libjava/classpath/javax/print/attribute/Attribute.java

/* Attribute.java --
   Copyright (C) 2002, 2005 Free Software Foundation, Inc.

This file is part of GNU Classpath.

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package javax.print.attribute;

import java.io.Serializable;

/**
 * Base interface of every printing attribute of the Java Print Service API.
 *
 * @author Michael Koch (konqueror@gmx.de)
 */
public interface Attribute extends Serializable
{
  /**
   * Returns the category of the printing attribute which is the specific
   * attribute class implementing this interface.
   *
   * @return The concrete {@link Class} instance of the attribute class.
   */
  Class< ? extends Attribute> getCategory ();

  /**
   * Returns the descriptive name of the attribute category.
   *
   * Implementations of the <code>Attribute</code> interfaces providing equal
   * category values have to return equal name values.
   *
   * @return The name of the attribute category.
   */
  String getName ();
}