/*
 * Copyright 2007 (C) Tom Parker <thpr@users.sourceforge.net>
 * 
 * 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; either version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option)
 * any later version.
 * 
 * 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.
 * 
 * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
 * along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc.,
 * 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
 */
package pcgen.cdom.content;

/**
 * A Processor is designed to take an object of a specific type (in a given
 * context) and return another object of the same type. In some cases,
 * 
 * @param <T>
 *            The class of object this Processor acts upon.
 */
public interface Processor<T>
{

	/**
	 * Applies this Processor to the given input object, in the context of the
	 * given context object.
	 * 
	 * Note that classes that implement this Processor interface may return the
	 * object passed in as the input object. Therefore, if the input object is
	 * mutable, the caller of the applyProcessor method should be aware of that
	 * behavior, and should treat the returned object appropriately.
	 * 
	 * @param obj
	 *            The input object this Processor will act upon
	 * @param context
	 *            The context of this Processor, to establish (if necessary),
	 *            whether this Processor should act upon the input object
	 * @return The modified object, of the same class as the input object.
	 */
	public T applyProcessor(T obj, Object context);

	/**
	 * The class of object this Processor acts upon.
	 * 
	 * @return The class of object this Processor acts upon.
	 */
	public Class<T> getModifiedClass();

	/**
	 * Returns a representation of this Processor, suitable for storing in an
	 * LST file.
	 * 
	 * @return A representation of this Processor, suitable for storing in an
	 *         LST file.
	 */
	public String getLSTformat();

}