1 /***
2 * Filter.java
3 *
4 * This file is part of the creme library.
5 * The creme library intends to ease the development effort of large
6 * applications by providing easy to use support classes.
7 *
8 * Copyright (C) 2002 Denis Bregeon
9 *
10 * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
11 * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
12 * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
13 * version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
14 *
15 * This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
16 * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
17 * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU
18 * Lesser General Public License for more details.
19 *
20 * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
21 * License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
22 * Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
23 *
24 * contact information: dbregeon@sourceforge.net
25 */
26 package org.jcreme.filters;
27
28 /***
29 * This interface describes a general filter. Basically this is an object that
30 * accept or refuses values (other objects).
31 *
32 * @author $Author: dbregeon $
33 * @version $Revision: 1.2 $
34 */
35 public interface Filter extends Cloneable {
36 /***
37 * Tells whether the given object 'passes' the filter or not.
38 *
39 * @return True if the passed in parameter is accepted by the filter, false
40 * otherwise.
41 * @param obj
42 * The object you want to 'test'.
43 */
44 public boolean accept(final Object obj);
45
46 /***
47 * This forces override of the Object class clone method. it makes a deep
48 * copy so a change in a subfilter does not affect the cloned version.
49 *
50 * @return the cloned object.
51 */
52 public Object clone();
53 }