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1   /*
2    * Copyright 2005 The Apache Software Foundation.
3    * 
4    * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
5    * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
6    * You may obtain a copy of the License at
7    * 
8    *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
9    * 
10   * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
11   * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
12   * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
13   * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
14   * limitations under the License.
15   */ 
16  package org.apache.commons.betwixt.registry;
17  
18  import org.apache.commons.betwixt.io.read.ElementMapping;
19  import org.apache.commons.betwixt.io.read.ReadContext;
20  
21  /***
22   * <p>Resolves polymorphic references.
23   * </p><p>
24   * A polymorphic reference is an element whose name and type
25   * resolution are postponed till bind-time.
26   * When the xml is read, the type can then resolved from 
27   * by calling {@link #resolveType}.
28   * </p>
29   * @since 0.7
30   * @author <a href='http://jakarta.apache.org/'>Jakarta Commons Team</a>
31   */
32  public interface PolymorphicReferenceResolver {
33  
34      /***
35       * Resolves the bind-time type of a polymorphic element.
36       * @param mapping <code>ElementMapping</code> describing the (polymorphic) element being mapped,
37       * not null
38       * @param context <code>ReadContext</code>, not null
39       * @return the <code>Class</code> describing the type to which this element should be bound,
40       * or null if the reference cannot be resolved
41       */
42      public Class resolveType(ElementMapping mapping, ReadContext context);
43  }