/*

 * Copyright 1997-2007 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.Raster;

import java.awt.image.ColorModel;

/**

 * The <code>PaintContext</code> interface defines the encapsulated

 * and optimized environment to generate color patterns in device

 * space for fill or stroke operations on a

 * {@link Graphics2D}.  The <code>PaintContext</code> provides

 * the necessary colors for <code>Graphics2D</code> operations in the

 * form of a {@link Raster} associated with a {@link ColorModel}.

 * The <code>PaintContext</code> maintains state for a particular paint

 * operation.  In a multi-threaded environment, several

 * contexts can exist simultaneously for a single {@link Paint} object.

 * @see Paint

 */

public interface PaintContext {

    /**

     * Releases the resources allocated for the operation.

     */

    public void dispose();

    /**

     * Returns the <code>ColorModel</code> of the output.  Note that

     * this <code>ColorModel</code> might be different from the hint

     * specified in the

     * {@link Paint#createContext(ColorModel, Rectangle, Rectangle2D,

AffineTransform, RenderingHints) createContext} method of

     * <code>Paint</code>.  Not all <code>PaintContext</code> objects are

     * capable of generating color patterns in an arbitrary

     * <code>ColorModel</code>.

     * @return the <code>ColorModel</code> of the output.

     */

    ColorModel getColorModel();

    /**

     * Returns a <code>Raster</code> containing the colors generated for

     * the graphics operation.

     * @param x the x coordinate of the area in device space

     * for which colors are generated.

     * @param y the y coordinate of the area in device space

     * for which colors are generated.

     * @param w the width of the area in device space

     * @param h the height of the area in device space

     * @return a <code>Raster</code> representing the specified

     * rectangular area and containing the colors generated for

     * the graphics operation.

     */

    Raster getRaster(int x,

                     int y,

                     int w,

                     int h);

}