/*
 * Moonlight|3D
 * Copyright (C) 2006 The Moonlight|3D team
 * 
 * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
 * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
 * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
 * version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
 * 
 * This library 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
 * Lesser General Public License for more details.
 * 
 * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
 * License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
 * Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301  USA
 *
 * Created on May 2, 2006
 */
package ml.backend.anim;

import ml.core.helper.Value;

public interface KeyframeInterpolator {
	/**
	 * Check if this interpolator is applicable to the given value type.
	 * Not all interpolation methods are possible for all value types.
	 * 
	 * @param valueType the type ot the track's Value
	 * @return true if this interpolator chan handle the given type
	 */
	public boolean isAppliciable(Value.Type valueType);
	
	/**
	 * Calculate the value of the given track for the given time through
	 * the implemented interpolation method and return that value. Note that
	 * this method must also be able to extrapolate beyond the first and last
	 * keyframe in the track.
	 * 
	 * @param track the track to calculate an interpolation for
	 * @param time time value for which the interpolated value is to be calculated
	 * @return the interpolated value
	 */
	public Value interpolate(KeyframeAnimationTrack track, double time);
	
	/**
	 * Return a unique type name for this interpolator.
	 * 
	 * @return interpolator type name
	 */
	public String getType();
}