/* The type of structures that store (key, value) pairs.

Copyright (c) 1997-2014 The Regents of the University of California.
All rights reserved.
Permission is hereby granted, without written agreement and without
license or royalty fees, to use, copy, modify, and distribute this
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of this software.

IN NO EVENT SHALL THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BE LIABLE TO ANY PARTY
FOR DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES
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PT_COPYRIGHT_VERSION_2
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 */

package ptolemy.data.type;

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
////AssociativeType

/**
This class represents structures that store (key, value) pairs. It prescribes
a get() method that retrieves the type of the value associated with a given
key.

@author Marten Lohstroh
@version $Id: AssociativeType.java 70398 2014-10-22 23:44:32Z cxh $
@since Ptolemy II 10.0
@Pt.ProposedRating Red (marten)
@Pt.AcceptedRating Red
 */
public abstract class AssociativeType extends StructuredType {

    ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
    ////                         public methods                    ////
    /** Return the type of the specified label. If this type does not
     *  contain the specified label, return null.
     *  @param label The specified label.
     *  @return a Type.
     */
    public abstract Type get(String label);
}