001/*
002 *                    BioJava development code
003 *
004 * This code may be freely distributed and modified under the
005 * terms of the GNU Lesser General Public Licence.  This should
006 * be distributed with the code.  If you do not have a copy,
007 * see:
008 *
009 *      http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/lesser.html
010 *
011 * Copyright for this code is held jointly by the individual
012 * authors.  These should be listed in @author doc comments.
013 *
014 * For more information on the BioJava project and its aims,
015 * or to join the biojava-l mailing list, visit the home page
016 * at:
017 *
018 *      http://www.biojava.org/
019 *
020 */
021
022package org.biojava.utils;
023
024/**
025 * Implementations of <code>Commitable</code> support atomic changes
026 * from one known state to another via commit/rollback semantics.
027 *
028 * @author Matthew Pocock
029 * @author Keith James
030 * @since 1.3
031 */
032public interface Commitable {
033
034    /**
035     * <code>commit</code> commits pending changes.
036     *
037     * @throws CommitFailure if an error occurs
038     */
039    public void commit()
040        throws CommitFailure;
041  
042    /**
043     * <code>rollback</code> reverses pending changes to restore
044     * initial (or prior commit) state. This always succededs or raises an
045     * unchecked exception.
046     *
047     * 
048     * If the rollback fails, you <em>must</em> raise an AssertionFailure.
049     */
050    public void rollback();
051}