/*
 * Copyright 2005-2008 Sun Microsystems, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.
 * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
 *
 * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
 * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as
 * published by the Free Software Foundation.  Sun designates this
 * particular file as subject to the "Classpath" exception as provided
 * by Sun in the LICENSE file that accompanied this code.
 *
 * This code 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
 * version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that
 * accompanied this code).
 *
 * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License version
 * 2 along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
 * Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
 *
 * Please contact Sun Microsystems, Inc., 4150 Network Circle, Santa Clara,
 * CA 95054 USA or visit www.sun.com if you need additional information or
 * have any questions.
 *
 */

package javax.media.j3d;


/**
 * The ShaderAttribute object encapsulates a uniform attribute for a
 * shader programs.  Uniform attributes (variables) are those
 * attributes whose values are constant during the rendering of a
 * primitive. Their values may change from primitive to primitive, but
 * are constant for each vertex (for vertex shaders) or fragment (for
 * fragment shaders) of a single primitive. Examples of uniform
 * attributes include a transformation matrix, a texture map, lights,
 * lookup tables, etc.
 *
 * <p>
 * There are two ways in which values can be specified for uniform
 * attributes: explicitly, by providing a value; and implicitly, by
 * defining a binding between a Java 3D system attribute and a uniform
 * attribute. This functionality is provided by two subclasses of
 * ShaderAttribute as follows:
 *
 * <ul>
 * <li>ShaderAttributeObject, in which attributes are expressed as
 * <code>(attrName,&nbsp;value)</code> pairs, is used for explicitly
 * defined attributes</li>
 * <li>ShaderAttributeBinding, in which attributes are expressed as
 * <code>(attrName,&nbsp;j3dAttrName)</code> pairs, is used for
 * implicitly defined, automatically tracked attributes</li>
 * </ul>
 *
 * @see ShaderAttributeSet
 * @see ShaderProgram
 *
 * @since Java 3D 1.4
 */

public abstract class ShaderAttribute extends NodeComponent {
    /**
     * Name of the shader attribute (immutable)
     */

    /**
     * Package scope constructor
     *
     */
    ShaderAttribute(String attrName) {
	if (attrName == null) {
	    throw new NullPointerException();
	}

	((ShaderAttributeRetained)this.retained).initializeAttrName(attrName);
    }

    /**
     * Retrieves the name of this shader attribute.
     *
     * @return the name of this shader attribute
     */
    public String getAttributeName() {

 	return ((ShaderAttributeRetained)this.retained).getAttributeName();

   }

}