001/*
002 * CDDL HEADER START
003 *
004 * The contents of this file are subject to the terms of the
005 * Common Development and Distribution License, Version 1.0 only
006 * (the "License").  You may not use this file except in compliance
007 * with the License.
008 *
009 * You can obtain a copy of the license at
010 * docs/licenses/cddl.txt
011 * or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/cddl1.php.
012 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions
013 * and limitations under the License.
014 *
015 * When distributing Covered Code, include this CDDL HEADER in each
016 * file and include the License file at
017 * docs/licenses/cddl.txt.  If applicable,
018 * add the following below this CDDL HEADER, with the fields enclosed
019 * by brackets "[]" replaced with your own identifying information:
020 *      Portions Copyright [yyyy] [name of copyright owner]
021 *
022 * CDDL HEADER END
023 *
024 *
025 *      Copyright 2010-2016 UnboundID Corp.
026 */
027package com.unboundid.directory.sdk.common.schema;
028
029
030
031import com.unboundid.util.ByteString;
032import com.unboundid.util.NotExtensible;
033import com.unboundid.util.ThreadSafety;
034import com.unboundid.util.ThreadSafetyLevel;
035
036
037
038/**
039 * This interface provides an API for interacting with approximate matching
040 * rules, which can be used to determine whether one value is approximately
041 * equal to another.  The definition of "approximately equal to" may vary based
042 * on the matching rule implementation.
043 */
044@NotExtensible()
045@ThreadSafety(level=ThreadSafetyLevel.INTERFACE_THREADSAFE)
046public interface ApproximateMatchingRule
047       extends MatchingRule
048{
049  /**
050   * Indicates whether the provided values are approximately equal to each
051   * other.
052   *
053   * @param  normValue1  The normalized form of the first value for which to
054   *                     make the determination.
055   * @param  normValue2  The normalized form of the second value for which to
056   *                     make the determination.
057   *
058   * @return  {@code true} if the values are considered approximately equal to
059   *          each other, or {@code false} if not.
060   */
061  boolean approximatelyMatch(final ByteString normValue1,
062                             final ByteString normValue2);
063}