    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    }