/*
 * Copyright 2003-2004, Franz-Josef Elmer, All rights reserved
 *
 * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
 * it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
 * the Free Software Foundation; either version 2.1 of the License, or
 * (at your option) any later version.
 *
 * This program 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 Lesser General Public License for more details
 * (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/lesser.html).
 *
 * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
 * along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
 * Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307  USA
 */
package jcckit.plot;

import jcckit.graphic.ClippingShape;
import jcckit.graphic.GraphicalElement;
import jcckit.transformation.Transformation;

/**
 * Interface for all generators of coordinate systems. A 
 * <tt>CoordinateSystem</tt> creates a 
 * {@link jcckit.graphic.GraphicalComposite} which contains all the 
 * {@link GraphicalElement GraphicalElements} defining axes, labels, grid, etc.
 *
 *  @author Franz-Josef Elmer
 */
public interface CoordinateSystem {
  /**
   *  Returns the graphical representation of a coordinate
   *  system. Different invocations of this method may return
   *  different coordinate systems, e.g., due to changes in the
   *  transformation or clipping shapes.
   */
  public GraphicalElement getView();

  /**
   *  Returns the clipping chape of {@link Curve Curves} drawn on top
   *  of the coordinates system. Different invocations of
   *  this method may return different clipping shapes.
   */
  public ClippingShape getClippingShape();

  /**
   *  Returns the transformation between data coordinates and
   *  device-independent graphcial coordinates. Different invocations
   *  of this method may return different transformations.
   */
  public Transformation getTransformation();
}