/*
 * Copyright 2002 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved.
 * SUN PROPRIETARY/CONFIDENTIAL. Use is subject to license terms.
 */

package javax.activation;

/**
 * This interface defines a factory for <code>DataContentHandlers</code>. An
 * implementation of this interface should map a MIME type into an
 * instance of DataContentHandler. The design pattern for classes implementing
 * this interface is the same as for the ContentHandler mechanism used in
 * <code>java.net.URL</code>.
 */

public interface DataContentHandlerFactory {

    /**
     * Creates a new DataContentHandler object for the MIME type.
     *
     * @param mimeType the MIME type to create the DataContentHandler for.
     * @return The new <code>DataContentHandler</code>, or <i>null</i>
     * if none are found.
     */
    public DataContentHandler createDataContentHandler(String mimeType);
}