/* This file is part of MAUS: http://micewww.pp.rl.ac.uk:8080/projects/maus
 *
 * MAUS 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 3 of the License, or
 * (at your option) any later version.
 *
 * MAUS 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 MAUS.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 *
 */

/*!
 * \file ConverterFactory.hh
 *
 * \author Alexander Richards, Imperial College London
 * \date 06/06/2012
 *
 * This class is responsible for managing the converters and retrieving
 * the correct converter for the INPUT/OUTPUT types in question. It can
 * be used to generically convert from one type to another without 
 * knowledge of the correct conversion object required for the specific
 * data types.
 *
 */
#ifndef _SRC_COMMON_CPP_CONVERTER_CONVERTERFACTORY_
#define _SRC_COMMON_CPP_CONVERTER_CONVERTERFACTORY_
#include <iostream>
#include "src/common_cpp/Converter/IConverter.hh"
#include "src/common_cpp/Converter/ConverterExceptions.hh"
#include "src/common_cpp/API/APIExceptions.hh"

namespace MAUS {

  /*!
   * \class ConverterFactory
   *
   * \brief Factory class for converter objects
   *
   * \author Alexander Richards, Imperial College London
   * \date 06/06/2012
   *
   * This class is responsible for managing the converters and retrieving
   * the correct converter for the INPUT/OUTPUT types in question. It can
   * be used to generically convert from one type to another without 
   * knowledge of the correct conversion object required for the specific
   * data types.
   */
  class ConverterFactory {
  public:
    template <typename INPUT, typename OUTPUT>
    IConverter<INPUT, OUTPUT>* getConverter() const throw(ConverterNotFoundException);

    template <typename INPUT, typename OUTPUT>
    OUTPUT* convert(INPUT* i) const throw(NullInputException, UnhandledException);
  };

} // end of namespace

#include "src/common_cpp/Converter/ConverterFactory-inl.hh"
#endif