# com.bea.ide.element
IElement Interface

public interface IElement

This class represents the base level object within the IDE. Many other objects are derived from it, but it provides a base level object that can be used very generically. The base interface does not impose any structure or relationship between elements. For structured elements, see `ITreeElement```.

All Known Implementing Classes
  `DefaultElement`, `DefaultDocument`, `JavaDocument`, `ControlDocument`, `ControlContainerDocument`, `DefaultSourceDocument`, `DefaultDocumentElement`, `ControlVariable`, `ControlMethod`, `DefaultSourceElement`, `DefaultTreeElement`

All Known Subinterfaces
  `IDocument`, `IDocumentElement`, `IDOMSourceElement`, `ILinkedElement`, `IRelatedDocument`, `ISourceDocument`, `ISourceElement`, `ITreeElement`, `IVersionedDocument`

## Method Summary

`public `Object`` | `getProperty`(`String` sProperty) Shortcut method to get a property value.
`public `PropertyDescriptor`[]` | `getPropertyDescriptors`() Return the property descriptors available for this object.
`public void` | `setProperty`(`String` sProperty, `Object` oValue) Shortcut method to set a property value.

## Method Detail

### getProperty(String) Method

    public Object getProperty(String sProperty)

Shortcut method to get a property value. This will typically only be used if the caller knows the set of properties available on the element.

#### Parameters

sProperty
  The name of the property to fetch.

#### Returns

Value of the property, or null if the property does not exist.

### getPropertyDescriptors() Method

    public PropertyDescriptor[] getPropertyDescriptors()

Return the property descriptors available for this object. Although this method is borrowed from JavaBeans, an IElement is not necessarily a JavaBean. However, it should be easy to turn beans into IElements.

#### Returns

Array of property descriptor objects describing the properties that this IElement exposes

### setProperty(String, Object) Method

    public void setProperty(String sProperty,
                            Object oValue)

Shortcut method to set a property value. This will typically only be used if the caller knows the set of properties available on the element.

#### Parameters

sProperty
  The name of the property to set.

oValue
  value object to which the property should be set.