<?php
/**
 * @package data
 * @version 0.4.0.0
 * @author Roman Konertz <konertz@open-lims.org>
 * @copyright (c) 2008-2014 by Roman Konertz
 * @license GPLv3
 * 
 * This file is part of Open-LIMS
 * Available at http://www.open-lims.org
 * 
 * This program is free software;
 * you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation;
 * version 3 of the License.
 * 
 * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY;
 * without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. 
 * See the GNU General Public License for more details.
 * 
 * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program;
 * if not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 */


/**
 * Path Interface
 * @package data
 */
interface PathInterface
{
	/**
	 * @param string $path
	 */
	function __construct($path);
	
	function __destruct();
	
	/**
	 * Returns the string of the current path
	 * @return string
	 */
	public function get_path_string();
	
	/**
	 * Returns an array of path elements
	 * @return array
	 */
	public function get_path_elements();
	
	/**
	 * Returns the number of path elements
	 * @return integer
	 */
	public function get_path_length();
	
	/**
	 * Returns the last element of the path
	 * @return string
	 */
	public function get_last_element();
	
	/**
	 * Replaces a an given element of the path
	 * @param string $replace
	 * @param integer $position
	 * @return bool
	 */
	public function replace_element_position($replace, $position);
	
	/**
	 * Adds an element at the end of the path
	 * @param string $name
	 * @return bool
	 */
	public function add_element($name);
}

?>