/*
    PCS - A Framework For Java Web Applications
    Copyright (C) 2002 Patrick Carl, patrick.carl@web.de

    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

 
    $Id: Factory.java,v 1.2 2003/01/08 02:32:22 pcs_org Exp $
 
 */
package de.spieleck.pcs.factory;

import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
import java.util.Properties;
import de.spieleck.pcs.conf.ConfigUser;
/**
 * This interface describes the methods of a Factory which is configurable via
 * a config file
 * @author  Patrick Carl
 */
public interface Factory extends ConfigUser {
    
    /**
     * factory method for creating objects. The class of the Objects is look upped 
     * in the configuration file.
     */
    public Object getNewObject(String key) throws FactoryException, 
    NoSuchKeyException;
    
    /** Getter for property configFile.
     * @return Value of property configFile.
     *
     */
    public String getConfigFile();
    
    /** Setter for property configFile.
     * @param configFile New value of property configFile.
     *
     */
    public void setConfigFile(String configFile) throws IllegalArgumentException,
     FileNotFoundException;
    
    /** Getter for property properties.
     * @return Value of property properties.
     *
     */
    public Properties getProperties();
    
    /** Setter for property properties.
     * @param properties New value of property properties.
     *
     */
    public void setProperties(Properties properties);
    
}