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Java > Open Source Codes > prefuse > data > parser > DataParser


1 package prefuse.data.parser;
2
3
4 /**
5  * Interface for data parsers, which parse data values from text Strings
6  * and generated formatted text Strings for data values.
7  *
8  * @author <a HREF="http://jheer.org">jeffrey heer</a>
9  */
10 public interface DataParser {
11     
12     /**
13      * Get the data type for the values parsed by this parser.
14      * @return the parsed data type for this parser as a Java Class instance
15      */
16     public Class JavaDoc getType();
17     
18     
19     /**
20      * Get a String representation for the given value.
21      * @param value the object value to format
22      * @return a formatted String representing the input value
23      */
24     public String JavaDoc format(Object JavaDoc value);
25     
26     /**
27      * Indicates if the given text string can be successfully parsed by
28      * this parser.
29      * @param text the text string to check for parsability
30      * @return true if the string can be successfully parsed into this
31      * parser's data type, false otherwise
32      */
33     public boolean canParse(String JavaDoc text);
34     
35     /**
36      * Parse the given text string to a data value.
37      * @param text the text string to parse
38      * @return the parsed data value, which will be an instance of the
39      * Class returned by the {@link #getType()} method
40      * @throws DataParseException if an error occurs during parsing
41      */
42     public Object JavaDoc parse(String JavaDoc text) throws DataParseException;
43    
44 } // end of interface DataParser
45
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