FieldConverter.java

/**
 * Copyright (c) 2014 by the original author or authors.
 *
 * This code 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.
 *
 * 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 ch.sdi.core.intf;

import org.springframework.core.env.Environment;

import ch.sdi.core.exc.SdiException;


/**
 * Generic interface for field converters.
 * <p>
 *
 * @version 1.0 (09.11.2014)
 * @author  Heri
 */
public interface FieldConverter<T>
{
    /**
     * Each concrete converter is responsible for initializing itself
     * <p>
     *
     * @param aEnv
     * @param aFieldname the field for which the converter is responsible
     * @return the initialized converter (fluent API)
     * @throws SdiException if the initialization fails
     */
    public FieldConverter<T> init( Environment aEnv, String aFieldname ) throws SdiException;

    /**
     * Converts the given value to the desired target type.
     * <p>
     * @param aValue the value to be converted
     * @return the converted value (or <code>null</code> if input is <code>null</code>)
     * @throws SdiException if the conversion fails.
     */
    public T convert( String aValue ) throws SdiException;

}