/*
 * The contents of this file are subject to the terms of the Common Development
 * and Distribution License (the License). You may not use this file except in
 * compliance with the License.
 *
 * You can obtain a copy of the License at http://www.netbeans.org/cddl.html
 * or http://www.netbeans.org/cddl.txt.
 * 
 * When distributing Covered Code, include this CDDL Header Notice in each file
 * and include the License file at http://www.netbeans.org/cddl.txt.
 * If applicable, add the following below the CDDL Header, with the fields
 * enclosed by brackets [] replaced by your own identifying information:
 * "Portions Copyrighted [year] [name of copyright owner]"
 *
 * The Original Software is NetBeans. The Initial Developer of the Original
 * Software is Sun Microsystems, Inc. Portions Copyright 1997-2006 Sun
 * Microsystems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
 */

package org.netbeans.spi.project;

import java.io.IOException;
import org.openide.filesystems.FileObject;

/**
 * Ability for a project to permit other modules to store arbitrary cache
 * data associated with the project.
 * @see org.netbeans.api.project.Project#getLookup
 * @author Jesse Glick
 */
public interface CacheDirectoryProvider {
    
    /**
     * Get a directory in which modules may store disposable cached information
     * about the project, such as an index of classes it contains.
     * This directory should be considered non-sharable by
     * {@link org.netbeans.api.queries.SharabilityQuery}.
     * Modules are responsible for preventing name clashes in this directory by
     * using sufficiently unique names for child files and folders.
     * @return a cache directory
     * @throws IOException if it cannot be created or loaded
     */
    FileObject getCacheDirectory() throws IOException;

}
