1 files changed, 75 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/src/main/java/at/gv/egiz/pdfas/api/io/DataSink.java b/src/main/java/at/gv/egiz/pdfas/api/io/DataSink.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0136cf7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/at/gv/egiz/pdfas/api/io/DataSink.java
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+package at.gv.egiz.pdfas.api.io;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.io.OutputStream;
+
+/**
+ * Output document data sink.
+ * 
+ * <p>
+ * Actually, the DataSink can be seen as a factory for creating OutputStreams
+ * with mime type and character encoding provided. This allows the API user to
+ * decide how data is to be stored (e.g. in a file, in a byte array, etc.).
+ * </p>
+ * 
+ * @author wprinz
+ */
+public interface DataSink
+{
+  /**
+   * Creates an OutputStream for binary data.
+   * 
+   * <p>
+   * Note that the stream may be written only once. Creating another stream
+   * overwrites the existing one.
+   * </p>
+   * 
+   * @param mimeType
+   *          The mime type of the output data.
+   * @return Returns the created output stream.
+   * @throws IOException
+   *           Thrown if the stream cannot be created.
+   */
+  public OutputStream createOutputStream(String mimeType) throws IOException;
+
+  /**
+   * Creates an OutputStream for character data.
+   * 
+   * <p>
+   * This is basically the same as {@link #createOutputStream(String)}, but
+   * allows to specify the character encoding.
+   * </p>
+   * 
+   * @param mimeType
+   *          The mime type of the output data.
+   * @param characterEncoding
+   *          The character encoding of the data.
+   * @return Returns the created output stream.
+   * @throws IOException
+   *           Thrown if the stream cannot be created.
+   */
+  public OutputStream createOutputStream(String mimeType, String characterEncoding) throws IOException;
+
+  /**
+   * Returns the mime type of the data stream.
+   * 
+   * <p>
+   * This is only valid after a stream has been created.
+   * </p>
+   * 
+   * @return Returns the mime type of the data stream.
+   */
+  public String getMimeType();
+
+  /**
+   * Returns the character encoding of the data stream.
+   * 
+   * <p>
+   * This is only valid after a stream has been created. Null means that no
+   * character encoding was specified for the data (e.g. if the data is binary).
+   * </p>
+   * 
+   * @return Returns the character encoding of the data stream.
+   */
+  public String getCharacterEncoding();
+}