/*********************************************************************/
/*                                                                   */
/*                     AgentService Framework                        */
/*                       www.agentservice.it                         */
/*                                                                   */
/* Copyright (C) 2007 l.i.d.o. - DIST, University of Genoa, Italy    */
/* GNU Lesser General Public License                                 */
/*                                                                   */
/* This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or     */
/* modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public        */
/* License as published by the Free Software Foundation,             */
/* version 2.1 of the License.                                       */
/*                                                                   */
/* This library 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 */
/* Lesser General Public License for more details.                   */
/*                                                                   */
/* You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public  */
/* License along with this library; if not, write to the             */
/* Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place - Suite 330,      */
/* Boston, MA  02111-1307, USA.                                      */
/*                                                                   */
/*********************************************************************/

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text;

namespace AgentService.Platform.Configuration
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Class ManagerFactory. This class exposes methods to
    /// create a family of related managers object (namely
    /// ConfigurationManager and InstallationManager derived
    /// classes). Implementor classes have to provide a family
    /// of related objects which are connected by the file
    /// format used for configuration and installation files.
    /// </summary>
    /// <remarks>This class is bsed on the Factory pattern.</remarks>
    public abstract class ManagerFactory
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// Gets the file format for this
        /// ManagerFactory.
        /// </summary>
        public abstract string Format
        {
            get;
        }
        /// <summary>
        /// Creates a ConfigurationManager object. ConfigurationManager
        /// objects are used to read and write files configuration files.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="configFile">configuration file</param>
        /// <returns>ConfigurationManager derived instance</returns>
        public abstract ConfigurationManager CreateConfigurationManager(string configFile);
        /// <summary>
        /// Creates a InstallationManager object. InstallationManager
        /// objects are used to read and write installation files.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="installFile">installation file</param>
        /// <returns>InmstallationManager derived instance</returns>
        public abstract InstallManager CreateInstallManager(string installFile);
    }
}