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/*
 * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS HEADER.
 *
 * Copyright (c) 1997-2010 Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
 *
 * The contents of this file are subject to the terms of either the GNU
 * General Public License Version 2 only ("GPL") or the Common Development
 * and Distribution License("CDDL") (collectively, the "License").  You
 * may not use this file except in compliance with the License.  You can
 * obtain a copy of the License at
 * https://glassfish.dev.java.net/public/CDDL+GPL_1_1.html
 * or packager/legal/LICENSE.txt.  See the License for the specific
 * language governing permissions and limitations under the License.
 *
 * When distributing the software, include this License Header Notice in each
 * file and include the License file at packager/legal/LICENSE.txt.
 *
 * GPL Classpath Exception:
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 * file that accompanied this code.
 *
 * Modifications:
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 * enclosed by brackets [] replaced by your own identifying information:
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 * elects to include this software in this distribution under the [CDDL or GPL
 * Version 2] license."  If you don't indicate a single choice of license, a
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 * either the CDDL, the GPL Version 2 or to extend the choice of license to
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 */

package javax.mail;

import java.io.Serializable;

/**
 * This abstract class models the addresses in a message.
 * Subclasses provide specific implementations.  Subclasses
 * will typically be serializable so that (for example) the
 * use of Address objects in search terms can be serialized
 * along with the search terms.
 *
 * @author John Mani
 * @author Bill Shannon
 */

public abstract class Address implements Serializable {

    private static final long serialVersionUID = -5822459626751992278L;

    /**
     * Return a type string that identifies this address type.
     *
     * @return	address type
     * @see	javax.mail.internet.InternetAddress
     */
    public abstract String getType();

    /**
     * Return a String representation of this address object.
     *
     * @return	string representation of this address
     */
    public abstract String toString();

    /**
     * The equality operator.  Subclasses should provide an
     * implementation of this method that supports value equality
     * (do the two Address objects represent the same destination?),
     * not object reference equality.  A subclass must also provide
     * a corresponding implementation of the hashCode
     * method that preserves the general contract of
     * equals and hashCode - objects that
     * compare as equal must have the same hashCode.
     *
     * @param	address	Address object
     */
    public abstract boolean equals(Object address);
}