agent

Class Agent

java.lang.Object

agent.Agent

public abstract class Agent
extends java.lang.Object

An abstract software agent class. The agent must be managed by the Environment class, which calls its see() and selectAction() methods.

Field Summary

Fields

Modifier and Type	Field and Description
protected java.lang.String	id

Constructor Summary

Constructors

Modifier	Constructor and Description
protected	Agent() All subclasses should create a no-arg constructor that invokes this constructor.
protected	Agent(int id) All subclass should create a one-arg constructor that takes an integer and invokes this constructor.

Method Summary

Modifier and Type	Method and Description
java.lang.String	getId() Return a unique string that identifies the agent.
abstract void	see(Percept p) Provide a Percept to the agent.
abstract Action	selectAction() Have the agent select its next action to perform.

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait

Field Detail

id

protected java.lang.String id

Constructor Detail

Agent

protected Agent()

All subclasses should create a no-arg constructor that invokes this constructor.

Agent

protected Agent(int id)

All subclass should create a one-arg constructor that takes an integer and invokes this constructor. This constructor would be used in multi-agent environments in order to distinguish the different agents.

Method Detail

see

public abstract void see(Percept p)

Provide a Percept to the agent. This function is called by the environment at the beginning of each agent's turn. If the agent has internal state, this method should also update it.

selectAction

public abstract Action selectAction()

Have the agent select its next action to perform. Implements the action0: Per -> Ac function or the action: I -> Ac function, depending on whether or not the agent has internal state. Note, Per (or I) is not passed as a parameter, because we assume this information is recorded in an instance variable by the see() method.

getId

public java.lang.String getId()

Return a unique string that identifies the agent. This is particularly useful in multi-agent environments.