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.io;
031
032import java.io.IOException;
033
034/**
035 * Interface for classes capable of reading objects.
036 * 
037 * @author Jonathon Hare (jsh2@ecs.soton.ac.uk)
038 * 
039 * @param <T>
040 *            Type of object being read.
041 * @param <SOURCE>
042 *            The type of the source of data for the object being read
043 */
044public interface ObjectReader<T, SOURCE> {
045        /**
046         * Read an object from the source
047         * 
048         * @param source
049         *            the source
050         * @return the object
051         * @throws IOException
052         *             if an error occurs
053         */
054        public T read(SOURCE source) throws IOException;
055
056        /**
057         * Returns true if the stream can be read, or false otherwise.
058         * <p>
059         * This method is not normally called directly; rather,
060         * {@link IOUtils#canRead(ObjectReader, Object, String)} should be used
061         * instead.
062         * 
063         * @see IOUtils#canRead(ObjectReader, Object, String)
064         * 
065         * @param source
066         *            the data source
067         * @param name
068         *            the name of the file behind the stream (can be null).
069         * @return true if this {@link ObjectReader} can read the stream; false
070         *         otherwise.
071         */
072        public boolean canRead(SOURCE source, String name);
073}