/*
 * Copyright 2002-2008 the original author or authors.
 *
 * 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 org.springframework.config.java.valuesource;

import org.springframework.config.java.annotation.ExternalValue;


/**
 * Resolver of strongly typed externalized values.
 * 
 * @see ExternalValue
 *
 * @author Rod Johnson
 * @author Chris Beams
 */
public interface ValueResolver {

    /**
     * Resolves <var>name</var> against underlying value source, returning
     * type specified by <var>requiredType</var>.
     *
     * @param   name          name of the value to resolve
     * @param   requiredType  work around Java type erasure
     *
     * @throws  ValueResolutionException  if the value is not of the required format or the
     *                                    value associated with <var>name</var> is not found
     */
    <T> T resolve(String name, Class<?> requiredType) throws ValueResolutionException;

}
