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.citation.annotation.output;
031
032import java.util.Collection;
033
034import org.openimaj.citation.annotation.Reference;
035import org.openimaj.citation.annotation.References;
036
037/**
038 * The {@link ReferenceFormatter} defines an interface for objects capable of
039 * converting {@link Reference} and {@link References} objects into
040 * {@link String}s.
041 *
042 * @see StandardFormatters for standard implementations
043 *
044 * @author Jonathon Hare (jsh2@ecs.soton.ac.uk)
045 */
046public interface ReferenceFormatter {
047        /**
048         * Format a single reference
049         * 
050         * @param ref
051         *            the {@link Reference} to format
052         * @return formatted {@link Reference}
053         */
054        public String format(Reference ref);
055
056        /**
057         * Format a multiples references
058         * 
059         * @param refs
060         *            the {@link References} to format
061         * @return formatted {@link References}
062         */
063        public String format(Collection<Reference> refs);
064}