/*
 This file is part of the software framework JStatCom, 
 a library for building applications for data based analysis.

 Copyright (C) 2000-2005  Markus Kraetzig

 This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as
 published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2.1 of the
 License, or (at your option) any later version.

 This library 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
 Lesser General Public License for more details.

 You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
 License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
 Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307
 USA
 */

package com.jstatcom.project;

/**
 * Interface to be implemented by classes that should save and restore their
 * state from an instance of ProjectState. This interface is
 * typically implemented by ModelFrame subclasses that are the
 * top-level components for modules.
 * 
 * @author Markus Kraetzig 
 */
public interface ProjectStateHandler {

    /**
     * Sets the state of the implementing class according to the
     * state argument.
     * 
     * @param state
     *            project state instance holding all relevant information
     */
    public void setState(ProjectState state);

    /**
     * Gets the current state of the implementing class.
     * 
     * @return project state
     */
    public ProjectState getState();
    
    /**
     * Gets the ID of this handler for this project state. This is
     * required by the ProjectManager to retrieve the handler
     * instance from a deserialized ProjectState.
     * 
     * @return fully identified class name of corresponding handler
     */
    public String getID();
}