diff -r 9f0b95aafaa3 -r ed84c8bdd87b src/org/sonews/storage/Storage.java
--- /dev/null	Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 1970 +0000
+++ b/src/org/sonews/storage/Storage.java	Sun Aug 29 17:28:58 2010 +0200
@@ -0,0 +1,150 @@
+/*
+ *   SONEWS News Server
+ *   see AUTHORS for the list of contributors
+ *
+ *   This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ *   it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+ *   the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+ *   (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ *   This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ *   but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ *   MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ *   GNU General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ *   You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ *   along with this program.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+ */
+
+package org.sonews.storage;
+
+import java.util.List;
+import org.sonews.feed.Subscription;
+import org.sonews.util.Pair;
+
+/**
+ * A generic storage backend interface.
+ * @author Christian Lins
+ * @since sonews/1.0
+ */
+public interface Storage
+{
+
+  /**
+   * Stores the given Article in the storage.
+   * @param art
+   * @throws StorageBackendException
+   */
+  void addArticle(Article art)
+    throws StorageBackendException;
+
+  void addEvent(long timestamp, int type, long groupID)
+    throws StorageBackendException;
+
+  void addGroup(String groupname, int flags)
+    throws StorageBackendException;
+
+  int countArticles()
+    throws StorageBackendException;
+
+  int countGroups()
+    throws StorageBackendException;
+
+  void delete(String messageID)
+    throws StorageBackendException;
+
+  Article getArticle(String messageID)
+    throws StorageBackendException;
+
+  Article getArticle(long articleIndex, long groupID)
+    throws StorageBackendException;
+
+  List<Pair<Long, ArticleHead>> getArticleHeads(Group group, long first, long last)
+    throws StorageBackendException;
+
+  List<Pair<Long, String>> getArticleHeaders(Channel channel, long start, long end,
+    String header, String pattern)
+    throws StorageBackendException;
+
+  long getArticleIndex(Article art, Group group)
+    throws StorageBackendException;
+
+  List<Long> getArticleNumbers(long groupID)
+    throws StorageBackendException;
+
+  String getConfigValue(String key)
+    throws StorageBackendException;
+
+  int getEventsCount(int eventType, long startTimestamp, long endTimestamp,
+    Channel channel)
+    throws StorageBackendException;
+
+  double getEventsPerHour(int key, long gid)
+    throws StorageBackendException;
+
+  int getFirstArticleNumber(Group group)
+    throws StorageBackendException;
+
+  Group getGroup(String name)
+    throws StorageBackendException;
+
+  List<Channel> getGroups()
+    throws StorageBackendException;
+
+  /**
+   * Retrieves the collection of groupnames that are associated with the
+   * given list address.
+   * @param inetaddress
+   * @return
+   * @throws StorageBackendException
+   */
+  List<String> getGroupsForList(String listAddress)
+    throws StorageBackendException;
+
+  int getLastArticleNumber(Group group)
+    throws StorageBackendException;
+
+  /**
+   * Returns a list of email addresses that are related to the given
+   * groupname. In most cases the list may contain only one entry.
+   * @param groupname
+   * @return
+   * @throws StorageBackendException
+   */
+  List<String> getListsForGroup(String groupname)
+    throws StorageBackendException;
+
+  String getOldestArticle()
+    throws StorageBackendException;
+
+  int getPostingsCount(String groupname)
+    throws StorageBackendException;
+
+  List<Subscription> getSubscriptions(int type)
+    throws StorageBackendException;
+
+  boolean isArticleExisting(String messageID)
+    throws StorageBackendException;
+
+  boolean isGroupExisting(String groupname)
+    throws StorageBackendException;
+
+  void purgeGroup(Group group)
+    throws StorageBackendException;
+
+  void setConfigValue(String key, String value)
+    throws StorageBackendException;
+
+  /**
+   * Updates headers and channel references of the given article.
+   * @param article
+   * @return
+   * @throws StorageBackendException
+   */
+  boolean update(Article article)
+    throws StorageBackendException;
+
+  boolean update(Group group)
+    throws StorageBackendException;
+
+}