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.experiment;
031
032
033/**
034 * Interface for classes implementing experiments that can be
035 * run with the {@link ExperimentRunner}. Implementors must write
036 * three methods corresponding to the lifecycle of an experiment:
037 * setting up the experiment, performing the experiment and concluding
038 * the experiment (i.e. writing the results, etc).
039 * 
040 * @author Jonathon Hare (jsh2@ecs.soton.ac.uk)
041 */
042public interface RunnableExperiment {
043        /**
044         * Setup of the experiment
045         */
046        public void setup();
047        
048        /**
049         * Perform the experiment 
050         */
051        public void perform();
052        
053        /**
054         * Finalise the experiment, possibly writing the results, cleaning up, etc.
055         * The context gathered by the {@link ExperimentRunner} is provided so that
056         * {@link RunnableExperiment} implementations can access information for
057         * generating their reports. 
058         * <p>
059         * Note that at the point the context is provided,
060         * it is not "locked" and is still recording. The {@link ExperimentRunner}
061         * returns a completed locked context after the experiment has been completely
062         * run. 
063         * 
064         * @param context the context provided by the {@link ExperimentRunner}
065         */
066        public void finish(ExperimentContext context);
067}