1 /* ClassLoaderRepository.java -- Represents a collection of class loadersx.
2    Copyright (C) 2006 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
3 
4 This file is part of GNU Classpath.
5 
6 GNU Classpath is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
7 it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
8 the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option)
9 any later version.
10 
11 GNU Classpath is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
12 WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
13 MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
14 General Public License for more details.
15 
16 You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
17 along with GNU Classpath; see the file COPYING.  If not, write to the
18 Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA
19 02110-1301 USA.
20 
21 Linking this library statically or dynamically with other modules is
22 making a combined work based on this library.  Thus, the terms and
23 conditions of the GNU General Public License cover the whole
24 combination.
25 
26 As a special exception, the copyright holders of this library give you
27 permission to link this library with independent modules to produce an
28 executable, regardless of the license terms of these independent
29 modules, and to copy and distribute the resulting executable under
30 terms of your choice, provided that you also meet, for each linked
31 independent module, the terms and conditions of the license of that
32 module.  An independent module is a module which is not derived from
33 or based on this library.  If you modify this library, you may extend
34 this exception to your version of the library, but you are not
35 obligated to do so.  If you do not wish to do so, delete this
36 exception statement from your version. */
37 
38 package javax.management.loading;
39 
40 /**
41  * Implementations of this interface maintain a list of
42  * {@link ClassLoader}s for use by the management servers,
43  * allowing classes to be loaded by the first {@link ClassLoader}
44  * that will do so.  A class loader is added to the list
45  * whenever a {@link ClassLoader} instance is registered with
46  * the management server, and it does not implement the
47  * {@link PrivateClassLoader} interface.  They are removed when
48  * unregistered.  The first class loader in the list is always
49  * the one which was used to load the management server itself.
50  *
51  * @author Andrew John Hughes (gnu_andrew@member.fsf.org)
52  * @since 1.5
53  * @see MBeanServerFactory
54  */
55 public interface ClassLoaderRepository
56 {
57 
58   /**
59    * Attempts to load the given class using class loaders
60    * supplied by the list.  The {@link ClassLoader#loadClass(String)}
61    * method of each class loader is called.  If the method
62    * returns successfully, then the returned {@link Class} instance
63    * is returned.  If a {@link ClassNotFoundException} is thrown,
64    * then the next loader is tried.  Any other exception thrown
65    * by the method is passed back to the caller.  This method
66    * throws a {@link ClassNotFoundException} itself if all the
67    * class loaders listed prove fruitless.
68    *
69    * @param name the name of the class to load.
70    * @return the loaded class.
71    * @throws ClassNotFoundException if all the class loaders fail
72    *                                to load the class.
73    */
loadClass(String name)74   Class<?> loadClass(String name)
75     throws ClassNotFoundException;
76 
77   /**
78    * <p>
79    * Attempts to load the given class using class loaders
80    * supplied by the list, stopping when the specified
81    * loader is reached.  The {@link ClassLoader#loadClass(String)}
82    * method of each class loader is called.  If the method
83    * returns successfully, then the returned {@link Class} instance
84    * is returned.  If a {@link ClassNotFoundException} is thrown,
85    * then the next loader is tried.  Any other exception thrown
86    * by the method is passed back to the caller.  This method
87    * throws a {@link ClassNotFoundException} itself if all the
88    * class loaders listed prove fruitless.
89    * </p>
90    * <p>
91    * This method is usually used by the class loader specified
92    * by the <code>stop</code> argument to load classes using the
93    * loaders that appear before it in the list.  By stopping when
94    * the loader is reached, the deadlock that occurs when the loader
95    * is merely skipped is avoided.
96    * </p>
97    *
98    * @param stop the class loader at which to stop, or <code>null</code>
99    *             to obtain the same behaviour as {@link #loadClass(String)}.
100    * @param name the name of the class to load.
101    * @return the loaded class.
102    * @throws ClassNotFoundException if all the class loaders fail
103    *                                to load the class.
104    */
loadClassBefore(ClassLoader stop, String name)105   Class<?> loadClassBefore(ClassLoader stop, String name)
106     throws ClassNotFoundException;
107 
108   /**
109    * <p>
110    * Attempts to load the given class using class loaders
111    * supplied by the list, excluding the one specified.
112    * The {@link ClassLoader#loadClass(String)}
113    * method of each class loader is called.  If the method
114    * returns successfully, then the returned {@link Class} instance
115    * is returned.  If a {@link ClassNotFoundException} is thrown,
116    * then the next loader is tried.  Any other exception thrown
117    * by the method is passed back to the caller.  This method
118    * throws a {@link ClassNotFoundException} itself if all the
119    * class loaders listed prove fruitless.
120    * </p>
121    * <p>
122    * Note that this method may deadlock if called simultaneously
123    * by two class loaders in the list.
124    * {@link loadClassBefore(ClassLoader, String)} should be used
125    * in preference to this method to avoid this.
126    * </p>
127    *
128    * @param exclude the class loader to exclude, or <code>null</code>
129    *             to obtain the same behaviour as {@link #loadClass(String)}.
130    * @param name the name of the class to load.
131    * @return the loaded class.
132    * @throws ClassNotFoundException if all the class loaders fail
133    *                                to load the class.
134    */
loadClassWithout(ClassLoader exclude, String name)135   Class<?> loadClassWithout(ClassLoader exclude, String name)
136     throws ClassNotFoundException;
137 
138 }
139