001/**
002 * Copyright (c) 2011, The University of Southampton and the individual contributors.
003 * All rights reserved.
004 *
005 * Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification,
006 * are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
007 *
008 *   *  Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice,
009 *      this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
010 *
011 *   *  Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice,
012 *      this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation
013 *      and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
014 *
015 *   *  Neither the name of the University of Southampton nor the names of its
016 *      contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this
017 *      software without specific prior written permission.
018 *
019 * THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND
020 * ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED
021 * WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE
022 * DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR
023 * ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES
024 * (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES;
025 * LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON
026 * ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
027 * (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS
028 * SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
029 */
030package org.openimaj.feature.local.list;
031
032import org.openimaj.feature.local.LocalFeature;
033import org.openimaj.io.Writeable;
034import org.openimaj.util.list.RandomisableList;
035
036/**
037 * An interface defining list of {@link LocalFeature}s.
038 * 
039 * @author Jonathon Hare (jsh2@ecs.soton.ac.uk)
040 * 
041 * @param <T>
042 */
043public interface LocalFeatureList<T extends LocalFeature<?, ?>> extends RandomisableList<T>, Writeable {
044        /** The header used when writing LocalFeatureLists to streams and files */
045        public static final byte[] BINARY_HEADER = "KPT".getBytes();
046
047        /**
048         * Get the feature-vector data of the list as a two-dimensional array of
049         * data. The number of rows will equal the number of features in the list,
050         * and the type &lt;Q&gt;must be compatible with the data type of the features
051         * themselves.
052         * 
053         * @param <Q>
054         *            the data type
055         * @param a
056         *            the array to fill
057         * @return the array, filled with the feature-vector data.
058         */
059        public <Q> Q[] asDataArray(Q[] a);
060
061        /**
062         * Get the length of the feature-vectors of each local feature if they are
063         * constant.
064         * 
065         * This value is used as instantiate new local features in the case that the
066         * local feature has a constructor that takes a single integer.
067         * 
068         * @return the feature-vector length
069         */
070        public int vecLength();
071
072        @Override
073        public LocalFeatureList<T> subList(int fromIndex, int toIndex);
074}