/* Paint.java -- generate colors for Graphics2D operations
   Copyright (C) 2000, 2002 Free Software Foundation

This file is part of GNU Classpath.

GNU Classpath is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option)
any later version.

GNU Classpath is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with GNU Classpath; see the file COPYING.  If not, write to the
Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA
02111-1307 USA.

Linking this library statically or dynamically with other modules is
making a combined work based on this library.  Thus, the terms and
conditions of the GNU General Public License cover the whole
combination.

As a special exception, the copyright holders of this library give you
permission to link this library with independent modules to produce an
executable, regardless of the license terms of these independent
modules, and to copy and distribute the resulting executable under
terms of your choice, provided that you also meet, for each linked
independent module, the terms and conditions of the license of that
module.  An independent module is a module which is not derived from
or based on this library.  If you modify this library, you may extend
this exception to your version of the library, but you are not
obligated to do so.  If you do not wish to do so, delete this
exception statement from your version. */


package java.awt;

import java.awt.geom.AffineTransform;
import java.awt.geom.Rectangle2D;
import java.awt.image.ColorModel;

/**
 * Defines how color patterns are generated for Graphics2D operations. This
 * is used to perform the <code>draw</code> and <code>fill</code> methods
 * of the graphics object. Instances must be immutable, because the graphics
 * object does not clone them.
 *
 * @author Warren Levy <warrenl@cygnus.com>
 * @see PaintContext
 * @see Color
 * @see GradientPaint
 * @see TexturePaint
 * @see Graphics2D#setPaint(Paint)
 * @since 1.1
 * @status updated to 1.4
 */
public interface Paint extends Transparency
{
  /**
   * Create the context necessary for performing the color pattern generation.
   * The color model is a hint, and may be null for Classpath implementations;
   * however some legacy code may throw a NullPointerException when passed a
   * null. Leaving the color model null provides the most efficiency and leeway
   * in the generation of the color pattern.
   *
   * @param cm the color model, used as a hint
   * @param deviceBounds the device space bounding box of the painted area
   * @param userBounds the user space bounding box of the painted area
   * @param xform the transformation from user space to device space
   * @param hints any hints for choosing between rendering alternatives
   * @return the context for performing the paint
   */
  PaintContext createContext(ColorModel cm, Rectangle deviceBounds,
                             Rectangle2D userBounds, AffineTransform xform,
                             RenderingHints hints);
} // interface Paint