/* ========================================================================
* 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.]
*
* ------------------
* ObjectFactory.java
* ------------------
* (C) Copyright 2003-2005, by Thomas Morgner and Contributors.
*
* Original Author: Thomas Morgner;
* Contributor(s): David Gilbert (for Object Refinery Limited);
*
* $Id: ObjectFactory.java,v 1.3 2005/10/18 13:33:53 mungady Exp $
*
* Changes
* -------
* 22-Nov-2003 : Version 1 (TM);
*
*/
package org.jfree.xml.util;
/**
* An object factory.
*/
public interface ObjectFactory {
/**
* Returns the generic factory for the given class or null, if there is
* no handler for this class. The factory will be reinitialized using
* getInstance().
*
* @param c the class for which we need a producer
* @return the factory for this class
*/
public GenericObjectFactory getFactoryForClass(Class c);
/**
* Checks, whether a generic handler exists for the given class. This does
* not check, whether an mapping exists.
*
* @param c the class for which to check
* @return true, if an generic handler is defined, false otherwise.
*/
public boolean isGenericHandler(Class c);
/**
* Returns the multiplex definition for the given class, or null, if no
* such definition exists.
*
* @param c the class for which to check the existence of the multiplexer
* @return the multiplexer for the class, or null if no multiplexer exists.
*/
public MultiplexMappingDefinition getMultiplexDefinition(Class c);
/**
* Returns the manual mapping definition for the given class, or null, if
* not manual definition exists.
*
* @param c the class for which to check the existence of the definition
* @return the manual mapping definition or null.
*/
public ManualMappingDefinition getManualMappingDefinition(Class c);
}