/*
 * 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.responses;



import java.util.List;

import org.opends.sdk.ByteString;
import org.opends.sdk.DecodeException;
import org.opends.sdk.DecodeOptions;
import org.opends.sdk.controls.Control;
import org.opends.sdk.controls.ControlDecoder;



/**
 * An Intermediate response provides a general mechanism for defining
 * single-request/multiple-response operations. This response is intended to be
 * used in conjunction with the Extended operation to define new
 * single-request/multiple-response operations or in conjunction with a control
 * when extending existing operations in a way that requires them to return
 * Intermediate response information.
 * <p>
 * An Intermediate response may convey an optional response name and value.
 * These can be retrieved using the {@link #getOID} and {@link #getValue}
 * methods respectively.
 */
public interface IntermediateResponse extends Response
{
  /**
   * {@inheritDoc}
   */
  IntermediateResponse addControl(Control control)
      throws UnsupportedOperationException, NullPointerException;



  /**
   * {@inheritDoc}
   */
  <C extends Control> C getControl(ControlDecoder<C> decoder,
      DecodeOptions options) throws NullPointerException, DecodeException;



  /**
   * {@inheritDoc}
   */
  List<Control> getControls();



  /**
   * Returns the numeric OID, if any, associated with this intermediate
   * response.
   *
   * @return The numeric OID associated with this intermediate response, or
   *         {@code null} if there is no OID.
   */
  String getOID();



  /**
   * Returns the value, if any, associated with this intermediate response. Its
   * format is defined by the specification of this intermediate response.
   *
   * @return The value associated with this intermediate response, or {@code
   *         null} if there is no value.
   */
  ByteString getValue();



  /**
   * Returns {@code true} if this intermediate response has a value. In some
   * circumstances it may be useful to determine if an intermediate response has
   * a value, without actually calculating the value and incurring any
   * performance costs.
   *
   * @return {@code true} if this intermediate response has a value, or {@code
   *         false} if there is no value.
   */
  boolean hasValue();

}