/*
 * Copyright 2001-2004 The Apache Software Foundation.
 * 
 * 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 org.apache.commons.codec;

/**
 * Defines common encoding methods for byte array encoders.
 * 
 * @author Apache Software Foundation
 * @version $Id: BinaryEncoder.java,v 1.10 2004/02/29 04:08:31 tobrien Exp $
 */
public interface BinaryEncoder extends Encoder {
    
    /**
     * Encodes a byte array and return the encoded data
     * as a byte array.
     * 
     * @param pArray Data to be encoded
     *
     * @return A byte array containing the encoded data
     * 
     * @throws EncoderException thrown if the Encoder
     *      encounters a failure condition during the
     *      encoding process.
     */
    byte[] encode(byte[] pArray) throws EncoderException;
}