michael@0: /*
michael@0:  * ====================================================================
michael@0:  * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
michael@0:  * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
michael@0:  * distributed with this work for additional information
michael@0:  * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
michael@0:  * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
michael@0:  * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
michael@0:  * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
michael@0:  *
michael@0:  *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
michael@0:  *
michael@0:  * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
michael@0:  * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
michael@0:  * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
michael@0:  * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
michael@0:  * specific language governing permissions and limitations
michael@0:  * under the License.
michael@0:  * ====================================================================
michael@0:  *
michael@0:  * This software consists of voluntary contributions made by many
michael@0:  * individuals on behalf of the Apache Software Foundation.  For more
michael@0:  * information on the Apache Software Foundation, please see
michael@0:  * <http://www.apache.org/>.
michael@0:  *
michael@0:  */
michael@0: 
michael@0: package ch.boye.httpclientandroidlib;
michael@0: 
michael@0: /**
michael@0:  * Represents an HTTP header field.
michael@0:  *
michael@0:  * <p>The HTTP header fields follow the same generic format as
michael@0:  * that given in Section 3.1 of RFC 822. Each header field consists
michael@0:  * of a name followed by a colon (":") and the field value. Field names
michael@0:  * are case-insensitive. The field value MAY be preceded by any amount
michael@0:  * of LWS, though a single SP is preferred.
michael@0:  *
michael@0:  *<pre>
michael@0:  *     message-header = field-name ":" [ field-value ]
michael@0:  *     field-name     = token
michael@0:  *     field-value    = *( field-content | LWS )
michael@0:  *     field-content  = &lt;the OCTETs making up the field-value
michael@0:  *                      and consisting of either *TEXT or combinations
michael@0:  *                      of token, separators, and quoted-string&gt;
michael@0:  *</pre>
michael@0:  *
michael@0:  * @since 4.0
michael@0:  */
michael@0: public interface Header {
michael@0: 
michael@0:     /**
michael@0:      * Get the name of the Header.
michael@0:      *
michael@0:      * @return the name of the Header,  never {@code null}
michael@0:      */
michael@0:     String getName();
michael@0: 
michael@0:     /**
michael@0:      * Get the value of the Header.
michael@0:      *
michael@0:      * @return the value of the Header,  may be {@code null}
michael@0:      */
michael@0:     String getValue();
michael@0: 
michael@0:     /**
michael@0:      * Parses the value.
michael@0:      *
michael@0:      * @return an array of {@link HeaderElement} entries, may be empty, but is never {@code null}
michael@0:      * @throws ParseException
michael@0:      */
michael@0:     HeaderElement[] getElements() throws ParseException;
michael@0: 
michael@0: }