Processor.java

/*
Copyright 2008-2010 Gephi
Authors : Mathieu Bastian <mathieu.bastian@gephi.org>
Website : http://www.gephi.org

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 */
package org.gephi.io.processor.spi;

import org.gephi.io.importer.api.ContainerUnloader;
import org.gephi.io.importer.api.ImportController;
import org.gephi.io.importer.api.Report;
import org.gephi.io.importer.spi.Importer;
import org.gephi.project.api.Workspace;
import org.gephi.utils.progress.ProgressTicket;

/**
 * Interface that define the way data are <b>unloaded</b> from containers and
 * appended to the workspace.
 * <p>
 * The purpose of processors is to unload data from the import containers and
 * push it to the workspace, with various strategies. For instance, a processor
 * could either create a new workspace or append data to the current workspace,
 * managing duplicates.
 *
 * @author Mathieu Bastian
 * @see ImportController
 */
public interface Processor {

    /**
     * Process data <b>from</b> the container <b>to</b> the workspace. This task
     * is done after an importer pushed data to the container.
     *
     * @see Importer
     */
    public void process();

    /**
     * Sets the data containers. The processor's job is to get data from the
     * containers and append it to the workspace.
     *
     * @param containers the containers where data are
     */
    public void setContainers(ContainerUnloader[] containers);

    /**
     * Sets the destination workspace for the data in the containers. If no
     * workspace is provided, the current workspace will be used.
     *
     * @param workspace the workspace where data are to be pushed
     */
    public void setWorkspace(Workspace workspace);

    /**
     * Returns the processor's name.
     *
     * @return the processor display name
     */
    public String getDisplayName();

    /**
     * Sets the progress ticket.
     *
     * @param progressTicket progress ticket
     */
    public void setProgressTicket(ProgressTicket progressTicket);
    
    /**
     * Returns the report of the processor after processing is done, with possible warnings and errors.
     * @return Processor report after processing
     */
    public Report getReport();
}