/**
 *    Copyright 2011, Big Switch Networks, Inc.
 *    Originally created by David Erickson, Stanford University
 *
 *    Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may
 *    not use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain
 *    a copy of the License at
 *
 *         http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 *
 *    Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 *    distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
 *    WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
 *    License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
 *    under the License.
 **/

package net.onrc.onos.core.packet;

/**
 * @author David Erickson (daviderickson@cs.stanford.edu).
 */
public interface IPacket {
    /**
     * @return
     */
    public IPacket getPayload();

    /**
     * @param packet
     * @return
     */
    public IPacket setPayload(IPacket packet);

    /**
     * @return
     */
    public IPacket getParent();

    /**
     * @param packet
     * @return
     */
    public IPacket setParent(IPacket packet);

    /**
     * Reset any checksums as needed, and call resetChecksum on all parents.
     */
    public void resetChecksum();

    /**
     * Sets all payloads parent packet if applicable, then serializes this
     * packet and all payloads.
     *
     * @return a byte[] containing this packet and payloads
     */
    public byte[] serialize();

    /**
     * Deserializes this packet layer and all possible payloads.
     *
     * @param data
     * @param offset offset to start deserializing from
     * @param length length of the data to deserialize
     * @return the deserialized data
     */
    public IPacket deserialize(byte[] data, int offset, int length);

    /**
     * Clone this packet and its payload packet but not its parent.
     *
     * @return
     */
    public Object clone();
}