001/* Strategy to be able to switch class loading mechanisms, depending on the needs for a runtime environment.
002
003Copyright (c) 2015-2016 The Regents of the University of California; iSencia Belgium NV.
004All rights reserved.
005
006Permission is hereby granted, without written agreement and without
007license or royalty fees, to use, copy, modify, and distribute this
008software and its documentation for any purpose, provided that the above
009copyright notice and the following two paragraphs appear in all copies
010of this software.
011
012IN NO EVENT SHALL THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIABLE TO ANY PARTY
013FOR DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES
014ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF THIS SOFTWARE AND ITS DOCUMENTATION, EVEN IF
015THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF
016SUCH DAMAGE.
017
018THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTIES,
019INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
020MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. THE SOFTWARE
021PROVIDED HEREUNDER IS ON AN "AS IS" BASIS, AND THE UNIVERSITY OF
022CALIFORNIA HAS NO OBLIGATION TO PROVIDE MAINTENANCE, SUPPORT, UPDATES,
023ENHANCEMENTS, OR MODIFICATIONS.
024
025PT_COPYRIGHT_VERSION_2
026COPYRIGHTENDKEY
027*/
028
029package org.ptolemy.classloading;
030
031import org.ptolemy.commons.VersionSpecification;
032
033import ptolemy.kernel.CompositeEntity;
034
035/**
036 * Strategy to be able to switch class loading mechanisms, depending
037 *  on the needs for a runtime environment (especially for actors and
038 *  other model entities),
039 * <p>
040 * In a "plain" Java SE runtime, a default implementation would use
041 * simple <code>Class.forName()</code> (for Java classes) or local
042 * file-lookup (for actor-oriented classes) or similar.
043 * </p>
044 * <p>
045 * In an OSGi-based runtime, more advanced options can be implemented
046 * to allow dynamic actor class updates, version management etc.
047 * </p>
048 * @author ErwinDL
049 * @version $Id$
050 * @since Ptolemy II 11.0
051 * @Pt.ProposedRating Yellow (ErwinDL)
052 * @Pt.AcceptedRating Yellow (ErwinDL)
053 */
054public interface ClassLoadingStrategy {
055
056    /**
057     * Load a Java class.
058     * @param className The namee of the class.
059     * @param versionSpec The version
060     * @return the Class for the given name.
061     * @exception ClassNotFoundException If the class is not found.
062     */
063    @SuppressWarnings("rawtypes")
064    Class loadJavaClass(String className, VersionSpecification versionSpec)
065            throws ClassNotFoundException;
066
067    /**
068     *  Load an actor-oriented class, which is typically a .moml file.
069     * @param className The namee of the class.
070     * @param versionSpec The version
071     * @return the Class for the given name.
072     * @exception ClassNotFoundException If the class is not found.
073     */
074    CompositeEntity loadActorOrientedClass(String className,
075            VersionSpecification versionSpec) throws ClassNotFoundException;
076}