Adding the README file - calibration componets for the calibration using reconstucte...

[u/mrichter/AliRoot.git] / HLT / BASE / AliHLTTriggerMenuSymbol.h

diff --git a/HLT/BASE/AliHLTTriggerMenuSymbol.h b/HLT/BASE/AliHLTTriggerMenuSymbol.h
index ff65ece396174acd4a04001e3b8494b9848a3535..c915d4fe8320fecec03f068930c5e58bd87134ce 100644 (file)
--- a/HLT/BASE/AliHLTTriggerMenuSymbol.h
+++ b/HLT/BASE/AliHLTTriggerMenuSymbol.h
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 //-*- Mode: C++ -*-
-// $Id:$
+// $Id$
 #ifndef ALIHLTTRIGGERMENUSYMBOL_H
 #define ALIHLTTRIGGERMENUSYMBOL_H
 /* This file is property of and copyright by the ALICE HLT Project        *
@@ -18,7 +18,42 @@
 
 /**
  * \class AliHLTTriggerMenuSymbol
- * TODO
+ * The trigger menu symbol is used to either label a TObject variable found in
+ * one of the input data blocks or create a constant object that can be used in
+ * various trigger menu expressions.
+ * It essentially represents a C++ variable with a name and type. This is filled
+ * with the information found in an input TObject, as specified by the
+ * <i>AssignExpression()</i> method. If nothing can be assigned because an
+ * appropriate TObject cannot be found, then a default value is used.
+ * The correct TObject is found by searching for a TObject with a matching class
+ * type as given by <i>ObjectClass()</i> from the input data blocks. The input
+ * data block must also have the data block type and specification match those
+ * given in the <i>BlockType()</i> method.
+ *
+ * The symbol name should normally be a valid C++ symbol name. This normally
+ * excludes the minus sign from being used in the name. However, since CTP trigger
+ * names use the minus sign extensively, the minus sign is also allowed in HLT
+ * trigger menu symbol names. This is implicitly converted to an underscore in the
+ * name. However, the original name with minus signs is retained and available
+ * with the <i>RealName()</i> method. In addition, the <i>RealName</i> is used
+ * for display purposes.
+ * \note Trigger menu symbols names that use minus signs are synonymous to those
+ * that use understores in the same locations. For this reason it is better to use
+ * one or the other form, but not both at the same time.
+ * \note The following symbol names are reserved and should not be used:
+ *   _domain_
+ *   _description_
+ *   _item_result_
+ *   _group_result_
+ *   _previous_match_
+ *   _trigger_matched_
+ *   FillFromMenu
+ *   NewEvent
+ *   Add
+ *   CalculateTriggerDecision
+ *   GetCounters
+ *   SetCounters
+ *   CreateNew
  */
 class AliHLTTriggerMenuSymbol : public TObject
 {
@@ -41,14 +76,22 @@ class AliHLTTriggerMenuSymbol : public TObject
   virtual void Print(Option_t* option = "") const;
   
   /**
-   * Returns the symbol name.
+   * Returns the real name which can differ from the symbol name
+   * by '-' characters instead of '_'. This approach has been introduced
+   * to allow trigger and item names containing '-' characters and thus
+   * violating the C++ naming conventions.
    */
-  const char* Name() const { return fName.Data(); }
+  const char* RealName() const;
   
   /**
-   * Set the symbol name.
+   * Returns the valid C++ symbol name.
+   */
+  const char* Name() const { return fName.Data(); }
+
+  /**
+   * Set the symbol name. It can contain '-' characters.
    */
-  void Name(const char* value) { fName = value; }
+  void Name(const char* value);
   
   /**
    * Returns the symbol data type.
@@ -129,7 +172,9 @@ class AliHLTTriggerMenuSymbol : public TObject
   /**
    * Set the expression to assign the symbol value.
    * The keyword 'this' is used as the place holder of the object in the matched
-   * data block.
+   * data block. For example if we want to get a public attribute names xyz from
+   * the object to assign to the symbol we would write the assignment expression
+   * as "this->xyz".
    */
   void AssignExpression(const char* value) { fAssignExpr = value; }
   
@@ -145,14 +190,15 @@ class AliHLTTriggerMenuSymbol : public TObject
 
  private:
   
-  TString fName;  /// The name of the symbol (Must be a valid C++ variable name).
+  TString fName;  /// The name of the symbol (Must be a valid C++ variable name but can contain the '-' character as an extention).
   TString fType;  /// The data type of the symbol (Must be a valid C++ type name).
   AliHLTDomainEntry fBlockType;  /// The data block type and specification this symbol is fetched from.
   TString fClass;  /// The class name of the object to read from (Must be a valid C++ class name).
   TString fAssignExpr;  /// The expression to assign to the symbol (Must be a valid C++ expression).
   TString fDefaultValue;  /// The default value this symbol is set to (this must be a valid C++ expression).
+  TString fRealName; /// The name of the symbol, differs from fName by replaced '-' chars.
   
-  ClassDef(AliHLTTriggerMenuSymbol, 2) // Trigger menu item for global HLT trigger.
+  ClassDef(AliHLTTriggerMenuSymbol, 4) // Trigger menu item for global HLT trigger.
 };
 
 #endif // ALIHLTTRIGGERMENUSYMBOL_H