libs-base/Source/objects/Coding.h
mccallum bd1dde5e13 Added comment about conflict with OpenStep.
git-svn-id: svn+ssh://svn.gna.org/svn/gnustep/libs/base/trunk@234 72102866-910b-0410-8b05-ffd578937521
1995-04-03 01:43:12 +00:00

64 lines
2.1 KiB
Objective-C

/* Protocol for GNU Objective-C objects that can write/read to a coder
Copyright (C) 1993,1994 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
Written by: R. Andrew McCallum <mccallum@gnu.ai.mit.edu>
Date: July 1994
This file is part of the GNU Objective C Class Library.
This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
modify it under the terms of the GNU Library General Public
License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
This library 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
Library General Public License for more details.
You should have received a copy of the GNU Library General Public
License along with this library; if not, write to the Free
Software Foundation, Inc., 675 Mass Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA.
*/
#ifndef __Coding_h
#define __Coding_h
#include <objects/stdobjects.h>
@class Coder;
@protocol Coding
- (void) encodeWithCoder: (Coder*)anEncoder;
+ newWithCoder: (Coder*)aDecoder;
/* xxx To avoid conflict with OpenStep, change names to:
encodeOnCoder: ?
encodeToCoder:
newFromCoder:
*/
/* NOTE:
This is +newWithCoder: and not -initWithCoder: because many classes
keep track of their instances and only allow one instance of each
configuration. For example, see the designated initializers of
SocketPort, Connection, and Proxy.
Making this +new.. instead of -init.. prevents us from having to
waste the effort of allocating space for an object to be decoded,
then immediately deallocating that space because we're just
returning a pre-existing object.
I also like it because it makes very clear that this method is
expected to return the decoded object. This requirement would have
also been present in an -init... implementation, but the
requirement may not have been 100 percent clear by the method name.
-mccallum */
@end
#endif /* __Coding_h */