/*
 * Copyright (C) 2007 Alfresco, Inc.
 *
 * 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; either version 2
 * of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

 * 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, write to the Free Software
 * Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301, USA.
 */
package org.alfresco.repo.admin.registry;

import java.io.Serializable;

/**
 * Interface for service providing access to key-value pairs for storage
 * of system-controlled metadata.
 * 
 * @author Derek Hulley
 */
public interface RegistryService
{
    /**
     * Assign a value to the registry key, which must be of the form <b>/a/b/c</b>.
     * 
     * @param key           the registry key.
     * @param value         any value that can be stored in the repository.
     */
    void addValue(RegistryKey key, Serializable value);
    
    /**
     * @param key           the registry key.
     * @return              Returns the value stored in the key.
     * 
     * @see #addValue(String, Serializable)
     */
    Serializable getValue(RegistryKey key);
}