/*
 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;


/**
 * Represents runtime information that should be stored permanently between two
 * program runs. All settings elements are added to an instance of
 * Settings by the SettingsManager when the
 * program is quit. They are stored as part of an XML file in the users home
 * directory. At program startup all settings elements are retrieved from that
 * file and the setElement method of each object is called. This
 * method should implement how the information stored in the
 * SettingsElement is used.
 * 
 * @author Markus Kraetzig 
 */
public interface SettingsElement {

    /**
     * Implementations of this method should use the information stored in this
     * SettingsElement to set the state of components at runtime.
     * For example, one implementation of this interface, the
     * ProjectTreeNode, adds itself to the
     * ProjectTree when this method is called. Before that, it
     * has been restored from its serialization in an XML file.
     *  
     */
    public void setElement();
}