    001/**
    002 * Copyright (c) 2004-2011 QOS.ch
    003 * All rights reserved.
    004 *
    005 * Permission is hereby granted, free  of charge, to any person obtaining
    006 * a  copy  of this  software  and  associated  documentation files  (the
    007 * "Software"), to  deal in  the Software without  restriction, including
    008 * without limitation  the rights to  use, copy, modify,  merge, publish,
    009 * distribute,  sublicense, and/or sell  copies of  the Software,  and to
    010 * permit persons to whom the Software  is furnished to do so, subject to
    011 * the following conditions:
    012 *
    013 * The  above  copyright  notice  and  this permission  notice  shall  be
    014 * included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
    015 *
    016 * THE  SOFTWARE IS  PROVIDED  "AS  IS", WITHOUT  WARRANTY  OF ANY  KIND,
    017 * EXPRESS OR  IMPLIED, INCLUDING  BUT NOT LIMITED  TO THE  WARRANTIES OF
    018 * MERCHANTABILITY,    FITNESS    FOR    A   PARTICULAR    PURPOSE    AND
    019 * NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE
    020 * LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION
    021 * OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE,  ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION
    022 * WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
    023 *
    024 */
    025package org.slf4j;
    026
    027/**
    028 * Implementations of this interface are used to manufacture {@link Marker}
    029 * instances.
    030 *
    031 * <p>See the section <a href="http://slf4j.org/faq.html#3">Implementing
    032 * the SLF4J API</a> in the FAQ for details on how to make your logging
    033 * system conform to SLF4J.
    034 *
    035 * @author Ceki G&uuml;lc&uuml;
    036 */
    037public interface IMarkerFactory {
    038
    039    /**
    040     * Manufacture a {@link Marker} instance by name. If the instance has been
    041     * created earlier, return the previously created instance.
    042     *
    043     * <p>Null name values are not allowed.
    044     *
    045     * @param name the name of the marker to be created, null value is
    046     * not allowed.
    047     *
    048     * @return a Marker instance
    049     */
    050    Marker getMarker(String name);
    051
    052    /**
    053     * Checks if the marker with the name already exists. If name is null, then false
    054     * is returned.
    055     *
    056     * @param name logger name to check for
    057     * @return true id the marker exists, false otherwise.
    058     */
    059    boolean exists(String name);
    060
    061    /**
    062     * Detach an existing marker.
    063     * <p>
    064     * Note that after a marker is detached, there might still be "dangling" references
    065     * to the detached marker.
    066     *
    067     *
    068     * @param name The name of the marker to detach
    069     * @return whether the marker  could be detached or not
    070     */
    071    boolean detachMarker(String name);
    072
    073    /**
    074     * Create a marker which is detached (even at birth) from this IMarkerFactory.
    075     *
    076     * @param name marker name
    077     * @return a dangling marker
    078     * @since 1.5.1
    079     */
    080    Marker getDetachedMarker(String name);
    081}