/* Interface for actors whose ports have types.

 Copyright (c) 1997-2013 The Regents of the University of California.
 All rights reserved.
 Permission is hereby granted, without written agreement and without
 license or royalty fees, to use, copy, modify, and distribute this
 software and its documentation for any purpose, provided that the above
 copyright notice and the following two paragraphs appear in all copies
 of this software.

 IN NO EVENT SHALL THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA BE LIABLE TO ANY PARTY
 FOR DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES
 ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE AND ITS DOCUMENTATION, EVEN IF
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 INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
 MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE SOFTWARE
 PROVIDED HEREUNDER IS ON AN "AS IS" BASIS, AND THE UNIVERSITY OF
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 PT_COPYRIGHT_VERSION_2
 COPYRIGHTENDKEY


 */
package ptolemy.actor;

import java.util.Set;

import ptolemy.graph.Inequality;
import ptolemy.kernel.util.IllegalActionException;

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
//// TypedActor

/**
 A TypedActor is an actor whose ports have types.
 This interface defines the method to get type constraints from
 an actor.  The ports on a TypedActor are constrained to be TypedIOPorts.

 @author Yuhong Xiong, Marten Lohstroh
 @version $Id: TypedActor.java 65763 2013-03-07 01:54:37Z cxh $
 @since Ptolemy II 0.2
 @Pt.ProposedRating Green (yuhong)
 @Pt.AcceptedRating Green (lmuliadi)
 @see ptolemy.actor.TypedCompositeActor
 @see ptolemy.actor.TypedAtomicActor
 @see ptolemy.actor.TypedIOPort
 */
public interface TypedActor extends Actor {
    ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
    ////                         public methods                    ////

    /** Return the type constraints of this actor.
     *  The constraints is a list of inequalities.
     *  @return a list of Inequality.
     *  @exception IllegalActionException If type conflict is detected
     *   during static type checking.
     *  @see ptolemy.graph.Inequality
     */
    public Set<Inequality> typeConstraints() throws IllegalActionException;

    /** Look up the hierarchy to find the parameter
     * <code>enableBackwardTypeInference</code> and return its value.
     *  @return True if backward type inference is enabled, return false
     *  otherwise.
     */
    public boolean isBackwardTypeInferenceEnabled();

}