001    // Copyright 2006, 2007, 2008 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.tapestry5.services;
016    
017    import org.apache.tapestry5.ioc.annotations.UsesOrderedConfiguration;
018    
019    import java.io.IOException;
020    
021    /**
022     * A dispatcher is responsible for recognizing an incoming request. Dispatchers form an ordered chain of command, with
023     * each dispatcher responsible for recognizing requests that it can process.  This is the interface for the
024     * MasterDispatcher service, which takes an ordered configuration of Dispatchers (that is, the chain of command
025     * pattern). If no dispatcher processes the request, it will utltimately be passed off to the servlet container.
026     */
027    @UsesOrderedConfiguration(Dispatcher.class)
028    public interface Dispatcher
029    {
030        /**
031         * Analyzes the incoming request and performs an appropriate operation for each.
032         *
033         * @return true if a response was delivered, false if the dispatcher did not handle the request (and a search for a
034         *         handler should continue)
035         */
036        boolean dispatch(Request request, Response response) throws IOException;
037    }