/*
 * Copyright 2013 Red Hat, Inc.
 *
 * This file is part of Thermostat.
 *
 * Thermostat 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.
 *
 * Thermostat 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 Thermostat; see the file COPYING.  If not see
 * <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 *
 * Linking this code with other modules is making a combined work
 * based on this code.  Thus, the terms and conditions of the GNU
 * General Public License cover the whole combination.
 *
 * As a special exception, the copyright holders of this code give
 * you permission to link this code 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 code.  If you modify
 * this code, 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 com.redhat.thermostat.client.core;

import com.redhat.thermostat.annotations.ExtensionPoint;
import com.redhat.thermostat.client.core.controllers.InformationServiceController;
import com.redhat.thermostat.common.Ordered;
import com.redhat.thermostat.common.dao.Ref;


/**
 * Marker interface for information services.
 * <p>
 * An {@code InformationService} provides some sort of information about
 * something. Plug-ins should normally implement this as a entry point.
 * <p>
 * To provide an implementation of {@link InformationService}, register an
 * instance of this interface as an OSGi service with the property
 * {@link Constants#GENERIC_SERVICE_CLASSNAME} set to the name of the Class
 * that this {@link InformationService} provides information for.
 */
@ExtensionPoint
public interface InformationService<T extends Ref> extends Ordered {
    
    /**
     * Returns a {@link Filter} that is used to determine if this information
     * source can provide information for a given target.
     */
    public Filter<T> getFilter();

    /**
     * Returns the controller for this plugin's UI.
     */
    public InformationServiceController<T> getInformationServiceController(T ref);

}