content: /*
   * Converter.java July 2006
   *
   * Copyright (C) 2006, Niall Gallagher <niallg@users.sf.net>
   *
   * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
   * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
   * You may obtain a copy of the License at
   *
   *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
   *
   * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
   * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
   * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or 
   * implied. See the License for the specific language governing 
   * permissions and limitations under the License.
   */
  
  package com.aliyun.odps.simpleframework.xml.core;
  
  import com.aliyun.odps.simpleframework.xml.stream.InputNode;
  import com.aliyun.odps.simpleframework.xml.stream.OutputNode;
  
  /**
   * The <code>Converter</code> object serializes and deserializes XML
   * elements. Serialization of lists, primitives, and compound types 
   * are performed using a converter. Any object read from a converter
   * will produce a fully deserialized object will all its fields. 
   * The objects written to an XML element populate that element with 
   * attributes an elements according to the objects annotations.
   * 
   * @author Niall Gallagher
   */
  interface Converter {
  
     /**
      * The <code>read</code> method reads an object to a specific type
      * from the provided node. If the node provided is an attribute
      * then the object must be a primitive such as a string, integer,
      * boolean, or any of the other Java primitive types.  
      * 
      * @param node contains the details used to deserialize the object
      * 
      * @return a fully deserialized object will all its fields 
      * 
      * @throws Exception if a deserialized type cannot be instantiated
      */
     Object read(InputNode node) throws Exception;
     
     /**
      * The <code>read</code> method reads an object to a specific type
      * from the provided node. If the node provided is an attribute
      * then the object must be a primitive such as a string, integer,
      * boolean, or any of the other Java primitive types.  
      * 
      * @param node contains the details used to deserialize the object
      * @param value this is an existing value to deserialize in to
      * 
      * @return a fully deserialized object will all its fields 
      * 
      * @throws Exception if a deserialized type cannot be instantiated
      */
     Object read(InputNode node, Object value) throws Exception; 
     
     /**
      * The <code>validate</code> method is used to validate the class
      * XML schema against an input source. This will traverse the class
      * fields and methods ensuring that the input XML document contains
      * a valid structure when compared against the class XML schema.
      * 
      * @param node contains the details used to validate the object
      * 
      * @return true if the document matches the class XML schema 
      * 
      * @throws Exception if the class XML schema does not fully match
      */
     boolean validate(InputNode node) throws Exception;
     
     /**
      * The <code>write</code> method writes the fields from the given 
      * object to the XML element. After this has finished the element
      * contains all attributes and sub-elements from the object.
      * 
      * @param object this is the object to be written to the element
      * @param node this is the element that is to be populated
      * 
      * @throws Exception throw if the object cannot be serialized
      */
     void write(OutputNode node, Object object) throws Exception;
  }
  