1/**
2 * Copyright (c) 2004-2011 QOS.ch
3 * All rights reserved.
4 *
5 * Permission is hereby granted, free  of charge, to any person obtaining
6 * a  copy  of this  software  and  associated  documentation files  (the
7 * "Software"), to  deal in  the Software without  restriction, including
8 * without limitation  the rights to  use, copy, modify,  merge, publish,
9 * distribute,  sublicense, and/or sell  copies of  the Software,  and to
10 * permit persons to whom the Software  is furnished to do so, subject to
11 * the following conditions:
12 *
13 * The  above  copyright  notice  and  this permission  notice  shall  be
14 * included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
15 *
16 * THE  SOFTWARE IS  PROVIDED  "AS  IS", WITHOUT  WARRANTY  OF ANY  KIND,
17 * EXPRESS OR  IMPLIED, INCLUDING  BUT NOT LIMITED  TO THE  WARRANTIES OF
18 * MERCHANTABILITY,    FITNESS    FOR    A   PARTICULAR    PURPOSE    AND
19 * NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE
20 * LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION
21 * OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE,  ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION
22 * WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
23 *
24 */
25package org.slf4j;
26
27/**
28 * <code>ILoggerFactory</code> instances manufacture {@link Logger}
29 * instances by name.
30 *
31 * <p>Most users retrieve {@link Logger} instances through the static
32 * {@link LoggerFactory#getLogger(String)} method. An instance of of this
33 * interface is bound internally with {@link LoggerFactory} class at
34 * compile time.
35 *
36 * @author Ceki G&uuml;lc&uuml;
37 */
38public interface ILoggerFactory {
39
40    /**
41     * Return an appropriate {@link Logger} instance as specified by the
42     * <code>name</code> parameter.
43     *
44     * <p>If the name parameter is equal to {@link Logger#ROOT_LOGGER_NAME}, that is
45     * the string value "ROOT" (case insensitive), then the root logger of the
46     * underlying logging system is returned.
47     *
48     * <p>Null-valued name arguments are considered invalid.
49     *
50     * <p>Certain extremely simple logging systems, e.g. NOP, may always
51     * return the same logger instance regardless of the requested name.
52     *
53     * @param name the name of the Logger to return
54     * @return a Logger instance
55     */
56    public Logger getLogger(String name);
57}
58