1 files changed, 17 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/linguistics/src/main/java/com/yahoo/language/process/Encoder.java b/linguistics/src/main/java/com/yahoo/language/process/Encoder.java
index 91de16f669b..27f73d15e54 100644
--- a/linguistics/src/main/java/com/yahoo/language/process/Encoder.java
+++ b/linguistics/src/main/java/com/yahoo/language/process/Encoder.java
@@ -14,6 +14,9 @@ import java.util.List;
  */
 public interface Encoder {
 
+    /** An instance of this which throws IllegalStateException if attempted used */
+    Encoder throwsOnUse = new FailingEncoder();
+
     /**
      * Encodes text into tokens in a list of ids.
      *
@@ -36,4 +39,18 @@ public interface Encoder {
      */
     Tensor encode(String text, Language language, TensorType tensorType);
 
+    class FailingEncoder implements Encoder {
+
+        @Override
+        public List<Integer> encode(String text, Language language) {
+            throw new IllegalStateException("No encoder has been configured");
+        }
+
+        @Override
+        public Tensor encode(String text, Language language, TensorType tensorType) {
+            throw new IllegalStateException("No encoder has been configured");
+        }
+
+    }
+
 }