// $Id: Profile.java,v 1.11 2004/09/21 19:03:31 mvw Exp $
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package org.argouml.uml;

import java.util.Iterator;
/**
 *   This abstract class captures the configurable behavior of Argo.
 *
 *   @author Curt Arnold
 */
public abstract class Profile {
    
    /**
     *    This method produces a string that represents the specific
     *    model element in the context of the specified namespace.
     *    @param element element to represent.
     *    @param namespace context namespace (may be null).
     *    @return a string representing the model element
     */
    public abstract String formatElement(Object/*MModelElement*/ element,
					 Object namespace);
    /**
     *   This method produces a string the represents the collection
     *   of model elements in the context of the specified namespace.
     *   @param iter iterator over collection
     *   @param namespace context namespace (may be null).
     *   @return a string representing the collection
     */
    public abstract String formatCollection(Iterator iter,
					    Object namespace);
    /**
     * @return the UML Model that contains the profile model
     */
    public abstract Object/*MModel*/ getProfileModel();
}