/*! 
    \file base_object.h
    \brief Definition of the base object class. that is a global handler for all classes.
*/


#ifndef _BASE_OBJECT_H
#define _BASE_OBJECT_H

#include "class_list.h"
#ifndef NULL
#define NULL 0x0
#endif

class TiXmlElement;

//! A class all other classes are derived from
class BaseObject {

 public:
  BaseObject (const TiXmlElement* root = NULL);
  virtual ~BaseObject ();

  void loadParams(const TiXmlElement* root);

  void setClassID(int id);
  void setClassName(const char* className);
  void setClassID(int id, const char* className);

  /** \returns the className of the corresponding Object */
  inline const char* getClassName(void) const { return this->className;};
  /** \returns the classID of the corresponding Object */
  inline int getClassID(void) const { return this->id; }
  bool isA (char* className);

  /** \returns if the object is finalized */
  inline bool isFinalized() { return this->finalized; }
  void finalize();

  void setName (const char* newName);
  const char* getName (void)const { return this->objectName; };

 private:
  const char*    className;        //!< the name of the class 
  int            id;               //!< this is the id from the class_list.h enumeration
  bool           finalized;        //!< is true if the object is ready to be garbage collected

  char*    objectName;                   //!< The name of this object               
};

#endif /* _BASE_OBJECT_H */