org.apache.directory.api.asn1

Interface Decoder

public interface Decoder

Provides the highest level of abstraction for Decoders. This is the sister interface of Encoder. All Decoders implement this common generic interface.

Allows a user to pass a generic Object to any Decoder implementation in the codec package.

One of the two interfaces at the center of the codec package.

Author:

Apache Directory Project

Method Summary

Modifier and Type	Method and Description
Object	decode(Object object) Decodes an "encoded" Object and returns a "decoded" Object.

Method Detail

decode

Object decode(Object object)
       throws DecoderException

Decodes an "encoded" Object and returns a "decoded" Object. Note that the implementation of this interface will try to cast the Object parameter to the specific type expected by a particular Decoder implementation. If a ClassCastException occurs this decode method will throw a DecoderException.

Parameters:

object - an object to "decode"

Returns:

a 'decoded" object

Throws:

DecoderException - a decoder exception can be thrown for any number of reasons. Some good candidates are that the parameter passed to this method is null, a param cannot be cast to the appropriate type for a specific encoder.