    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 * <code>ILoggerFactory</code> instances manufacture {@link Logger}
    029 * instances by name.
    030 *
    031 * <p>Most users retrieve {@link Logger} instances through the static
    032 * {@link LoggerFactory#getLogger(String)} method. An instance of of this
    033 * interface is bound internally with {@link LoggerFactory} class at
    034 * compile time.
    035 *
    036 * @author Ceki G&uuml;lc&uuml;
    037 */
    038public interface ILoggerFactory {
    039
    040    /**
    041     * Return an appropriate {@link Logger} instance as specified by the
    042     * <code>name</code> parameter.
    043     *
    044     * <p>If the name parameter is equal to {@link Logger#ROOT_LOGGER_NAME}, that is
    045     * the string value "ROOT" (case insensitive), then the root logger of the
    046     * underlying logging system is returned.
    047     *
    048     * <p>Null-valued name arguments are considered invalid.
    049     *
    050     * <p>Certain extremely simple logging systems, e.g. NOP, may always
    051     * return the same logger instance regardless of the requested name.
    052     *
    053     * @param name the name of the Logger to return
    054     * @return a Logger instance
    055     */
    056    public Logger getLogger(String name);
    057}