org.simpleframework.xml.core.Converter Maven / Gradle / Ivy
/*
* Converter.java July 2006
*
* Copyright (C) 2006, Niall Gallagher
*
* 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.
*
* 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., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330,
* Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
*/
package org.simpleframework.xml.core;
import org.simpleframework.xml.stream.InputNode;
import org.simpleframework.xml.stream.OutputNode;
/**
* The Converter
object serializes and deserializes XML
* elements. Serialization of lists, primitives, and compound types
* are performed using a converter. Any object read from a converter
* will produce a fully deserialized object will all its fields.
* The objects written to an XML element populate that element with
* attributes an elements according to the objects annotations.
*
* @author Niall Gallagher
*/
interface Converter {
/**
* The read
method reads an object to a specific type
* from the provided node. If the node provided is an attribute
* then the object must be a primitive such as a string, integer,
* boolean, or any of the other Java primitive types.
*
* @param node contains the details used to deserialize the object
*
* @return a fully deserialized object will all its fields
*
* @throws Exception if a deserialized type cannot be instantiated
*/
public Object read(InputNode node) throws Exception;
/**
* The read
method reads an object to a specific type
* from the provided node. If the node provided is an attribute
* then the object must be a primitive such as a string, integer,
* boolean, or any of the other Java primitive types.
*
* @param node contains the details used to deserialize the object
* @param value this is an existing value to deserialize in to
*
* @return a fully deserialized object will all its fields
*
* @throws Exception if a deserialized type cannot be instantiated
*/
public Object read(InputNode node, Object value) throws Exception;
/**
* The validate
method is used to validate the class
* XML schema against an input source. This will traverse the class
* fields and methods ensuring that the input XML document contains
* a valid structure when compared against the class XML schema.
*
* @param node contains the details used to validate the object
*
* @return true if the document matches the class XML schema
*
* @throws Exception if the class XML schema does not fully match
*/
public boolean validate(InputNode node) throws Exception;
/**
* The write
method writes the fields from the given
* object to the XML element. After this has finished the element
* contains all attributes and sub-elements from the object.
*
* @param object this is the object to be written to the element
* @param node this is the element that is to be pobulated
*
* @throws Exception throw if the object cannot be serialized
*/
public void write(OutputNode node, Object object) throws Exception;
}