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 */
021package org.biojava.nbio.structure;
022
023import java.io.Serializable;
024
025/** 
026 * An interface implemented by all classes that represent PDB records.
027 *
028 * @author Andreas Prlic
029 * @since 1.6
030 */
031public interface PDBRecord extends Serializable {
032
033        /** Returns a PDB file like representation of this record.
034         *
035         * @return a String providing a PDB file like representation of the record.
036         */
037        public String toPDB();
038
039
040        /** Appends a PDB file like representation of this record to the provided StringBuffer.
041         *
042         */
043        public void toPDB(StringBuffer buf);
044
045
046}