/*

 * Copyright 1997-2008 Sun Microsystems, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.

 * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.

 *

 * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it

 * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as

 * published by the Free Software Foundation.  Sun designates this

 * particular file as subject to the "Classpath" exception as provided

 * by Sun in the LICENSE file that accompanied this code.

 *

 * This code 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 General Public License

 * version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that

 * accompanied this code).

 *

 * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License version

 * 2 along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,

 * Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.

 *

 * Please contact Sun Microsystems, Inc., 4150 Network Circle, Santa Clara,

 * CA 95054 USA or visit www.sun.com if you need additional information or

 * have any questions.

 */

package java.awt;

import java.awt.image.ColorModel;

import java.awt.geom.AffineTransform;

import java.awt.geom.Rectangle2D;

/**

 * This <code>Paint</code> interface defines how color patterns

 * can be generated for {@link Graphics2D} operations.  A class

 * implementing the <code>Paint</code> interface is added to the

 * <code>Graphics2D</code> context in order to define the color

 * pattern used by the <code>draw</code> and <code>fill</code> methods.

 * <p>

 * Instances of classes implementing <code>Paint</code> must be

 * read-only because the <code>Graphics2D</code> does not clone

 * these objects when they are set as an attribute with the

 * <code>setPaint</code> method or when the <code>Graphics2D</code>

 * object is itself cloned.

 * @see PaintContext

 * @see Color

 * @see GradientPaint

 * @see TexturePaint

 * @see Graphics2D#setPaint

 * @version 1.36, 06/05/07

 */

public interface Paint extends Transparency {

    /**

     * Creates and returns a {@link PaintContext} used to

     * generate the color pattern.

     * The arguments to this method convey additional information

     * about the rendering operation that may be

     * used or ignored on various implementations of the {@code Paint} interface.

     * A caller must pass non-{@code null} values for all of the arguments

     * except for the {@code ColorModel} argument which may be {@code null} to

     * indicate that no specific {@code ColorModel} type is preferred.

     * Implementations of the {@code Paint} interface are allowed to use or ignore

     * any of the arguments as makes sense for their function, and are

     * not constrained to use the specified {@code ColorModel} for the returned

     * {@code PaintContext}, even if it is not {@code null}.

     * Implementations are allowed to throw {@code NullPointerException} for

     * any {@code null} argument other than the {@code ColorModel} argument,

     * but are not required to do so.

     *

     * @param cm the preferred {@link ColorModel} which represents the most convenient

     *           format for the caller to receive the pixel data, or {@code null}

     *           if there is no preference.

     * @param deviceBounds the device space bounding box

     *                     of the graphics primitive being rendered.

     *                     Implementations of the {@code Paint} interface

     *                     are allowed to throw {@code NullPointerException}

     *                     for a {@code null} {@code deviceBounds}.

     * @param userBounds the user space bounding box

     *                   of the graphics primitive being rendered.

     *                     Implementations of the {@code Paint} interface

     *                     are allowed to throw {@code NullPointerException}

     *                     for a {@code null} {@code userBounds}.

     * @param xform the {@link AffineTransform} from user

     *              space into device space.

     *                     Implementations of the {@code Paint} interface

     *                     are allowed to throw {@code NullPointerException}

     *                     for a {@code null} {@code xform}.

     * @param hints the set of hints that the context object can use to

     *              choose between rendering alternatives.

     *                     Implementations of the {@code Paint} interface

     *                     are allowed to throw {@code NullPointerException}

     *                     for a {@code null} {@code hints}.

     * @return the {@code PaintContext} for

     *         generating color patterns.

     * @see PaintContext

     * @see ColorModel

     * @see Rectangle

     * @see Rectangle2D

     * @see AffineTransform

     * @see RenderingHints

     */

    public PaintContext createContext(ColorModel cm,

                                      Rectangle deviceBounds,

                                      Rectangle2D userBounds,

                                      AffineTransform xform,

                                      RenderingHints hints);

}