/*
 * Copyright 2002,2004 The Apache Software Foundation.
 * 
 * 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 org.apache.catalina;


import java.security.Principal;
import java.util.Iterator;


/**
 * <p>Abstract representation of a group of {@link User}s in a
 * {@link UserDatabase}.  Each user that is a member of this group
 * inherits the {@link Role}s assigned to the group.</p>
 *
 * @author Craig R. McClanahan
 * @version $Revision$ $Date$
 * @since 4.1
 */

public interface Group extends Principal {


    // ------------------------------------------------------------- Properties


    /**
     * Return the description of this group.
     */
    public String getDescription();


    /**
     * Set the description of this group.
     *
     * @param description The new description
     */
    public void setDescription(String description);


    /**
     * Return the group name of this group, which must be unique
     * within the scope of a {@link UserDatabase}.
     */
    public String getGroupname();


    /**
     * Set the group name of this group, which must be unique
     * within the scope of a {@link UserDatabase}.
     *
     * @param groupname The new group name
     */
    public void setGroupname(String groupname);


    /**
     * Return the set of {@link Role}s assigned specifically to this group.
     */
    public Iterator getRoles();


    /**
     * Return the {@link UserDatabase} within which this Group is defined.
     */
    public UserDatabase getUserDatabase();


    /**
     * Return the set of {@link User}s that are members of this group.
     */
    public Iterator getUsers();


    // --------------------------------------------------------- Public Methods


    /**
     * Add a new {@link Role} to those assigned specifically to this group.
     *
     * @param role The new role
     */
    public void addRole(Role role);


    /**
     * Is this group specifically assigned the specified {@link Role}?
     *
     * @param role The role to check
     */
    public boolean isInRole(Role role);


    /**
     * Remove a {@link Role} from those assigned to this group.
     *
     * @param role The old role
     */
    public void removeRole(Role role);


    /**
     * Remove all {@link Role}s from those assigned to this group.
     */
    public void removeRoles();


}