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}