/*
 *  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 *
 *    VVV        VVV A
 *     VVV      VVV AAA        Virtual Acoustics (VA)
 *      VVV    VVV   AAA       Real-time auralisation for virtual reality    
 *       VVV  VVV     AAA
 *        VVVVVV       AAA     (c) Copyright Institute of Technical Acoustics (ITA)
 *         VVVV         AAA        RWTH Aachen University (http://www.akustik.rwth-aachen.de)
 *
 *  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 */

#ifndef VA_INCLUDE_GUARD_VAOBJECT
#define VA_INCLUDE_GUARD_VAOBJECT

#include <VABaseDefinitions.h>
#include <VAStruct.h>

// Forward declarations
class VABASE_API CVAStruct;

//! Base class for objects with identity and message interface
/**
  * In VA, anything can be an object and can be called via the module call interface during runtime.
  * These calls are usually not thread-safe.
  */
class VABASE_API CVAObject
{
public:
	//! Default constructor
	CVAObject();

	//! Initialization constructors
	CVAObject( const char* pszName );
	CVAObject( const std::string& sName );

	//! Destructor
	virtual ~CVAObject();

	//! Returns the ID of the object
	int GetObjectID() const;

	//! Returns the name of the object
	std::string GetObjectName() const;

	//! Returns information on the object
	virtual CVAObjectInfo GetObjectInfo() const;

	//! Call the object with a message and capture return message
	/**
	 * \return >0, if the object returned an answer message
	 *         0, if the object did not return an answer message
	 *         -1, if the message could not be handled
	 */
	// TODO: Int als Rückgabe?
	virtual int CallObject( const CVAStruct& oArgs, CVAStruct& oReturn );

protected:
	// Important: An object may not change its name after it is registered
	void SetObjectName( const std::string& sName );

private:
	int m_iObjectID;
	std::string m_sObjectName;

	// Note: This may only be called from an object registry
	void SetObjectID( int iID );

	friend class CVAObjectRegistry;
};

#endif // VA_INCLUDE_GUARD_VAOBJECT