//==============================================================================
// DocumentFilter.java
//==============================================================================

package tribble.repository;

import java.lang.Exception;
import java.lang.String;


/*******************************************************************************
* Generic repository document search filter.
*
* <p>
* A <i>document repository</i> contains <i>document folders</i>, which in turn
* contains <i>documents</i>.  A <i>repository reader</i> can search for
* documents within a repository folder, based on some kind of searching
* criteria.  This criteria could be implemented as a simple text string, or it
* could be a more complex object type such as an expression tree.  The criteria
* could also be implemented as a <i>document search filter</i>, which is a
* subtype that implements this interface.
*
* <p>
* Subtypes implementing this interface may be passed as parameters to the
* {@link RepositoryReader#findDocuments RepositoryReader.findDocuments()}
* method.
*
* <p>
* Note: This requires Java 1.5 or later.
*
* <!-- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ -->
* <dl>
* <dt> <b>Source code:</b> </dt>
*  <dd>
*   <a href="../../../src/java/tribble/repository/DocumentFilter.java"
*    >http://david.tribble.com/src/java/tribble/repository/DocumentFilter.java</a>
*  </dd>
* <dt> <b>Documentation:</b> </dt>
*  <dd>
*   <a href="DocumentFilter.html"
*    >http://david.tribble.com/docs/tribble/repository/DocumentFilter.html</a>
*  </dd>
* </dl>
*
* <!-- ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ -->
* @version	API 3.0, $Revision: 1.2 $ $Date: 2012/03/17 23:00:39 $
* @since	2008-04-09
* @author	David R. Tribble (david&#64;tribble.com)<br/>
*	Copyright ©2008-2012 by David R. Tribble, all rights reserved.<br/>
*	Permission is granted to any person or entity except those designated
*	by the United States Department of State as a terrorist or terrorist
*	government or agency, to use and distribute this source code provided
*	that the original copyright notice remains present and unaltered.
*
* @see	RepositoryReader
* @see	Folder
* @see	Document
*/

public interface DocumentFilter<DocType extends Document>
{
    static final String		REV =
        "@(#)tribble/repository/DocumentFilter.java $Revision: 1.2 $ $Date: 2012/03/17 23:00:39 $\n";


// ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
// Methods

    /***************************************************************************
    * Accept or reject a document according to this search filter criteria.
    *
    * @param	doc
    * A document to compare against the searching criteria.
    *
    * @return
    * True if the document matches the filter criteria, otherwise false.
    *
    * @since	API 2.0, 2008-04-09
    */
    public abstract boolean accept(DocType doc);
}

// End DocumentFilter.java