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1   /*
2    * Copyright 2004-2005 the original author or authors.
3    * 
4    * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not
5    * use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of
6    * the License at
7    * 
8    * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
9    * 
10   * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
11   * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
12   * WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
13   * License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under
14   * the License.
15   */
16  package net.sf.morph.reflect;
17  
18  /**
19   * A reflector that can tell how many elements are contained in a given object.
20   * 
21   * @author Matt Sgarlata
22   * @since Dec 5, 2004
23   */
24  public interface SizableReflector extends Reflector {
25  	
26  	public static final String IMPLICIT_PROPERTY_SIZE = "size";
27  
28  	/**
29  	 * Returns the number of elements contained in a given object.  If the
30  	 * object is a bean, the number of properties is returned.  If the object
31  	 * is a container, the number of elements in the container is returned. 
32  	 * 
33  	 * @param object
34  	 *            the object
35  	 * @return the number of elements contained in the given object
36  	 * @throws ReflectionException
37  	 *             if <code>object</code> is <code>null</code> or the
38  	 *             number of elements in the object could not be determined
39  	 */
40  	public int getSize(Object object) throws ReflectionException;
41  
42  }