/*
 * CDDL HEADER START
 *
 * The contents of this file are subject to the terms of the
 * Common Development and Distribution License, Version 1.0 only
 * (the "License").  You may not use this file except in compliance
 * with the License.
 *
 * You can obtain a copy of the license at
 * trunk/opends/resource/legal-notices/OpenDS.LICENSE
 * or https://OpenDS.dev.java.net/OpenDS.LICENSE.
 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions
 * and limitations under the License.
 *
 * When distributing Covered Code, include this CDDL HEADER in each
 * file and include the License file at
 * trunk/opends/resource/legal-notices/OpenDS.LICENSE.  If applicable,
 * add the following below this CDDL HEADER, with the fields enclosed
 * by brackets "[]" replaced with your own identifying information:
 *      Portions Copyright [yyyy] [name of copyright owner]
 *
 * CDDL HEADER END
 *
 *
 *      Copyright 2009 Sun Microsystems, Inc.
 */
package org.opends.sdk.schema;



import java.util.Comparator;
import java.util.List;

import org.opends.sdk.Assertion;
import org.opends.sdk.ByteSequence;
import org.opends.sdk.ByteString;
import org.opends.sdk.DecodeException;



/**
 * This interface defines the set of methods that must be implemented to
 * define a new matching rule.
 */
public interface MatchingRuleImpl
{
  /**
   * Get a comparator that can be used to compare the attribute values
   * normalized by this matching rule.
   * 
   * @param schema
   *          The schema in which this matching rule is defined.
   * @return A comparator that can be used to compare the attribute
   *         values normalized by this matching rule.
   */
  public Comparator<ByteSequence> comparator(Schema schema);



  /**
   * Retrieves the normalized form of the provided assertion value,
   * which is best suite for efficiently performing matching operations
   * on that value. The assertion value is guarenteed to be valid
   * against this matching rule's assertion syntax.
   * 
   * @param schema
   *          The schema in which this matching rule is defined.
   * @param value
   *          The syntax checked assertion value to be normalized.
   * @return The normalized version of the provided assertion value.
   * @throws DecodeException
   *           if an syntax error occured while parsing the value.
   */
  public Assertion getAssertion(Schema schema, ByteSequence value)
      throws DecodeException;



  /**
   * Retrieves the normalized form of the provided assertion substring
   * values, which is best suite for efficiently performing matching
   * operations on that value.
   * 
   * @param schema
   *          The schema in which this matching rule is defined.
   * @param subInitial
   *          The normalized substring value fragment that should appear
   *          at the beginning of the target value.
   * @param subAnyElements
   *          The normalized substring value fragments that should
   *          appear in the middle of the target value.
   * @param subFinal
   *          The normalized substring value fragment that should appear
   *          at the end of the target value.
   * @return The normalized version of the provided assertion value.
   * @throws DecodeException
   *           if an syntax error occured while parsing the value.
   */
  public Assertion getAssertion(Schema schema, ByteSequence subInitial,
      List<? extends ByteSequence> subAnyElements, ByteSequence subFinal)
      throws DecodeException;



  /**
   * Retrieves the normalized form of the provided assertion value,
   * which is best suite for efficiently performing greater than or
   * equal matching operations on that value. The assertion value is
   * guarenteed to be valid against this matching rule's assertion
   * syntax.
   * 
   * @param schema
   *          The schema in which this matching rule is defined.
   * @param value
   *          The syntax checked assertion value to be normalized.
   * @return The normalized version of the provided assertion value.
   * @throws DecodeException
   *           if an syntax error occured while parsing the value.
   */
  public Assertion getGreaterOrEqualAssertion(Schema schema,
      ByteSequence value) throws DecodeException;



  /**
   * Retrieves the normalized form of the provided assertion value,
   * which is best suite for efficiently performing greater than or
   * equal matching operations on that value. The assertion value is
   * guarenteed to be valid against this matching rule's assertion
   * syntax.
   * 
   * @param schema
   *          The schema in which this matching rule is defined.
   * @param value
   *          The syntax checked assertion value to be normalized.
   * @return The normalized version of the provided assertion value.
   * @throws DecodeException
   *           if an syntax error occured while parsing the value.
   */
  public Assertion getLessOrEqualAssertion(Schema schema,
      ByteSequence value) throws DecodeException;



  /**
   * Retrieves the normalized form of the provided attribute value,
   * which is best suite for efficiently performing matching operations
   * on that value.
   * 
   * @param schema
   *          The schema in which this matching rule is defined.
   * @param value
   *          The attribute value to be normalized.
   * @return The normalized version of the provided attribute value.
   * @throws DecodeException
   *           if an syntax error occured while parsing the value.
   */
  public ByteString normalizeAttributeValue(Schema schema,
      ByteSequence value) throws DecodeException;
}