fido.linguistic.components
Class NounPhrase

java.lang.Object
  |
  +--fido.linguistic.components.NounPhrase

All Implemented Interfaces:

Noun

public class NounPhrase

extends java.lang.Object

implements Noun

Represents a noun, with all associated components such as an optional article, all of the adjectives, and all prepositional phrases.

Field Summary

static int	CREATE_INSTANCE Constant used by getAction() and setAction()
static int	EXISTING_CLASS Constant used by getAction() and setAction()
static int	EXISTING_INSTANCE Constant used by getAction() and setAction()

Constructor Summary

NounPhrase()
Creates a new NounPhrase object with no adjectives or prepositional phrases.

Method Summary

void	addAdjective(AdjectiveClass adj) Adds an AdjectiveClass to this noun phrase.
void	addPrepositionalPhrase(PrepositionalPhrase phrase) Adds an PrepositionalPhrase to this noun phrase.
int	getAction() Returns the action the system should perform when resolving this noun phrase.
java.util.Iterator	getAdjectives() Returns an Iterator over all of the AdjectiveClass modifying this noun phrase.
int	getArticleType() Returns the type of the article.
NounClass	getNounClass() Returns the NounClass for this noun phrase.
java.util.Iterator	getPrepositionalPhrases() Returns an Iterator over all of the PrepositionalPhrases modifying this noun phrase.
void	setAction(int action) When resolving nouns in the Resolver module, this method is used to store the action the system should take when resolving the noun.
void	setArticleType(int type) Sets the type for the article.
void	setNounClass(NounClass noun) Sets the NounClass for this noun phrase.

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait

Field Detail

EXISTING_INSTANCE

public static final int EXISTING_INSTANCE

Constant used by getAction() and setAction()

See Also:

Constant Field Values

CREATE_INSTANCE

public static final int CREATE_INSTANCE

Constant used by getAction() and setAction()

See Also:

Constant Field Values

EXISTING_CLASS

public static final int EXISTING_CLASS

Constant used by getAction() and setAction()

See Also:

Constant Field Values

Constructor Detail

NounPhrase

public NounPhrase()

Creates a new NounPhrase object with no adjectives or prepositional phrases. Sets the article to none.

Method Detail

getAction

public int getAction()

Returns the action the system should perform when resolving this noun phrase. For a detail description on the value returned, see setAction().

Returns:

The action for the system to perform for this noun phrase.

See Also:

setAction(int)

setAction

public void setAction(int action)

When resolving nouns in the Resolver module, this method is used to store the action the system should take when resolving the noun. The system could do the following:

• Create an instance - For a noun with an indefinite article, the system will create a new instance for the noun to reference. An example sentence: John bought a dog. Since the speaker used an indefinte article for the noun phrase a dog, the listener assumes this is a dog that speaker and listener has not discussed before. Therefore, the system needs to create a new instance of dog.
• Use an existing instance - For a noun with a definite article, the system will search for an existing instance for the noun to reference. An example sentence The dog chased the ball. Since the speaker used the definite article for both the dog and the ball, the listener can assume both objects are already known. Therefore, the system needs to search for an instance in the Discourse and the Object Tree.
• Use an existing class - Certain times a noun carries an indefinite article, the noun phrase will refer to a class of objects. An example sentence: The dog is a Poodle. Here the noun phrase a Poodle refers to a class. The eventual action of the sentence will be to create an instance of the Poodle class.

See the resolve() method in the NounResolver module for a detain description on Sentence Patterns and how Nouns are resolved.

See Also:

Discourse, ObjectTable, NounResolver.resolve(NounPhrase)

getArticleType

public int getArticleType()

Returns the type of the article. Constant values are defined in ArticleTable.

Returns:

The type of article for this noun phrase.

See Also:

ArticleTable

setArticleType

public void setArticleType(int type)

Sets the type for the article. Constant values are defined in ArticleTable.

See Also:

ArticleTable

getNounClass

public NounClass getNounClass()

Returns the NounClass for this noun phrase. This is the actual noun string and any associated Morphology tags.

Returns:

The NounClass for this noun phrase.

setNounClass

public void setNounClass(NounClass noun)

Sets the NounClass for this noun phrase. This is the actual noun string and any associated Morphology tags.

Parameters:

noun - The NounClass for this noun phrase.

getAdjectives

public java.util.Iterator getAdjectives()

Returns an Iterator over all of the AdjectiveClass modifying this noun phrase.

Returns:

An Iterator of AdjectiveClass classes.

addAdjective

public void addAdjective(AdjectiveClass adj)

Adds an AdjectiveClass to this noun phrase. The AdjectiveClass represents an adjective modifying the noun.

Parameters:

adj - Adjective to add.

getPrepositionalPhrases

public java.util.Iterator getPrepositionalPhrases()

Returns an Iterator over all of the PrepositionalPhrases modifying this noun phrase.

Returns:

An Iterator of PrepositionalPhrase classes.

addPrepositionalPhrase

public void addPrepositionalPhrase(PrepositionalPhrase phrase)

Adds an PrepositionalPhrase to this noun phrase. The PrepositionalPhrase represents an adjectivial prepositional phrase modifying the noun.

Parameters:

phrase - PrepositionalPhrase to add.