/*
 *    GeoTools - The Open Source Java GIS Toolkit
 *    http://geotools.org
 * 
 *    (C) 2002-2008, Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo)
 *
 *    This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
 *    modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
 *    License as published by the Free Software Foundation;
 *    version 2.1 of the License.
 *
 *    This library 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
 *    Lesser General Public License for more details.
 */
package org.geotools.util;

import org.geotools.factory.Hints;
import org.geotools.factory.Hints.Key;


/**
 * Factory used to create instances of {@link Converter}.
 *
 * @author Justin Deoliveira, The Open Planning Project
 *
 * @since 2.4
 *
 *
 *
 * @source $URL: http://svn.osgeo.org/geotools/branches/2.7.x/modules/library/api/src/main/java/org/geotools/util/ConverterFactory.java $
 */
public interface ConverterFactory {
    
    /**
    * Hint which specifies if only safe conversions should be atttemped by 
    * converter implementations.
    */
    static final Key SAFE_CONVERSION = new Key(Boolean.class);
    
    /**
     * Creates a {@link Converter} instance for converting one type
     * of object to another.
     *
     * @param source The type to convert from.
     * @param target The type to convert to.
     * @param hints Hints used to be used while creating a converter.
     *
     * @return The converter, or <code>null</code> if one could not be found.
     */
    Converter createConverter(Class<?> source, Class<?> target, Hints hints);
}
