// AID-GENERATED
// =========================================================================
// This class was generated by AID - Abstract Interface Definition          
// DO NOT MODIFY, but use the org.freehep.aid.Aid utility to regenerate it. 
// =========================================================================

//  This file is part of the AIDA library
//  Copyright (C) 2004 by the AIDA team.  All rights reserved.
//  This library is free software and under the terms of the
//  GNU Library General Public License described in the LGPL.txt 
package hep.aida;


/**
 *  Basic user-level interface to send generic graphic data to 
 * a plotter. It coworks with IPlottableRegion::plot(IPlottable).
 *  The IPlottable is a generic entry point to send graphical 
 * data to a plotter. The "type()" is intended for the plotting region
 * to query the technology that is used in a received IPlottable.
 *  For example, someone can send an Inventor, java3D or HepREP scene graph 
 * to a plotting region. The plotting region, according to the concrete
 * implementation of its graphic system, can accept or not the request. 
 *  According the technology, the IPlottingRegion cast to a concrete
 * Plottable object. It is the responsability of the concrete implementations
 * (of a IPlottable and a IPlottingRegion) to establish a concrete protocol
 * for passing graphical data.
 *  Note that someone can use the IGenericFactory system to create
 * concrete IPlottables.
 * 
 * @author The AIDA team (http://aida.freehep.org/)
 *
 */

public interface IPlottable {

   /** The type of the plottable.
    * @return The type.
    */
    public String type();
} // class or interface