#region License
/*
* Copyright 2002-2009 the original author or authors.
*
* Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
* you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
* You may obtain a copy of the License at
*
* http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
*
* Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
* distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
* WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
* See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
* limitations under the License.
*/
#endregion
using System;
namespace Spring.Objects{
/// <summary>
/// Interface representing an object whose value set can be merged with that of a parent object.
/// </summary>
/// <author>Rob Harrop</author>
/// <author>Mark Pollack (.NET)</author>
public interface IMergable
{
/// <summary>
/// Gets a value indicating whether this instance is merge enabled for this instance
/// </summary>
/// <value>
/// <c>true</c> if this instance is merge enabled; otherwise, <c>false</c>.
/// </value>
bool MergeEnabled {
get;
}
/// <summary>
/// Merges the current value set with that of the supplied object.
/// </summary>
/// <remarks>The supplied object is considered the parent, and values in the
/// callee's value set must override those of the supplied object.
/// </remarks>
/// <param name="parent">The parent object to merge with</param>
/// <returns>The result of the merge operation</returns>
/// <exception cref="ArgumentNullException">If the supplied parent is <code>null</code></exception>
/// <exception cref="InvalidOperationException">If merging is not enabled for this instance,
/// (i.e. <code>MergeEnabled</code> equals <code>false</code>.</exception>
object Merge(object parent);
}
}
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