/* EventConsumer.java -- 
   Copyright (C) 1999,2000,2001 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

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
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package gnu.xml.pipeline;

import org.xml.sax.*;


/**
 * Collects the event consumption apparatus of a SAX pipeline stage.
 * Consumers which permit some handlers or other characteristics to be
 * configured will provide methods to support that configuration.
 *
 * <p> Two important categories of consumers include <em>filters</em>, which
 * process events and pass them on to other consumers, and <em>terminus</em>
 * (or <em>terminal</em>) stages, which don't pass events on.  Filters are not
 * necessarily derived from the {@link EventFilter} class, although that
 * class can substantially simplify their construction by automating the
 * most common activities.
 *
 * <p> Event consumers which follow certain conventions for the signatures
 * of their constructors can be automatically assembled into pipelines
 * by the {@link PipelineFactory} class.
 *
 * @author David Brownell
 */
public interface EventConsumer
{
    /** Most stages process these core SAX callbacks. */
    public ContentHandler getContentHandler ();

    /** Few stages will use unparsed entities. */
    public DTDHandler getDTDHandler ();

    /**
     * This method works like the SAX2 XMLReader method of the same name,
     * and is used to retrieve the optional lexical and declaration handlers
     * in a pipeline.
     *
     * @param id This is a URI identifying the type of property desired.
     * @return The value of that property, if it is defined.
     *
     * @exception SAXNotRecognizedException Thrown if the particular
     *	pipeline stage does not understand the specified identifier.
     */
    public Object getProperty (String id)
    throws SAXNotRecognizedException;

    /**
     * This method provides a filter stage with a handler that abstracts
     * presentation of warnings and both recoverable and fatal errors.
     * Most pipeline stages should share a single policy and mechanism
     * for such reports, since application components require consistency
     * in such activities.  Accordingly, typical responses to this method
     * invocation involve saving the handler for use; filters will pass
     * it on to any other consumers they use.
     *
     * @param handler encapsulates error handling policy for this stage
     */
    public void setErrorHandler (ErrorHandler handler);
}