/*
 * @(#)ContactInfo.java	1.23 04/06/21
 * 
 * Copyright 2004 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved.
 * SUN PROPRIETARY/CONFIDENTIAL. Use is subject to license terms.
 */

package com.sun.corba.se.pept.transport;

import com.sun.corba.se.pept.broker.Broker;
import com.sun.corba.se.pept.encoding.InputObject;
import com.sun.corba.se.pept.encoding.OutputObject;
import com.sun.corba.se.pept.protocol.MessageMediator;
import com.sun.corba.se.pept.protocol.ClientRequestDispatcher;
import com.sun.corba.se.pept.transport.ConnectionCache;

/**
 * <p>The <b><em>primary</em></b> PEPt client-side plug-in point and enabler
 * for <b><em>altenate encodings, protocols and transports</em></b>.</p>
 *
 * <p><code>ContactInfo</code> is a <em>factory</em> for client-side
 * artifacts used
 * to construct and send a message (and possibly receive and process a
 * response).</p>
 *
 * @author Harold Carr
 */
public interface ContactInfo 
{
    /**
     * The {@link com.sun.corba.se.pept.broker.Broker Broker} associated
     * with an invocation.
     *
     * @return {@link com.sun.corba.se.pept.broker.Broker Broker}
     */
    public Broker getBroker();

    /**
     * The parent
     * {@link com.sun.corba.se.pept.broker.ContactInfoList ContactInfoList}
     * for this <code>ContactInfo</code>.
     *
     * @return
     * {@link com.sun.corba.se.pept.broker.ContactInfoList ContactInfoList}
     */
    public ContactInfoList getContactInfoList();

    /**
     * Used to get a
     * {@link com.sun.corba.se.pept.protocol.ClientRequestDispatcher
     * ClientRequestDispatcher}
     * used to handle the specific <em>protocol</em> represented by this
     * <code>ContactInfo</code>.
     *
     * @return 
     * {@link com.sun.corba.se.pept.protocol.ClientRequestDispatcher
     * ClientRequestDispatcher} */
    public ClientRequestDispatcher getClientRequestDispatcher();

    /**
     * Used to determine if a
     * {@link com.sun.corba.se.pept.transport.Connection Connection}
     * will be present in an invocation.
     *
     * For example, it may be
     * <code>false</code> in the case of shared-memory 
     * <code>Input/OutputObjects</code>.
     *
     * @return <code>true</code> if a 
     * {@link com.sun.corba.se.pept.transport.Connection Connection}
     * will be used for an invocation.
     */
    public boolean isConnectionBased();

    /**
     * Used to determine if the
     * {@link com.sun.corba.se.pept.transport.Connection Connection}
     * used for a request should be cached.
     *
     * If <code>true</code> then PEPt will attempt to reuse an existing
     * {@link com.sun.corba.se.pept.transport.Connection Connection}. If
     * one is not found it will create a new one and cache it for future use.
     *
     *
     * @return <code>true</code> if
     * {@link com.sun.corba.se.pept.transport.Connection Connection}s
     * created by this <code>ContactInfo</code> should be cached.
     */
    public boolean shouldCacheConnection();

    /**
     * PEPt uses separate caches for each type of <code>ContactInfo</code>
     * as given by <code>getConnectionCacheType</code>.
     *
     * @return {@link java.lang.String}
     */
    public String getConnectionCacheType();

    /**
     * Set the
     * {@link com.sun.corba.se.pept.transport.Outbound.ConnectionCache OutboundConnectionCache}
     * to be used by this <code>ContactInfo</code>.
     *
     * PEPt uses separate caches for each type of <code>ContactInfo</code>
     * as given by {@link #getConnectionCacheType}.
     * {@link #setConnectionCache} and {@link #getConnectionCache} support
     * an optimzation to avoid hashing to find that cache.
     *
     * @param connectionCache.
     */
    public void setConnectionCache(OutboundConnectionCache connectionCache);

    /**
     * Get the
     * {@link com.sun.corba.se.pept.transport.Outbound.ConnectionCache OutboundConnectionCache}
     * used by this <code>ContactInfo</code>
     *
     * PEPt uses separate caches for each type of <code>ContactInfo</code>
     * as given by {@link #getConnectionCacheType}.
     * {@link #setConnectionCache} and {@link #getConnectionCache} support
     * an optimzation to avoid hashing to find that cache.
     *
     * @return 
     * {@link com.sun.corba.se.pept.transport.ConnectionCache ConnectionCache}
     */
    public OutboundConnectionCache getConnectionCache();

    /**
     * Used to get a
     * {@link com.sun.corba.se.pept.transport.Connection Connection}
     * to send and receive messages on the specific <em>transport</em>
     * represented by this <code>ContactInfo</code>.
     *
     * @return 
     * {@link com.sun.corba.se.pept.transport.Connection Connection}
     */
    public Connection createConnection();

    /**
     * Used to get a
     * {@link com.sun.corba.se.pept.protocol.MessageMeidator MessageMediator}
     * to hold internal data for a message to be sent using the specific
     * encoding, protocol, transport combination represented by this
     * <code>ContactInfo</code>.
     *
     * @return 
     * {@link com.sun.corba.se.pept.protocol.MessageMediator MessageMediator}
     */
    public MessageMediator createMessageMediator(Broker broker, 
						 ContactInfo contactInfo,
						 Connection connection,
						 String methodName,
						 boolean isOneWay);

    /**
     * Used to get a
     * {@link com.sun.corba.se.pept.protocol.MessageMeidator MessageMediator}
     * to hold internal data for a message received using the specific
     * encoding, protocol, transport combination represented by this
     * <code>ContactInfo</code>.
     *
     * @return 
     * {@link com.sun.corba.se.pept.protocol.MessageMeidator MessageMediator}
     */
    public MessageMediator createMessageMediator(Broker broker,
						 Connection connection);

    /**
     * Used to finish creating a
     * {@link com.sun.corba.se.pept.protocol.MessageMeidator MessageMediator}
     * with internal data for a message received using the specific
     * encoding, protocol, transport combination represented by this
     * <code>ContactInfo</code>.
     *
     * @return 
     * {@link com.sun.corba.se.pept.protocol.MessageMediator MessageMediator}
     */
    public MessageMediator finishCreatingMessageMediator(Broker broker,
                                                         Connection connection,
						         MessageMediator messageMediator);

    /**
     * Used to get a
     * {@link com.sun.corba.se.pept.encoding.InputObject InputObject}
     * for the specific <em>encoding</em> represented by this
     * <code>ContactInfo</code>.
     *
     * @return 
     * {@link com.sun.corba.se.pept.encoding.InputObject InputObject}
     */
    public InputObject createInputObject(Broker broker,
					 MessageMediator messageMediator);

    /**
     * Used to get a
     * {@link com.sun.corba.se.pept.encoding.OutputObject OutputObject}
     * for the specific <em>encoding</em> represented by this
     * <code>ContactInfo</code>.
     *
     * @return 
     * {@link com.sun.corba.se.pept.encoding.OutputObject OutputObject}
     */
    public OutputObject createOutputObject(MessageMediator messageMediator);

    /**
     * Used to lookup artifacts associated with this <code>ContactInfo</code>.
     *
     * @return the hash value.
     */
    public int hashCode();
}

// End of file.