1/*
2 * Copyright 2001-2006 OFFIS, Tammo Freese
3 *
4 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
5 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
6 * You may obtain a copy of 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,
12 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
13 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
14 * limitations under the License.
15 */
16package org.easymock;
17
18/**
19 * Decides whether an actual argument is accepted.
20 */
21public interface IArgumentMatcher {
22
23    /**
24     * Returns whether this matcher accepts the given argument.
25     * <p>
26     * Like Object.equals(), it should be aware that the argument passed might
27     * be null and of any type. So you will usually start the method with an
28     * instanceof and/or null check.
29     * <p>
30     * The method should <b>never</b> assert if the argument doesn't match. It
31     * should only return false. EasyMock will take care of asserting if the
32     * call is really unexpected.
33     *
34     * @param argument the argument
35     * @return whether this matcher accepts the given argument.
36     */
37    boolean matches(Object argument);
38
39    /**
40     * Appends a string representation of this matcher to the given buffer. In case
41     * of failure, the printed message will show this string to allow to know which
42     * matcher was used for the failing call.
43     *
44     * @param buffer the buffer to which the string representation is appended.
45     */
46    void appendTo(StringBuffer buffer);
47}
48