ByteBuffered.java

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package sun.nio;

import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
import java.io.IOException;

/** This is an interface to adapt existing APIs to use {@link java.nio.ByteBuffer
 *  <tt>ByteBuffers</tt>} as the underlying
 *  data format.  Only the initial producer and final consumer have to be changed.<p>
 *
 *  For example, the Zip/Jar code supports {@link java.io.InputStream <tt>InputStreams</tt>}.
 *  To make the Zip code use {@link java.nio.MappedByteBuffer <tt>MappedByteBuffers</tt>} as
 *  the underlying data structure, it can create a class of InputStream that wraps the ByteBuffer,
 *  and implements the ByteBuffered interface. A co-operating class several layers
 *  away can ask the InputStream if it is an instance of ByteBuffered, then
 *  call the {@link #getByteBuffer()} method.
 */
public interface ByteBuffered {

     /**
     * Returns the <tt>ByteBuffer</tt> behind this object, if this particular
     * instance has one. An implementation of <tt>getByteBuffer()</tt> is allowed
     * to return <tt>null</tt> for any reason.
     *
     * @return  The <tt>ByteBuffer</tt>, if this particular instance has one,
     *          or <tt>null</tt> otherwise.
     *
     * @throws  IOException
     *          If the ByteBuffer is no longer valid.
     *
     * @since  1.5
     */
    public ByteBuffer getByteBuffer() throws IOException;
}