/*
 * Copyright (C) 2005-2010 Alfresco Software Limited.
 *
 * This file is part of Alfresco
 *
 * Alfresco is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
 * it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
 * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
 * (at your option) any later version.
 *
 * Alfresco 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 Lesser General Public License for more details.
 *
 * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
 * along with Alfresco. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 */
package org.alfresco.repo.node;

import java.util.List;

import org.alfresco.service.cmr.repository.NodeRef;

/**
 * A component that pre-fetches cached data for the given nodes.  Client code can use
 * this component when a list of <code>NodeRef</code> instances will be processed in
 * a data-intensive manner.
 * 
 * @author Andy Hind
 * @author Derek Hulley
 */
public interface NodeBulkLoader
{
    /**
     * Pre-cache data relevant to the given nodes.  There is no need to split the collection
     * up before calling this method; it is up to the implementations to ensure that batching
     * is done where necessary.
     * 
     * @param nodeRefs          the nodes that will be cached.
     */
    public void cacheNodes(List<NodeRef> nodeRefs);
    
    /**
     * <b>FOR TESTING ONLY: </b>Clears out node cache data
     */
    public void clear();
}