/*
* @(#) src/net/sf/ivmaidns/util/Sortable.java --
* Interface for comparable/orderable objects.
**
* Copyright (c) 2000 Ivan Maidanski <ivmai@mail.ru>
* All rights reserved.
*/
/*
* This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
* it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
* the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option)
* any later version.
**
* This software 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
* General Public License (GPL) for more details.
**
* Linking this library statically or dynamically with other modules is
* making a combined work based on this library. Thus, the terms and
* conditions of the GNU General Public License cover the whole
* combination.
**
* As a special exception, the copyright holders of this library give you
* permission to link this library with independent modules to produce an
* executable, regardless of the license terms of these independent
* modules, and to copy and distribute the resulting executable under
* terms of your choice, provided that you also meet, for each linked
* independent module, the terms and conditions of the license of that
* module. An independent module is a module which is not derived from
* or based on this library. If you modify this library, you may extend
* this exception to your version of the library, but you are not
* obligated to do so. If you do not wish to do so, delete this
* exception statement from your version.
*/
package net.sf.ivmaidns.util;
/**
* Interface for comparable/orderable objects.
**
* Any class implementing this interface allows semantic ordering
* (sorting) of its instances using its built-in 'greater-than'
* comparator method.
**
* @version 2.0
* @author Ivan Maidanski
*/
public interface Sortable
{
/**
* Tests for being semantically greater than the argument.
**
* The result is true if and only if <VAR>obj</VAR> is of expected
* type and <CODE>this</CODE> object is greater than the specified
* one. Important notes: in a particular <CODE>final</CODE> class
* <CODE>int compareTo(Type val) throws NullPointerException</CODE>
* method may be provided for user convenience.
**
* @param obj
* the second compared object (may be <CODE>null</CODE>).
* @return
* <CODE>true</CODE> if <VAR>obj</VAR> is comparable with
* <CODE>this</CODE> and <CODE>this</CODE> object is greater than
* <VAR>obj</VAR>, else <CODE>false</CODE>.
**
* @since 2.0
*/
public abstract boolean greaterThan(Object obj);
}