toxgene.core.genes.Gene Maven / Gradle / Ivy

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/**
 * Defines an interface for data generators.
 *
 * @author Denilson Barbosa
 * @version 0.1
 */

package toxgene.core.genes;

import java.io.PrintStream;

public interface Gene{ 
  /**
   * Resets all the genes. Used for instance to reset the counters of
   * ToxNumber genes for sequentially incremented numbers.
   */
  public void reset();
  /** 
   * Method used to output values from the genes.
   */
  public void generate(PrintStream outputStream);

	/**
	 * returns the number of iterators in the gene. used to compute how
	 * many memory buffers will be available for the object manager in
	 * case it is needed.
	 */
	public int numIterators();

	/**
	 * frees up memory by releasing resources after the gene is no
	 * longer needed.
	 */
	public void destroy();
}