| 1 | /*
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| 2 | * GeoTools - The Open Source Java GIS Toolkit
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| 3 | * http://geotools.org
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| 4 | *
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| 5 | * (C) 2011, Open Source Geospatial Foundation (OSGeo)
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| 6 | * (C) 2003-2005, Open Geospatial Consortium Inc.
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| 7 | *
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| 8 | * All Rights Reserved. http://www.opengis.org/legal/
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| 9 | */
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| 10 | package org.opengis.util;
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| 11 |
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| 12 |
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| 13 | /**
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| 14 | * Indicates that it is legal to make a field-for-field copy of instances of implementing classes.
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| 15 | * A cloneable class implements the J2SE's {@link java.lang.Cloneable} standard interface and
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| 16 | * additionnaly overrides the {@link Object#clone()} method with public access.
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| 17 | * <p>
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| 18 | * Because the {@link Object#clone()} method has protected access, containers wanting to clone
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| 19 | * theirs elements need to 1) use Java reflection (which is less efficient than standard method
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| 20 | * calls), or 2) cast every elements to a specific type like {@link java.util.Date} (which may
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| 21 | * require a large amount of "{@code if (x instanceof y)}" checks if arbitrary classes are
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| 22 | * allowed). This {@code Cloneable} interface had a third alternative: checks only for this
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| 23 | * interface instead of a list of particular cases.
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| 24 | * <p>
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| 25 | * Implementors of cloneable classes may consider implementing this interface, but this is not
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| 26 | * mandatory. A large amount of independant classes like {@link java.util.Date} will continue to
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| 27 | * ignore this interface, so no rule can be enforced anyway. However this interface may help the
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| 28 | * work of containers in some case. For example a container may checks for this interface first,
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| 29 | * and uses Java reflection as a fallback.
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| 30 | *
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| 31 | * @author Martin Desruisseaux (IRD)
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| 32 | * @since GeoAPI 1.0
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| 33 | *
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| 34 | * @see java.lang.Cloneable
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| 35 | * @see <A HREF="http://developer.java.sun.com/developer/bugParade/bugs/4098033.html">"<cite>Cloneable
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| 36 | * doesn't define <code>clone()</code></cite>" on Sun's bug parade</A>
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| 37 | *
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| 38 | * @source $URL: http://svn.osgeo.org/geotools/branches/2.7.x/modules/library/opengis/src/main/java/org/opengis/util/Cloneable.java $
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| 39 | */
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| 40 | public interface Cloneable extends java.lang.Cloneable {
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| 41 | /**
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| 42 | * Creates and returns a copy of this object.
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| 43 | * The precise meaning of "copy" may depend on the class of the object.
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| 44 | *
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| 45 | * @return A copy of this object.
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| 46 | *
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| 47 | * @see Object#clone
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| 48 | */
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| 49 | Object clone();
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| 50 | }
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