/*
* GeoTools - The Open Source Java GIS Toolkit
* http://geotools.org
*
* (C) 2002-2008, Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo)
*
* This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
* modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
* License as published by the Free Software Foundation;
* version 2.1 of the License.
*
* This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
* but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
* MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
* Lesser General Public License for more details.
*/
package org.geotools.util;
/**
* Converts values of one type into another.
*
* @author Justin Deoliveira, The Open Planning Project
*
* @since 2.4
*
*
* @source $URL$
*/
public interface Converter {
/**
* Converts an object to an object of another type.
* <p>
* If the converstion supplied is not supported this method can either throw an exception or
* return <code>null</code>.
* </p>
*
* @param source The original object, never <code>null</code>
* @param target The type of the converted object.
*
* @return An instance of target, or <code>null</code> if the conversion could not take place.
*
* @throws Exception If the conversion can not take place.
*/
<T> T convert(Object source, Class<T> target) throws Exception;
}