/*************************************************************************
 *
 *  $RCSfile: IInterface.hxx,v $
 *
 *  $Revision: 1.2 $
 *
 *  last change: $Author: hr $ $Date: 2006-08-14 15:14:26 $
 *
 *  The Contents of this file are made available subject to the terms of
 *  either of the following licenses
 *
 *         - GNU Lesser General Public License Version 2.1
 *         - Sun Industry Standards Source License Version 1.1
 *
 *  Sun Microsystems Inc., October, 2000
 *
 *  GNU Lesser General Public License Version 2.1
 *  =============================================
 *  Copyright 2000 by Sun Microsystems, Inc.
 *  901 San Antonio Road, Palo Alto, CA 94303, USA
 *
 *  This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
 *  modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
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 *  but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 *  MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
 *  Lesser General Public License for more details.
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 *  You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
 *  License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
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 *
 *
 *  Sun Industry Standards Source License Version 1.1
 *  =================================================
 *  The contents of this file are subject to the Sun Industry Standards
 *  Source License Version 1.1 (the "License"); You may not use this file
 *  except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of the
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 ************************************************************************/

 #ifndef IINTERFACE_HXX_INCLUDED
 #define IINTERFACE_HXX_INCLUDED

 #include <sal/types.h>

 /** The base interface
 */
 class IInterface
 {
 public:

    /** Aquire a reference to an instance. A caller shall release
        the instance by calling 'release' when it is no longer needed.
        'acquire' and 'release' calls need to be balanced.

        @returns
        the current reference count of the instance for debugging purposes.
    */
    virtual sal_Int32 acquire() = 0;

    /** Releases a reference to an instance. A caller has to call
        'release' when a before aquired reference to an instance
        is no longer needed. 'acquire' and 'release' calls need to
        be balanced.

    @returns
        the current reference count of the instance for debugging purposes.
    */
    virtual sal_Int32 release() = 0;

    /** Returns the current reference count. This method should be used for
        debugging purposes. Using it otherwise is a signal of a design flaw.
    */
    virtual sal_Int32 getReferenceCount() const = 0;

protected:
    virtual ~IInterface() {};
 };

 #endif // IDOCUMENT_HXX_INCLUDED