indexing
	description: "[
		Data structures of the most general kind,
		used to hold zero or more items.
	]"
	status: "See notice at end of class"
	names: access
	access: membership
	contents: generic
	date: "$Date$"
	revision: "$Revision$"

deferred class interface
	CONTAINER [G]

feature -- Access

	has (v: G): BOOLEAN
			-- Does structure include v?
			-- (Reference or object equality,
			-- based on object_comparison.)
		ensure
			not_found_in_empty: Result implies not is_empty

feature -- Status report

	changeable_comparison_criterion: BOOLEAN
			-- May object_comparison be changed?
			-- (Answer: yes by default.)

	is_empty: BOOLEAN
			-- Is there no element?

	object_comparison: BOOLEAN
			-- Must search operations use equal rather than =
			-- for comparing references? (Default: no, use =.)

feature -- Status setting

	compare_objects
			-- Ensure that future search operations will use equal
			-- rather than = for comparing references.
		require
			changeable_comparison_criterion
		ensure
			object_comparison

	compare_references
			-- Ensure that future search operations will use =
			-- rather than equal for comparing references.
		require
			changeable_comparison_criterion
		ensure
			reference_comparison: not object_comparison

feature -- Conversion

	linear_representation: LINEAR [G]
			-- Representation as a linear structure

invariant

		-- from ANY
	reflexive_equality: standard_is_equal (Current)
	reflexive_conformance: conforms_to (Current)

indexing
	library: "[
			EiffelBase: Library of reusable components for Eiffel.
	]"
	status: "[
			Copyright 1986-2001 Interactive Software Engineering (ISE).
			For ISE customers the original versions are an ISE product
			covered by the ISE Eiffel license and support agreements.
	]"
	license: "[
			EiffelBase may now be used by anyone as FREE SOFTWARE to
			develop any product, public-domain or commercial, without
			payment to ISE, under the terms of the ISE Free Eiffel Library
			License (IFELL) at http://eiffel.com/products/base/license.html.
	]"
	source: "[
			Interactive Software Engineering Inc.
			ISE Building
			360 Storke Road, Goleta, CA 93117 USA
			Telephone 805-685-1006, Fax 805-685-6869
			Electronic mail <info@eiffel.com>
			Customer support http://support.eiffel.com
	]"
	info: "[
			For latest info see award-winning pages: http://eiffel.com
	]"

end -- class CONTAINER