/*
* Copyright 2002-2009 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.springframework.core.convert;
/**
* A service interface for type conversion. This is the entry point into the convert system.
* Call {@link #convert(Object, Class)} to perform a thread-safe type conversion using this system.
*
* @author Keith Donald
* @since 3.0
*/
public interface ConversionService {
/**
* Returns true if objects of sourceType can be converted to targetType.
* @param sourceType the source type to convert from (required)
* @param targetType the target type to convert to (required)
* @return true if a conversion can be performed, false if not
*/
boolean canConvert(Class<?> sourceType, Class<?> targetType);
/**
* Convert the source to targetType.
* @param source the source object to convert (may be null)
* @param targetType the target type to convert to (required)
* @return the converted object, an instance of targetType
* @throws ConversionException if an exception occurred
*/
<T> T convert(Object source, Class<T> targetType);
/**
* Returns true if objects of sourceType can be converted to the targetType.
* The TypeDescriptors provide additional context about the field locations where conversion would occur, often object property locations.
* This flavor of the canConvert operation exists mainly for use by a general purpose data mapping framework, and not for use by user code.
* @param sourceType context about the source type to convert from (required)
* @param targetType context about the target type to convert to (required)
* @return true if a conversion can be performed between the source and target types, false if not
*/
boolean canConvert(TypeDescriptor sourceType, TypeDescriptor targetType);
/**
* Convert the source to targetType.
* The TypeDescriptors provide additional context about the field locations where conversion will occur, often object property locations.
* This flavor of the convert operation exists mainly for use by a general purpose data mapping framework, and not for use by user code.
* @param source the source object to convert (may be null)
* @param sourceType context about the source type converting from (required)
* @param targetType context about the target type to convert to (required)
* @return the converted object, an instance of {@link TypeDescriptor#getObjectType() targetType}</code>
* @throws ConversionException if an exception occurred
*/
Object convert(Object source, TypeDescriptor sourceType, TypeDescriptor targetType);
}
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