001    // Copyright 2004, 2005 The Apache Software Foundation
002    //
003    // Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
004    // you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
005    // You may obtain a copy of the License at
006    //
007    //     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
008    //
009    // Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
010    // distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
011    // WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
012    // See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
013    // limitations under the License.
014    
015    package org.apache.hivemind.service;
016    
017    /**
018     * Service used when dynamically creating new classes.
019     * 
020     * @author Howard Lewis Ship
021     */
022    public interface ClassFactory
023    {
024        /**
025         * Creates a {@link ClassFab} object for the given name; the new class is a subclass of the
026         * indicated class. The new class is public and concrete.
027         * <p>
028         * <b>Incompatible change from 1.0: The module parameter has been removed. </b>
029         * 
030         * @param name
031         *            the full qualified name of the class to create
032         * @param superClass
033         *            the parent class, which is often java.lang.Object
034         */
035    
036        ClassFab newClass(String name, Class superClass);
037    
038        /**
039         * Creates a new {@link org.apache.hivemind.service.InterfaceFab} object with the given name.
040         * 
041         * @since 1.1
042         */
043    
044        InterfaceFab newInterface(String name);
045    
046        /**
047         * Returns the number of classes (and interfaces) actually created.
048         * 
049         * @since 1.2
050         */
051    
052        int getCreatedClassCount();
053    }