/* ========================================================================
 * JCommon : a free general purpose class library for the Java(tm) platform
 * ========================================================================
 *
 * (C) Copyright 2000-2005, by Object Refinery Limited and Contributors.
 * 
 * Project Info:  http://www.jfree.org/jcommon/index.html
 *
 * 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 Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301, 
 * USA.  
 *
 * [Java is a trademark or registered trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc. 
 * in the United States and other countries.]
 * 
 * ------------------
 * Configuration.java
 * ------------------
 * (C)opyright 2002-2005, by Thomas Morgner and Contributors.
 *
 * Original Author:  Thomas Morgner (taquera@sherito.org);
 * Contributor(s):   David Gilbert (for Object Refinery Limited);
 *
 * $Id: Configuration.java,v 1.8 2007/11/02 17:50:37 taqua Exp $
 *
 * Changes
 * -------
 * 02-May-2003 : Initial version (TM);
 * 
 */

package org.jfree.util;

import java.io.Serializable;
import java.util.Enumeration;
import java.util.Iterator;

/**
 * A simple query interface for a configuration.
 *
 * @author Thomas Morgner
 */
public interface Configuration extends Serializable, Cloneable {

    /**
     * Returns the configuration property with the specified key.
     *
     * @param key  the property key.
     *
     * @return the property value.
     */
    public String getConfigProperty(String key);

    /**
     * Returns the configuration property with the specified key (or the 
     * specified default value if there is no such property).
     * <p>
     * If the property is not defined in this configuration, the code will 
     * lookup the property in the parent configuration.
     *
     * @param key  the property key.
     * @param defaultValue  the default value.
     *
     * @return the property value.
     */
    public String getConfigProperty(String key, String defaultValue);

    /**
     * Returns all keys with the given prefix.
     *
     * @param prefix the prefix
     * @return the iterator containing all keys with that prefix
     */
    public Iterator findPropertyKeys(String prefix);

    /**
     * Returns the configuration properties.
     * 
     * @return The configuration properties.
     */
    public Enumeration getConfigProperties();
  
    /**
     * Returns a clone of the object.
     *
     * @return A clone.
     *
     * @throws CloneNotSupportedException if cloning is not supported for some reason.
     */
    public Object clone() throws CloneNotSupportedException;

}