/*
* Copyright (c) 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011
* Jonathan Schleifer <js@webkeks.org>
*
* All rights reserved.
*
* This file is part of ObjFW. It may be distributed under the terms of the
* Q Public License 1.0, which can be found in the file LICENSE.QPL included in
* the packaging of this file.
*
* Alternatively, it may be distributed under the terms of the GNU General
* Public License, either version 2 or 3, which can be found in the file
* LICENSE.GPLv2 or LICENSE.GPLv3 respectively included in the packaging of this
* file.
*/
#import "OFObject.h"
@class OFString;
@class OFXMLElement;
#define OF_SERIALIZATION_NS @"https://webkeks.org/objfw/serialization"
/**
* \brief A protocol for serializing objects.
*/
@protocol OFSerialization <OFObject>
/**
* \brief Initializes the object with the specified XML element serialization.
*
* \param element An OFXMLElement with the serialized object
* \return An initialized object
*/
- initWithSerialization: (OFXMLElement*)element;
/**
* \brief Serializes the object into an XML element.
*
* \return The object serialized into an XML element
*/
- (OFXMLElement*)XMLElementBySerializing;
@end
/**
* \brief A class that provides class methods for serializing and deserializing
* objects.
*/
@interface OFSerialization: OFObject
/**
* \brief Creates a string by serializing the specified object.
*
* \param object The object to serialize
* \return The object serialized as a string
*/
+ (OFString*)stringBySerializingObject: (id <OFSerialization>)object;
/**
* \brief Deserializes the specified string into an object.
*
* \param string The string describing the serialized object
* \return The deserialized object
*/
+ (id)objectByDeserializingString: (OFString*)string;
/**
* \brief Deserializes the specified XML element into an object.
*
* \param string The XML element describing the serialized object
* \return The deserialized object
*/
+ (id)objectByDeserializingXMLElement: (OFXMLElement*)element;
@end