001/* Copyright (C) 2013 TU Dortmund
002 * This file is part of AutomataLib, http://www.automatalib.net/.
003 * 
004 * AutomataLib is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
005 * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
006 * License version 3.0 as published by the Free Software Foundation.
007 * 
008 * AutomataLib is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
009 * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
010 * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
011 * Lesser General Public License for more details.
012 * 
013 * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
014 * License along with AutomataLib; if not, see
015 * http://www.gnu.de/documents/lgpl.en.html.
016 */
017package net.automatalib.commons.util.array;
018
019import java.util.Collection;
020
021/**
022 * Unified interface for (collection) classes that allow writing their contents to an array.
023 * The intended behavior differs from the standard Java {@link Collection#toArray(Object[])} method
024 * in the following way:
025 *  - 
026 * 
027 * @author Malte Isberner <malte.isberner@gmail.com>
028 *
029 * @param <T> type class. This is a marker parameter that is not reflected in the signatures,
030 * but respected by the methods in {@link AWUtil}.
031 */
032public interface ArrayWritable<T> {
033        /**
034         * Writes the contents of this container to an array. The behavior of calling this method
035         * should be equivalent to
036         * <code>System.arraycopy(this.toArray(), offset, array, tgtOfs, num);</code>
037         * 
038         * @param offset how many elements of <i>this</i> container to skip.
039         * @param array the array in which to store the elements.
040         * @param tgtOfs the starting offset in the target array.
041         * @param num the maximum number of elements to copy.
042         */
043        public void writeToArray(int offset, Object[] array, int tgtOfs, int num);
044        
045        
046        /**
047         * The size of this container.
048         */
049        public int size();
050}