001/* FileFilter.java --
002   Copyright (C) 2002, 2005, 2006, Free Software Foundation, Inc.
003
004This file is part of GNU Classpath.
005
006GNU Classpath is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
007it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
008the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option)
009any later version.
010
011GNU Classpath is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
012WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
013MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
014General Public License for more details.
015
016You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
017along with GNU Classpath; see the file COPYING.  If not, write to the
018Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA
01902110-1301 USA.
020
021Linking this library statically or dynamically with other modules is
022making a combined work based on this library.  Thus, the terms and
023conditions of the GNU General Public License cover the whole
024combination.
025
026As a special exception, the copyright holders of this library give you
027permission to link this library with independent modules to produce an
028executable, regardless of the license terms of these independent
029modules, and to copy and distribute the resulting executable under
030terms of your choice, provided that you also meet, for each linked
031independent module, the terms and conditions of the license of that
032module.  An independent module is a module which is not derived from
033or based on this library.  If you modify this library, you may extend
034this exception to your version of the library, but you are not
035obligated to do so.  If you do not wish to do so, delete this
036exception statement from your version. */
037
038
039package javax.swing.filechooser;
040
041import java.io.File;
042
043import javax.swing.JFileChooser;
044
045/**
046 * The base class for filters that control the visibility of files in the
047 * {@link JFileChooser} component.
048 *
049 * @see JFileChooser#addChoosableFileFilter(FileFilter)
050 *
051 * @author      Andrew Selkirk
052 */
053public abstract class FileFilter
054{
055
056  /**
057   * Default constructor.
058   */
059  public FileFilter()
060  {
061    // Nothing to do here.
062  }
063
064  /**
065   * Returns <code>true</code> if the specified file matches the filter, and
066   * <code>false</code> otherwise.
067   *
068   * @param file  the file.
069   *
070   * @return A boolean.
071   */
072  public abstract boolean accept(File file);
073
074  /**
075   * Returns a description of the files that will be selected by the filter
076   * (for example, "Java source files").  This description will usually be
077   * displayed on the {@link JFileChooser} component, often in a combo box that
078   * is used to select the appropriate filter (in cases where more than one
079   * filter is available).
080   *
081   * @return A description of the filter.
082   */
083  public abstract String getDescription();
084
085}