content: /*
   *    This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
   *    it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
   *    the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
   *    (at your option) any later version.
   *
   *    This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
   *    but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
   *    MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
   *    GNU General Public License for more details.
   *
   *    You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
   *    along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
   *    Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
   */
  
  /*
   *    StartSetHandler.java
   *    Copyright (C) 1999 University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand
   *
   */
  
  
  package weka.attributeSelection;
  
  /** 
   * Interface for search methods capable of doing something sensible
   * given a starting set of attributes.
   *
   * @author Mark Hall (mhall@cs.waikato.ac.nz)
   * @version $Revision: 1.8 $
   */
  public interface StartSetHandler {
  
    /**
     * Sets a starting set of attributes for the search. It is the
     * search method's responsibility to report this start set (if any)
     * in its toString() method.
     * @param startSet a string containing a list of attributes (and or ranges),
     * eg. 1,2,6,10-15.
     * @exception Exception if start set can't be set.
     */
    void setStartSet (String startSet) throws Exception;
  
    /**
     * Returns a list of attributes (and or attribute ranges) as a String
     * @return a list of attributes (and or attribute ranges)
     */
    String getStartSet ();
  }
  