Processor.java

/*
Copyright 2008-2010 Gephi
Authors : Mathieu Bastian <mathieu.bastian@gephi.org>
Website : http://www.gephi.org

This file is part of Gephi.

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*/
package org.gephi.io.processor.spi;

import org.gephi.io.importer.api.ContainerUnloader;
import org.gephi.io.importer.api.ImportController;
import org.gephi.io.importer.spi.Importer;
import org.gephi.project.api.Workspace;

/**
 * Interface that define the way data are <b>unloaded</b> from container and
 * appened to the workspace.
 * <p>
 * The purpose of processors is to unload data from the import container
 * and push it to the workspace, with various strategy. For instance
 * a processor could either create a new workspace or append data to the
 * current workspace, managing doubles.
 *
 * @author Mathieu Bastian
 * @see ImportController
 */
public interface Processor {

    /**
     * Process data <b>from</b> the container <b>to</b> the workspace. This task
     * is done after an importer pushed data to the container.
     * @see Importer
     */
    public void process();

    /**
     * Sets the data container. The processor's job is to get data from the container
     * and append it to the workspace.
     * @param container the container where data are
     */
    public void setContainer(ContainerUnloader container);

    /**
     * Sets the destination workspace for the data in the container. If no workspace
     * is provided, the current workspace will be used.
     * @param workspace the workspace where data are to be pushed
     */
    public void setWorkspace(Workspace workspace);

    /**
     * Returns the processor name.
     * @return the processor display name
     */
    public String getDisplayName();
}