    // @(#)root/cont:$Name:  $:$Id: TVirtualCollectionProxy.h,v 1.2 2004/02/18 07:28:02 brun Exp $
    // Author: Philippe Canal 20/08/2003

    /*************************************************************************
     * Copyright (C) 1995-2003, Rene Brun, Fons Rademakers and al.           *
     * All rights reserved.                                                  *
     *                                                                       *
     * For the licensing terms see $ROOTSYS/LICENSE.                         *
     * For the list of contributors see $ROOTSYS/README/CREDITS.             *
     *************************************************************************/

    #ifndef Root_TVirtualCollectionProxy_h
    #define Root_TVirtualCollectionProxy_h

    //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
    //                                                                      //
    // TVirtualCollectionProxy                                              //
    //                                                                      //
    // Virtual interface of a proxy object for a collection class           //
    // In particular this is used to implement splitting, emulation,        //
    // and TTreeFormula access to STL containers.                           //
    //                                                                      //
    //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

    #include "TClass.h"
    #include "TObjArray.h"
    #include "TStreamer.h"
    #include "TDataType.h"

    class TVirtualCollectionProxy {
    protected:
       TClass *fClass;

    public:
       TVirtualCollectionProxy() : fClass(0) {};
       TVirtualCollectionProxy(TClass *cl) : fClass(cl) {};

       virtual TVirtualCollectionProxy* Generate() const = 0; // Returns an object of the actual CollectionProxy class
       virtual ~TVirtualCollectionProxy() {};

       virtual TClass   *GetCollectionClass() { return fClass; } // Return a pointer to the TClass representing the container

       virtual void     *New() const { return fClass==0?0:fClass->New(); }                 // Return a new container object
       virtual void     *New(void *arena) const { return fClass==0?0:fClass->New(arena); } // Execute the container constructor

       virtual UInt_t    Sizeof() const = 0; // Return the sizeof the collection object.

       virtual void      SetProxy(void *objstart) = 0; // Set the address of the container being proxied

       virtual void    **GetPtrArray() = 0;            // Return a contiguous array of pointer to the values in the container (used for splitting)

       virtual Bool_t    HasPointers() const = 0; // Return true if the content is of type 'pointer to'

       virtual TClass   *GetValueClass() = 0;     // Return a pointer to the TClass representing the content.
       virtual EDataType GetType() = 0;           // If the content is a simple numerical value, return its type (see TDataType)

       virtual void     *At(UInt_t idx) = 0;                       // Return the address of the value at index 'idx'
       virtual void      Clear(const char *opt = "") = 0;          // Clear the container
       virtual void      Resize(UInt_t n, Bool_t forceDelete) = 0; // Resize the container
       virtual UInt_t    Size() const = 0;                         // Return the current size of the container

       virtual void      Streamer(TBuffer &b) = 0;                 // Stream the proxied container
    };

    #endif // Root_TVirtualCollectionProxy_h