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/*
 * Stream.java February 2001
 *
 * Copyright (C) 2001, 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.util.buffer;

import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStream;

/**
 * The Stream interface is used to represent anything that
 * can be streamed. Typically this is used to represent a region of
 * memory that can be read through an InputStream object.
 * Representing an object as a stream ensures it can each time the 
 * input stream is acquired it reads from the start of the buffer.
 *
 * @author Niall Gallagher
 *
 * @see org.simpleframework.util.buffer.Buffer
 */ 
public interface Stream {

   /**
    * This method is used so that a buffer can be represented as a
    * stream of bytes. This provides a quick means to access the data
    * that has been written to the buffer. It wraps the buffer within
    * an input stream so that it can be read directly.
    *
    * @return a stream that can be used to read the buffered bytes
    */   
  public InputStream getInputStream() throws IOException;        
}