/*
 * Copyright 1997-2007 Sun Microsystems, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.
 * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
 *
 * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
 * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as
 * published by the Free Software Foundation.  Sun designates this
 * particular file as subject to the "Classpath" exception as provided
 * by Sun in the LICENSE file that accompanied this code.
 *
 * This code 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 General Public License
 * version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that
 * accompanied this code).
 *
 * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License version
 * 2 along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
 * Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
 *
 * Please contact Sun Microsystems, Inc., 4150 Network Circle, Santa Clara,
 * CA 95054 USA or visit www.sun.com if you need additional information or
 * have any questions.
 */

package java.awt;

import java.awt.image.Raster;
import java.awt.image.ColorModel;

/**
 * The <code>PaintContext</code> interface defines the encapsulated
 * and optimized environment to generate color patterns in device
 * space for fill or stroke operations on a
 * {@link Graphics2D}.  The <code>PaintContext</code> provides
 * the necessary colors for <code>Graphics2D</code> operations in the
 * form of a {@link Raster} associated with a {@link ColorModel}.
 * The <code>PaintContext</code> maintains state for a particular paint
 * operation.  In a multi-threaded environment, several
 * contexts can exist simultaneously for a single {@link Paint} object.
 * @see Paint
 */

public interface PaintContext {
    /**
     * Releases the resources allocated for the operation.
     */
    public void dispose();

    /**
     * Returns the <code>ColorModel</code> of the output.  Note that
     * this <code>ColorModel</code> might be different from the hint
     * specified in the
     * {@link Paint#createContext(ColorModel, Rectangle, Rectangle2D,
AffineTransform, RenderingHints) createContext} method of
     * <code>Paint</code>.  Not all <code>PaintContext</code> objects are
     * capable of generating color patterns in an arbitrary
     * <code>ColorModel</code>.
     * @return the <code>ColorModel</code> of the output.
     */
    ColorModel getColorModel();

    /**
     * Returns a <code>Raster</code> containing the colors generated for
     * the graphics operation.
     * @param x the x coordinate of the area in device space
     * for which colors are generated.
     * @param y the y coordinate of the area in device space
     * for which colors are generated.
     * @param w the width of the area in device space
     * @param h the height of the area in device space
     * @return a <code>Raster</code> representing the specified
     * rectangular area and containing the colors generated for
     * the graphics operation.
     */
    Raster getRaster(int x,
                     int y,
                     int w,
                     int h);

}