/*
 * Copyright (c) 1995, 1996 Gunther Schadow.  All rights reserved.
 *
 * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
 * the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
 * (at your option) any later version.
 * 
 * This program 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 General Public License for more details.
 * 
 * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 * along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
 * Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
 */

#ifndef PG_IDTYP_H_
#define PG_IDTYP_H_

#include <pg_config.h>

#pragma interface

#include <Strbase.h>
#include <DataTypeCode.h>
#include <misc.h>

/*
 *  DATA TYPE
 *
 *      ID() -- identifier
 */

/* BE CAREFUL USING IDtyp. USE A Code WHENEVER POSSIBLE!
 */

/* PLEASE NOTE:
 *
 * Normally, the ID type should be closely linked to a table, thus
 * allowing to assume only well defined values. This practice is
 * followed with the abstract class `Code'. However, since HL7 does
 * not even define all of it's own (`hl7 defined') tables it seems
 * unseful in cases where there is no table yet to allow the ID type
 * to assume any character code.
 *
 * In terms of the HL7 specification, there is a class of ID's used,
 * whose instances are merely strings of digits (if not integers) and is
 * thus similar to SI.  However, this difference is not made explicit in
 * the HL7 document. It seems like ID is a rather amorph type: there is
 * even an ID named composite value (patient location)!
 */

class IDtyp : public Strbase
{
 public:
  IDtyp();
  IDtyp(const char*);
  IDtyp(int x);
  IDtyp(long x);
  IDtyp(double x);
  IDtyp(const IDtyp&);
  const IDtyp &operator = (const IDtyp&);
  const IDtyp &operator = (const char *x);

 private:
  char *strip(char *s);

  friend class Code;
};

#ifndef OUTLINE
# include "IDtyp.icc"
#endif

#endif /* !PG_IDTYP_H_ */