package util.interfaces;
import util.ResourceSupport;

/*
 * Copyright 2012 the original author or authors.
 *
 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
 *
 *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 *
 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 * limitations under the License.
 */


/**
 * Interface for components that convert a domain type into an {@link ResourceSupport}.
 * 
 * @author Oliver Gierke
 */
public interface ResourceAssembler<T, D extends ResourceSupport<?>> {

	/**
	 * Converts the given entity into an {@link ResourceSupport}.
	 * 
	 * @param entity
	 * @return
	 */
	D toResource(T entity);
	
	String toResourceString(T entity) throws Exception;
	
	/**
	 * Converts all given entities into resources.
	 * 
	 * @see #toResource(Object)
	 * @param entities
	 *            must not be {@literal null}.
	 * @return
	 */
	String toResourcesString(Iterable<T> entities);
	
	T toModel(T entity, String collection) throws Exception;
}
