org.springframework.ldap.odm.typeconversion.ConverterManager Maven / Gradle / Ivy

/*
 * Copyright 2005-2013 the original author or authors.
 *
 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
 *
 *      https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 *
 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 * limitations under the License.
 */

package org.springframework.ldap.odm.typeconversion;

/**
 * A simple interface to be implemented to provide type conversion functionality.
 *
 * @author Paul Harvey <paul.at.pauls-place.me.uk>
 */
public interface ConverterManager {

	/**
	 * Determine whether this converter manager is able to carry out a specified
	 * conversion.
	 * @param fromClass Convert from the fromClass.
	 * @param syntax Using the LDAP syntax (may be null).
	 * @param toClass To the toClass.
	 * @return True if the conversion is supported, false
	 * otherwise.
	 */
	boolean canConvert(Class fromClass, String syntax, Class toClass);

	/**
	 * Convert a given source object with an optional LDAP syntax to an instance of a
	 * given class.
	 * @param  The class to convert to.
	 * @param source The object to convert.
	 * @param syntax The LDAP syntax to use (may be null).
	 * @param toClass The class to convert to.
	 * @return The converted object.
	 * @throws ConverterException If the conversion can not be successfully completed.
	 */
	 T convert(Object source, String syntax, Class toClass);

}