/*
 * @(#)Stringable.java    1.0  18 February 2001
 *
 * Copyright 2004
 * College of Computer and Information Science
 * Northeastern University
 * Boston, MA  02115
 *
 * The Java Power Tools software may be used for educational
 * purposes as long as this copyright notice is retained intact
 * at the top of all source files.
 *
 * To discuss possible commercial use of this software, 
 * contact Richard Rasala at Northeastern University, 
 * College of Computer and Information Science,
 * 617-373-2462 or rasala@ccs.neu.edu.
 *
 * The Java Power Tools software has been designed and built
 * in collaboration with Viera Proulx and Jeff Raab.
 *
 * Should this software be modified, the words "Modified from 
 * Original" must be included as a comment below this notice.
 *
 * All publication rights are retained.  This software or its 
 * documentation may not be published in any media either
 * in whole or in part without explicit permission.
 *
 * This software was created with support from Northeastern 
 * University and from NSF grant DUE-9950829.
 */

package edu.neu.ccs;

import java.text.ParseException;
import java.beans.PropertyChangeEvent;

/**
 * <P>Interface to be implemented by data model objects 
 * whose state can be encapsulated as or decapsulated from 
 * a data <CODE>String</CODE>.
 *
 * This interface has intentional similarities to
 * the behavior delivered by the automatic serialization process 
 * provided in the Java platform,
 * but is intended for user input and output,
 * not for object persistence.<P>
 * 
 * @author  Jeff Raab
 * @version 2.2
 * @since   1.0
 */
public interface Stringable {

    /**
     * Sets the state of this object 
     * using information contained in the given <CODE>String</CODE>.
     *
     * @param data the <CODE>String</CODE> containing state information
     * @exception ParseException if the data is malformed
     * @see #toStringData()
     */
    public void fromStringData(String data) throws ParseException;

    /**
     * Returns a <CODE>String</CODE> encapsulation of this object 
     * that contains information needed 
     * to set the state of this object at a later time.
     *
     * @see #fromStringData(String)
     */
    public String toStringData();
}