//--------------------------------------------------------------------------
//  Copyright (c) 1998-2004, Drew Davidson and Luke Blanshard
//  All rights reserved.
//
//  Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without
//  modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are
//  met:
//
//  Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice,
//  this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
//  Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright
//  notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the
//  documentation and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
//  Neither the name of the Drew Davidson nor the names of its contributors
//  may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this software
//  without specific prior written permission.
//
//  THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS
//  "AS IS" AND ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
//  LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS
//  FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
//  COPYRIGHT OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT,
//  INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING,
//  BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES; LOSS
//  OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED
//  AND ON ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY,
//  OR TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF
//  THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
//  DAMAGE.
//--------------------------------------------------------------------------
package com.opensymphony.xwork2.conversion;

import java.lang.reflect.Member;
import java.util.Map;

/**
 * Interface for accessing the type conversion facilities within a context.
 * 
 * This interface was copied from OGNL's TypeConverter
 * 
 * @author Luke Blanshard (blanshlu@netscape.net)
 * @author Drew Davidson (drew@ognl.org)
 */
public interface TypeConverter
{
    /**
       * Converts the given value to a given type.  The OGNL context, target, member and
       * name of property being set are given.  This method should be able to handle
       * conversion in general without any context, target, member or property name specified.
       * @param context context under which the conversion is being done
       * @param target target object in which the property is being set
       * @param member member (Constructor, Method or Field) being set
       * @param propertyName property name being set
       * @param value value to be converted
       * @param toType type to which value is converted
       * @return Converted value of type toType or TypeConverter.NoConversionPossible to indicate that the
                 conversion was not possible.
     */
    public Object convertValue(Map<String, Object> context, Object target, Member member, String propertyName, Object value, Class toType);
    
    public static final Object NO_CONVERSION_POSSIBLE = "ognl.NoConversionPossible";
    
    public static final String TYPE_CONVERTER_CONTEXT_KEY = "_typeConverter";
}