/*
* $Id: StringValue.java 3297 2009-03-11 13:45:10Z kleopatra $
*
* Copyright 2006 Sun Microsystems, Inc., 4150 Network Circle,
* Santa Clara, California 95054, U.S.A. All rights reserved.
*
* 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., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA
*/
package org.hdesktop.swingx.renderer;
import java.io.Serializable;
/**
* A simple converter to return a String representation of an object.
*
* This class is intended to be the "small coin" to configure/format textual
* cell content of concrete subclasses of <code>ComponentProvider</code>.
* <p>
*
* F.i. to show a Contributor cell object as "Busywoman, Herta" implement a
* custom StringValue and use it in a text rendering provider.
*
* <pre><code>
* StringValue stringValue = new StringValue() {
*
* public String getString(Object value) {
* if (!(value instanceof Contributor))
* return TO_STRING.getString(value);
* Contributor contributor = (Contributor) value;
* return contributor.lastName + ", " + contributor.firstName;
* }
*
* };
*
* ComponentProvider provider = new LabelProvider(stringValue);
* table.setDefaultRenderer(Contributor.class,
* new DefaultTableRenderer(provider));
* </code></pre>
*
* <p>
*
* PENDING: use a full-fledged Format instead?
* Would impose a higher burden onto implementors but could be re-used in
* editors.
*
* @author Jeanette Winzenburg
*
* @see ComponentProvider
* @see LabelProvider
* @see DefaultTableRenderer
* @see DefaultListRenderer
* @see DefaultTreeRenderer
*/
public interface StringValue extends Serializable {
/**
* Returns a string representation of the given value. <p>
*
* PENDING JW: forgot - why not null return guaranteed?
*
* @param value the object to present as a string
* @return a string representation of the given value,
* guaranteed to be not null
*/
String getString(Object value);
}