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.ontology; 022 023/** 024 * A factory for Ontology instances. 025 * 026 * @author Matthew Pocock 027 */ 028 029public interface OntologyFactory { 030 /** 031 * Creates a new Ontology 032 * 033 * @param name the name to give the ontology 034 * @param description the description for the ontology 035 * @return an Ontology 036 * @throws NullPointerException if either name or description are null 037 * @throws OntologyException if the ontology could not be created 038 */ 039 public Ontology createOntology(String name, String description) 040 throws OntologyException; 041}