/* Copyright (C) 2013-2020 TU Dortmund
 * This file is part of LearnLib, http://www.learnlib.de/.
 *
 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
 *
 *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 *
 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 * limitations under the License.
 */
package de.learnlib.api.query;

import java.util.Objects;

import de.learnlib.api.algorithm.LearningAlgorithm;
import de.learnlib.api.oracle.MembershipOracle;
import net.automatalib.automata.fsa.DFA;
import net.automatalib.automata.transducers.MealyMachine;
import net.automatalib.words.Word;
import org.checkerframework.checker.nullness.qual.Nullable;

/**
 * A query is the basic form of interaction between a {@link LearningAlgorithm learner} and a {@link MembershipOracle
 * (membership) oracle}, or teacher.
 * <p>
 * In LearnLib, queries are performed in a callback-like fashion: an oracle does not <i>return</i> the responses to the
 * queries, but rather invokes the {@link #answer(Object)} method on the query objects it was provided with. This allows
 * for implementing queries which directly react to an answered query (e.g., by modifying some internal data structure),
 * without the need for buffering answers. It also allows for a more efficient parallel processing of queries, as there
 * is no need for maintaining a common (synchronized) result data structure such as a map. However, this means that a
 * learner cannot rely on the {@link #answer(Object)} method of a query being called from the same thread which invoked
 * {@link MembershipOracle#processQueries(java.util.Collection)}. If this causes concurrency issues, a safe choice is to
 * use queries of class {@link DefaultQuery}, which simply store the response and make it accessible via {@link
 * DefaultQuery#getOutput()} for processing after the {@link MembershipOracle#processQueries(java.util.Collection)} call
 * returns, guaranteeing thread-safety.
 * <p>
 * Conceptually, a query is divided into a {@link #getPrefix() prefix} and a {@link #getSuffix()} suffix. The prefix
 * part of a query identifies a state in the (unknown) target system, whereas the suffix is the "experiment" which is
 * conducted on the system starting from the state to which it was transferred by the prefix. While the prefix
 * influences the response of the target system to a query, the answer is the <i>directly observable</i> reaction to
 * executing the suffix.
 * <p>
 * <b>Example 1:</b> when learning {@link MealyMachine Mealy machines}, the prefix transfers the target system to a
 * certain state. The outputs produced by the system while executing the prefix are <i>not</i> part of the answer, as
 * the role of the prefix is limited to reaching a certain state. The reaction of the target system consists of the
 * output word produced while executing the suffix. Therefore, in the setting of Mealy machine learning, a valid oracle
 * will call the {@link #answer(Object)} method with a word of the same length as the suffix.
 * <p>
 * <b>Example 2:</b> when learning {@link DFA}s, the reaction of the target system is fully determined by the state
 * reached by an input word. Since both prefix and suffix have the same effect on producing this output (by transferring
 * the system to a certain state), the response will always be a single {@link Boolean}, and, furthermore, for every
 * input word {@code w}, the response to a query will always be the same regardless of the subdivision of {@code w = uv}
 * into prefix {@code u} and suffix {@code v} (including the corner cases <code>u = &epsilon;</code> and <code>v =
 * &epsilon;</code>).
 *
 * @param <I>
 *         input symbol type
 * @param <D>
 *         output domain type
 *
 * @author Malte Isberner
 */
public abstract class Query<I, D> {

    private int hashCode;

    /**
     * Answers the query. This method should be called by a {@link MembershipOracle}, and only once per query to
     * process. Calling this method more than once may result in undefined behavior, possibly (but not necessarily)
     * throwing an exception.
     *
     * @param output
     *         the output, i.e., the response to the query
     */
    public abstract void answer(D output);

    /**
     * Retrieves the input word of this query. The input word corresponding to a query is the concatenation of its
     * prefix and suffix.
     *
     * @return the input word of this query
     */
    public Word<I> getInput() {
        return getPrefix().concat(getSuffix());
    }

    /**
     * Returns the prefix part of this query. The prefix of a query is responsible for transferring the system into a
     * certain state, but (apart from that) does not directly influence the output.
     *
     * @return the prefix of this query
     */
    public abstract Word<I> getPrefix();

    /**
     * Returns the suffix part of this query. The suffix of a query is the experiment performed on the system when in
     * the state it was transferred into by the prefix, and thus directly influences the output.
     *
     * @return the suffix of this query
     */
    public abstract Word<I> getSuffix();

    @Override
    public final int hashCode() {
        if (hashCode != 0) {
            return hashCode;
        }

        hashCode = 1;
        hashCode = 31 * hashCode + Objects.hashCode(getPrefix());
        hashCode = 31 * hashCode + Objects.hashCode(getSuffix());
        return hashCode;
    }

    @Override
    public final boolean equals(@Nullable Object o) {
        if (this == o) {
            return true;
        }
        if (!(o instanceof Query)) {
            return false;
        }

        final Query<?, ?> that = (Query<?, ?>) o;
        return Objects.equals(getPrefix(), that.getPrefix()) && Objects.equals(getSuffix(), that.getSuffix());
    }

    /**
     * Returns the string representation of this query.
     *
     * @return A string of the form {@code "Query[<prefix>|<suffix>]"} for queries not containing an answer or {@code
     * "Query[<prefix>|<suffix> / <answer>]"} if an answer may be specified.
     */
    @Override
    public String toString() {
        return "Query[" + getPrefix() + '|' + getSuffix() + ']';
    }

}

@@ -4487,24 +4487,44 @@
 , i.e., the 
+directly observable 
 response to 
@@ -4528,24 +4528,87 @@
 to the query
+'s suffix (cf. %7B@link Query main%0A     *         documentation%7D)
 %0A     */%0A   

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