Package edu.cmu.tetrad.data

Interface Variable

All Superinterfaces:

Comparable<Node>, Node, Serializable, TetradSerializable

All Known Implementing Classes:

AbstractVariable, ContinuousVariable, DiscreteVariable

public interface Variable
extends Node

Interface implemented by classes, instantiations of which are capable of serving as variables for columns in a DataSet. Such a class provides needed details as to how the data in its column are to be interpreted. In particular, a variable has a name and specifies a value in the column that is to be interpreted as a missing datum. The variable also specifies how external data (in String form, say) is to be converted into raw data of the type used in the column in question.

Author:

josephramsey

Field Summary

Fields

Modifier and Type	Field	Description
static final long	serialVersionUID	Required serial version UID for serialization.

Fields inherited from interface edu.cmu.tetrad.graph.Node

ALPHA, ALPHA_NUM, LAG

Method Summary

Modifier and Type	Method	Description
boolean	checkValue(Object value)	Checks to see whether the passed value can be converted into a value for this variable.
Object	getMissingValueMarker()	Returns the name of the variable.
boolean	isMissingValue(Object value)	Tests whether the given value is the missing data marker.

Methods inherited from interface edu.cmu.tetrad.graph.Node

addAttribute, addPropertyChangeListener, compareTo, equals, getAllAttributes, getAttribute, getCenterX, getCenterY, getName, getNodeType, getNodeVariableType, hashCode, like, removeAttribute, setCenter, setCenterX, setCenterY, setName, setNodeType, setNodeVariableType, toString

Field Details

serialVersionUID

static final long serialVersionUID

Required serial version UID for serialization. Must be 23L.

See Also:

• Constant Field Values

Method Details

getMissingValueMarker

Object getMissingValueMarker()

Returns the name of the variable.

Returns:

the missing value marker as an object--i.e. a double if continuous, an Integer if discrete, etc.

isMissingValue

boolean isMissingValue(Object value)

Tests whether the given value is the missing data marker.

Parameters:

value - The object value one wants to check as a missing value.

Returns:

true iff the given object is equals to getMissingValueMarker().

checkValue

boolean checkValue(Object value)

Checks to see whether the passed value can be converted into a value for this variable.

Parameters:

value - The object value to be checked. For instance, for a continuous variable, this would be a Double, for a discrete variable, and Integer, etc.

Returns:

true iff the object is a valid value for this variable.