/*
* 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;
import org.geotools.factory.Hints;
import org.geotools.factory.Hints.Key;
/**
* Factory used to create instances of {@link Converter}.
*
* @author Justin Deoliveira, The Open Planning Project
*
* @since 2.4
*
*
*
* @source $URL$
*/
public interface ConverterFactory {
/**
* Hint which specifies if only safe conversions should be atttemped by
* converter implementations.
*/
static final Key SAFE_CONVERSION = new Key(Boolean.class);
/**
* Creates a {@link Converter} instance for converting one type
* of object to another.
*
* @param source The type to convert from.
* @param target The type to convert to.
* @param hints Hints used to be used while creating a converter.
*
* @return The converter, or <code>null</code> if one could not be found.
*/
Converter createConverter(Class<?> source, Class<?> target, Hints hints);
}