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 * Implementations of this interface are used to manufacture {@link Marker}
29 * instances.
30 *
31 * <p>See the section <a href="http://slf4j.org/faq.html#3">Implementing
32 * the SLF4J API</a> in the FAQ for details on how to make your logging
33 * system conform to SLF4J.
34 *
35 * @author Ceki G&uuml;lc&uuml;
36 */
37public interface IMarkerFactory {
38
39    /**
40     * Manufacture a {@link Marker} instance by name. If the instance has been
41     * created earlier, return the previously created instance.
42     *
43     * <p>Null name values are not allowed.
44     *
45     * @param name the name of the marker to be created, null value is
46     * not allowed.
47     *
48     * @return a Marker instance
49     */
50    Marker getMarker(String name);
51
52    /**
53     * Checks if the marker with the name already exists. If name is null, then false
54     * is returned.
55     *
56     * @param name logger name to check for
57     * @return true id the marker exists, false otherwise.
58     */
59    boolean exists(String name);
60
61    /**
62     * Detach an existing marker.
63     * <p>
64     * Note that after a marker is detached, there might still be "dangling" references
65     * to the detached marker.
66     *
67     *
68     * @param name The name of the marker to detach
69     * @return whether the marker  could be detached or not
70     */
71    boolean detachMarker(String name);
72
73    /**
74     * Create a marker which is detached (even at birth) from this IMarkerFactory.
75     *
76     * @param name marker name
77     * @return a dangling marker
78     * @since 1.5.1
79     */
80    Marker getDetachedMarker(String name);
81}
82