/*
 * Copyright 2005-2011 the original author or authors.
 * 
 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
 * 
 *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 * 
 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 * limitations under the License.
 */
package org.wamblee.xmlrouter.impl;

import java.util.Collection;

import org.wamblee.xmlrouter.common.Id;
import org.wamblee.xmlrouter.config.Identifiable;

/**
 * Interface for managing a set of configuration items of a given type with
 * unique ids.
 * 
 * @author Erik Brakkee
 * 
 * @param <T>
 *            Type for which ids are generated.
 */
public interface Config<T extends Identifiable> {

    /**
     * @return Prefix to use for ids of contained identifiable objects.
     */
    String getPrefix();

    /**
     * @return The type of contained object.
     */
    Class<T> getType();

    /**
     * Adds an item. No item with the same id may exist.
     * 
     * @param aT
     *            item
     * @throws ConfigException
     *             In case an object with the same id already exists.
     */
    void add(T aT);

    /**
     * Removes the item with a given id.
     * 
     * @param aId
     *            Item id.
     * @return true iff the item was removed.
     */
    boolean remove(Id<T> aId);

    /**
     * @return All available items.
     */
    Collection<T> values();
}