class ElementModel[T <: AnyRef]( private val element: org.jdom.Element )
{
  def getElement = element

  def getObject: AnyRef = convertString( element.getText )
  def setObject( obj: AnyRef ) = element.setText( convertType( obj.asInstanceOf[T] ) )

  private def convertString( value: String ): T = ...
  private def convertType( value: T ): String = ...
}