/* ========================================================================
* 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.]
*
* -----------------
* ClassFactory.java
* -----------------
* (C)opyright 2003, 2004, by Thomas Morgner and Contributors.
*
* Original Author: Thomas Morgner;
* Contributor(s): David Gilbert (for Object Refinery Limited);
*
* $Id: ClassFactory.java,v 1.3 2005/11/14 10:59:58 mungady Exp $
*
* Changes (from 19-Feb-2003)
* -------------------------
* 19-Feb-2003 : Added standard header and Javadocs (DG);
* 29-Apr-2003 : Distilled from the JFreeReport project and moved into JCommon
*
*/
package org.jfree.xml.factory.objects;
import java.io.Serializable;
import java.util.Iterator;
import org.jfree.util.Configuration;
/**
* A class factory.
*
* @author Thomas Morgner
*/
public interface ClassFactory extends Serializable {
/**
* Returns an object description for a class.
*
* @param c the class.
*
* @return The object description.
*/
public ObjectDescription getDescriptionForClass(Class c);
/**
* Returns an object description for the super class of a class.
*
* @param d the class.
* @param knownSuperClass the last known super class or null.
*
* @return The object description.
*/
public ObjectDescription getSuperClassObjectDescription
(Class d, ObjectDescription knownSuperClass);
/**
* Returns an iterator for the registered classes. This returns a list
* of pre-registered classes known to this ClassFactory. A class may be able
* to handle more than the registered classes.
* <p>
* This method exists to support query tools for UI design, do not rely on it
* for day to day work.
*
* @return The iterator.
*/
public Iterator getRegisteredClasses();
/**
* Configures this factory. The configuration contains several keys and
* their defined values. The given reference to the configuration object
* will remain valid until the report parsing or writing ends.
* <p>
* The configuration contents may change during the reporting.
*
* @param config the configuration, never null
*/
public void configure(Configuration config);
/**
* Compares whether two object factories are equal. This method must be
* implemented!
*
* @param o the other object.
* @return true, if both object factories describe the same objects, false otherwise.
*/
public boolean equals (Object o);
/**
* Computes the hashCode for this ClassFactory. As equals() must be implemented,
* a corresponding hashCode() should be implemented as well.
*
* @return the hashcode.
*/
public int hashCode();
}