/* $Id: UMLUserInterfaceContainer.java 17881 2010-01-12 21:09:28Z linus $
 *****************************************************************************
 * Copyright (c) 2009 Contributors - see below
 * All rights reserved. This program and the accompanying materials
 * are made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License v1.0
 * which accompanies this distribution, and is available at
 * http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html
 *
 * Contributors:
 *    euluis
 *****************************************************************************
 *
 * Some portions of this file was previously release using the BSD License:
 */

// Copyright (c) 1996-2006 The Regents of the University of California. All
// Rights Reserved. Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this
// software and its documentation without fee, and without a written
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// and this paragraph appear in all copies.  This software program and
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package org.argouml.uml.ui;
import java.util.Iterator;

import org.argouml.kernel.ProfileConfiguration;

/**
 * Interface supported by any container of UML user interface components.
 * This interface allows UML user interface components to determine
 * the currently selected target and profile and allows the control
 * to request a navigation.  Implemented by PropPanel.
 *
 * @author Curt Arnold
 * @see PropPanel
 */
public interface UMLUserInterfaceContainer {

    /**
     * @return the current target for the container, may be null
     */
    public Object getTarget();

    /**
     * @return the current target for the container if the target is a
     *      ModelElement, otherwise null
     */
    public Object getModelElement();

    /**
     * Return the current profile.
     * <p>
     * NOTE: An incompatible change was made to this API for 0.25.4. The return
     * type was changed from Profile to ProfileConfiguration.
     * 
     * @return the current profile, may not be null
     */
    public ProfileConfiguration getProfile();

    /**
     * Formats the specified model element.  Typically, deferred to the
     * profile.
     *
     * @param element the given ModelElement
     * @return the formatted string
     */
    public String formatElement(Object element);

    /**
     * Formats a collection of model elements.  Typically, deferred to the
     * profile.
     *
     * @param iter an iterator into the collection of modelelements
     * @return the formatted string
     */
    public String formatCollection(Iterator iter);

    /**
     * Formats the model element as a namespace.
     *
     * @param ns the namespace
     * @return the formatted string
     */
    public String formatNamespace(Object ns);

}