/*
 * Copyright 2010-2012 Luca Garulli (l.garulli--at--orientechnologies.com)
 *
 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
 *
 *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 *
 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 * limitations under the License.
 */
package com.orientechnologies.orient.core.serialization;

import java.io.Serializable;

import com.orientechnologies.orient.core.exception.OSerializationException;

/**
 * Base interface of serialization.
 * 
 * @author Luca Garulli (l.garulli--at--orientechnologies.com)
 * 
 */
public interface OSerializableStream extends Serializable {
	/**
	 * Marshalls the object. Transforms the current object in byte[] form to being stored or transferred over the network.
	 * 
	 * @return The byte array representation of the object
	 * @see #fromStream(byte[])
	 * @throws OSerializationException
	 *           if the marshalling does not succeed
	 */
	public byte[] toStream() throws OSerializationException;

	/**
	 * Unmarshalls the object. Fills the current object with the values contained in the byte array representation restoring a
	 * previous state. Usually byte[] comes from the storage or network.
	 * 
	 * @param iStream
	 *          byte array representation of the object
	 * @return The Object instance itself giving a "fluent interface". Useful to call multiple methods in chain.
	 * @throws OSerializationException
	 *           if the unmarshalling does not succeed
	 */
	public OSerializableStream fromStream(byte[] iStream) throws OSerializationException;
}
