16.39. Readable Interface

@Immutable
public interface Readable {

    /**
     * Get the string form of the object. A default encoder is used to encode characters.
     * @return the encoded string
     */
    public String getString();

    /**
     * Get the encoded string form of the object, using the supplied encoder to encode characters.
     * @param encoder the encoder to use, or null if the default encoder should be used
     * @return the encoded string
     */
    public String getString( TextEncoder encoder );

    /**
     * Get the string form of the object, using the supplied namespace registry to convert any 
     * namespace URIs to prefixes. A default encoder is used to encode characters.
     * @param namespaceRegistry the namespace registry that should be used to obtain the prefix
     *        for any namespace URIs
     * @return the encoded string
     * @throws IllegalArgumentException if the namespace registry is null
     */
    public String getString( NamespaceRegistry namespaceRegistry );

    /**
     * Get the encoded string form of the object, using the supplied namespace registry to convert 
     * the any namespace URIs to prefixes.
     * @param namespaceRegistry the namespace registry that should be used to obtain the prefix for 
     *        the namespace URIs
     * @param encoder the encoder to use, or null if the default encoder should be used
     * @return the encoded string
     * @throws IllegalArgumentException if the namespace registry is null
     */
    public String getString( NamespaceRegistry namespaceRegistry,
                             TextEncoder encoder );

    /**
     * Get the encoded string form of the object, using the supplied namespace registry to convert 
     * the names' namespace URIs to prefixes and the supplied encoder to encode characters, and using 
     * the second delimiter to encode (or convert) the delimiter used between the namespace prefix 
     * and the local part of any names.
     * @param namespaceRegistry the namespace registry that should be used to obtain the prefix 
     *        for the namespace URIs in the names
     * @param encoder the encoder to use for encoding the local part and namespace prefix of any names, 
     *        or null if the default encoder should be used
     * @param delimiterEncoder the encoder to use for encoding the delimiter between the local part 
     *        and namespace prefix of any names, or null if the standard delimiter should be used
     * @return the encoded string
     */
    public String getString( NamespaceRegistry namespaceRegistry,
                             TextEncoder encoder, TextEncoder delimiterEncoder );
}