/*
    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: XmlProducer.java,v 1.1.1.1 2002/12/27 23:49:49 pcs_org Exp $
 
 */

package de.spieleck.pcs.xml;

/**
 * This interface provides methods for creating XML out of Objects
 * @author Patrick Carl
 */
public interface XmlProducer {


    /**
     * converts the given Object to an Xml String. The returned Xml contains
     * a version header
     * @param o Object to convert 
     */
    public String toXmlString(Object o)
        throws XmlProducingException;

    /**
     * converts the given Object to an Xml String. The returned Xml contains
     * a version header if versionInfo is true
     * @param o Object to convert 
     * @param versionInfo indicates whether the returned Xml should contain a 
     * version header or not
     */
    
    public String toXmlString(Object o, boolean versionInfo)
        throws XmlProducingException;

    /**
     * converts the given Objects to an Xml String. The returned Xml contains
     * a version header
     * @param o Objects to convert 
     */
    
    public String toXmlString(Object[] o)
        throws XmlProducingException;

    
    /**
     * converts the given Objects to an Xml String. The returned Xml contains
     * a version header if versionInfo is true
     * @param o Objects to convert 
     * @param versionInfo indicates whether the returned Xml should contain a 
     * version header or not
     */
    
    public String toXmlString(Object[] o, boolean versionInfo)
        throws XmlProducingException;
    
    /**
     * returns the version of the created Xml as a String
     */
    public String getVersion();
    
    /**
     * sets the version of the created Xml
     */
    public void setVersion(String version);
        
        
}