/*
 *  JFLAP - Formal Languages and Automata Package
 * 
 * 
 *  Susan H. Rodger
 *  Computer Science Department
 *  Duke University
 *  August 27, 2009

 *  Copyright (c) 2002-2009
 *  All rights reserved.

 *  JFLAP is open source software. Please see the LICENSE for terms.
 *
 */





package file.xml;

import file.ParseException;
import java.io.Serializable;
import org.w3c.dom.Document;

/**
 * This is an interface for objects that serve as a go between from DOM to a
 * JFLAP object representing a structure (such as an automaton or grammar), and
 * back again.
 * 
 * @author Thomas Finley
 */

public interface Transducer {
	/**
	 * Given a document, this will return the corresponding JFLAP structure
	 * encoded in the DOM document.
	 * 
	 * @param document
	 *            the DOM document to decode
	 * @return a serializable object, as all JFLAP structures are encoded in
	 *         serializable objects
	 * @throws ParseException
	 *             in the event of an error that may lead to undesirable
	 *             functionality
	 */
	public Serializable fromDOM(Document document);

	/**
	 * Given a JFLAP structure, this will return the corresponding DOM encoding
	 * of the structure.
	 * 
	 * @param structure
	 *            the JFLAP structure to encode
	 * @return a DOM document instance
	 */
	public Document toDOM(Serializable structure);

	/**
	 * Returns the string encoding of the type this transducer decodes and
	 * encodes.
	 * 
	 * @return the type this transducer recognizes
	 */
	public String getType();

	/** The tag name for the root of a structure. */
	public static final String STRUCTURE_NAME = "structure";

	/** The tag name for the type of structure this is. */
	public static final String STRUCTURE_TYPE_NAME = "type";
}