/* 
 * Copyright 2011 Vaadin Ltd.
 * 
 * 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.
 */
package com.vaadin.ui;

import java.io.Serializable;

import com.vaadin.data.Container;

/**
 * Factory interface for creating new Field-instances based on Container
 * (datasource), item id, property id and uiContext (the component responsible
 * for displaying fields). Currently this interface is used by {@link Table},
 * but might later be used by some other components for {@link Field}
 * generation.
 * 
 * <p>
 * 
 * @author Vaadin Ltd.
 * @since 6.0
 * @see FormFieldFactory
 */
public interface TableFieldFactory extends Serializable {
    /**
     * Creates a field based on the Container, item id, property id and the
     * component responsible for displaying the field (most commonly
     * {@link Table}).
     * 
     * @param container
     *            the Container where the property belongs to.
     * @param itemId
     *            the item Id.
     * @param propertyId
     *            the Id of the property.
     * @param uiContext
     *            the component where the field is presented.
     * @return A field suitable for editing the specified data or null if the
     *         property should not be editable.
     */
    Field<?> createField(Container container, Object itemId, Object propertyId,
            Component uiContext);

}
