package gnu.dtools.ritopt;

/**
 * Implementors are capable of registering options and storing them in a
 * repository. A parent object may pass its child a reference to an
 * OptionRegistrar to preserve abstraction and restrict access to
 * registration. This may be preferred so that children may only
 * register their options without performing any administrating the
 * repository.
 * <p>
 *
 * The Options and OptionModule classes implement this interface. It is not
 * necessary to refer to instances as an OptionRegistrar.<p>
 *
 * <hr>
 *
 * <pre>
 * Copyright (C) Damian Ryan Eads, 2001. All Rights Reserved.
 *
 * ritopt 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 of the License, or
 * (at your option) any later version.

 * ritopt 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 ritopt; if not, write to the Free Software
 * Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307  USA
 * </pre>
 *
 * @author Damian Eads
 */

public interface OptionRegistrar {

    /**
     * Register an option into the repository as a long option.
     *
     * @param longName   The long option name.
     * @param option     The option to register.
     */

    public void register( String longName, Option option );

    /**
     * Register an option into the repository as a short option.
     *
     * @param shortName  The short option name.
     * @param option     The option to register.
     */

    public void register( char shortName, Option option );


    /**
     * Register an option into the repository both as a short and long option.
     *
     * @param longOption  The long option name.
     * @param shortOption The short option name.
     * @param option      The option to register.
     */

    public void register( String longOption, char shortOption,
			  Option option );

    /**
     * Register an option into the repository both as a short and long option.
     * Initialize its description with the description passed.
     *
     * @param longOption  The long option name.
     * @param shortOption The short option name.
     * @param description The description of the option.
     * @param option      The option to register.
     */

    public void register( String longOption, char shortOption,
			  String description, Option option );

    /**
     * Register an option into the repository both as a short and long option.
     * Initialize its description with the description passed.
     *
     * @param longOption  The long option name.
     * @param shortOption The short option name.
     * @param description The description of the option.
     * @param option      The option to register.
     * @param deprecated  A boolean indicating whether an option should
     *                    be deprecated.
     */

    public void register( String longOption, char shortOption,
			  String description, Option option,
			  boolean deprecated );
}