interface element must be initialized using 
        <member scope=com::sun::star::lang>XInitialization::initialize</member> before
        it can be used. The following property must be provided:
        <ul>
            <li><b>ResourceURL</b>specifies a string property which is the unique identifier of 
            the user interface element.</li>
        </ul>

        A user interface element factory creates and initializes every user interface element
        correctly.

        @see com::sun::star::ui::UIElementFactoryManager;
        @see com::sun::star::ui::UIElementFactory
    */
    interface ::com::sun::star::lang::XInitialization;

    /** used to notify an implementation that it needs to update its visual representation.

        <p>
        A user interface element implementation should check if it has to update its visual
        representation. It is up to the implementation if it ignores notifications.
        </p>
    */
    interface com::sun::star::util::XUpdatable;
    
    /** controls the life-time of the object.
    */
    interface ::com::sun::star::lang::XComponent;
    
    /** determines the frame to which this element is bound to. 
    
        <p>
        The life time of a user interface element does not explicitly depend on the 
        frame itself but on the visible component attached to the frame. It is possible 
        to exchange the visible component of a frame and that will lead to the end of 
        life of all user interface elements.
    */
    [readonly, property] com::sun::star::frame::XFrame Frame;

    /** a resource URL which is a unique identifier of a user interface element.
    */
    [readonly, property] string ResourceURL;

    /** determines the real type of the user interface element.

        @see UIElementType
    */
    [readonly, property] short  Type;
};

}; }; }; };

//============================================================================= 

#endif
