using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Linq;
using System.Text;
using System.Threading.Tasks;

namespace Tango.BL.Serialization
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Represents an object that defines which properties should not be serialized with the Json serializer.
    /// </summary>
    public interface ISerializableEntity
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// Gets the default serialization strategy.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="flags">The serialization flags.</param>
        /// <returns></returns>
        EntitySerializationStrategy GetDefaultSerializationStrategy(EntitySerializationFlags flags);

        /// <summary>
        /// Converts the entity to a json string using the specified serialization strategy.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="serializationStrategy">The serialization strategy.</param>
        /// <param name="flags">The flags.</param>
        /// <returns></returns>
        String ToJson(EntitySerializationStrategy serializationStrategy, EntitySerializationFlags flags);

        /// <summary>
        /// Converts the entity to a json string using the default serialization strategy.
        /// </summary>
        /// <returns></returns>
        String ToJson();

        /// <summary>
        /// Merges the specified json string into this entity.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="json">The json.</param>
        void PopulateFromJson(String json);
    }
}