/*
 * The MIT License (MIT)
 *
 * Copyright (c) 2007-2015 Broad Institute
 *
 * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
 * of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
 * in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
 * to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
 * copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
 * furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
 *
 * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
 * all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
 *
 *
 * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
 * IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
 * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
 * AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
 * LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
 * OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN
 * THE SOFTWARE.
 */

package org.broad.igv.cli_plugin;

import htsjdk.tribble.Feature;

/**
 * User: jacob
 * Date: 2012-Oct-01
 */
public interface LineFeatureEncoder<T extends Feature> extends PluginArguments {

    /**
     * Create a single data line (excluding newline character)
     * from this Feature. Return null to skip encoding
     *
     * @param feature
     * @return
     */
    String encode(T feature);

    /**
     * @param line
     * @return The number of data columns contained in this line.
     *         Some decoders need this information.
     */
    int getNumCols(String line);

    /**
     * Get header for this encoder. This will
     * be written before any features.
     *
     * @return String header, or null for none
     */
    String getHeader();
}