Module java.naming

Interface ObjectFactory

All Known Subinterfaces:
DirObjectFactory

public interface ObjectFactory
This interface represents a factory for creating an object.

The JNDI framework allows for object implementations to be loaded in dynamically via object factories. For example, when looking up a printer bound in the name space, if the print service binds printer names to References, the printer Reference could be used to create a printer object, so that the caller of lookup can directly operate on the printer object after the lookup.

An ObjectFactory is responsible for creating objects of a specific type. In the above example, you may have a PrinterObjectFactory for creating Printer objects.

An object factory must implement the ObjectFactory interface. In addition, the factory class must be public and must have a public constructor that accepts no parameters. Note that in cases where the factory is in a named module then it must be in a package which is exported by that module to the java.naming module.

The getObjectInstance() method of an object factory may be invoked multiple times, possibly using different parameters. The implementation is thread-safe.

The mention of URL in the documentation for this class refers to a URL string as defined by RFC 1738 and its related RFCs. It is any string that conforms to the syntax described therein, and may not always have corresponding support in the java.net.URL class or Web browsers.

Since:
1.3
See Also: