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Java > Open Source Codes > org > springframework > webflow > context > ExternalContext


1 /*
2  * Copyright 2002-2006 the original author or authors.
3  *
4  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
5  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
6  * You may obtain a copy of the License at
7  *
8  * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
9  *
10  * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
11  * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
12  * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
13  * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
14  * limitations under the License.
15  */
16 package org.springframework.webflow.context;
17
18 import org.springframework.webflow.core.collection.MutableAttributeMap;
19 import org.springframework.webflow.core.collection.ParameterMap;
20 import org.springframework.webflow.core.collection.SharedAttributeMap;
21
22 /**
23  * A facade that provides normalized access to an external system that has
24  * interacted with Spring Web Flow.
25  * <p>
26  * This context object provides a normalized interface for internal web flow
27  * artifacts to use to reason on and manipulate the state of an external actor
28  * calling into SWF to execute flows. It represents the context about a single,
29  * <i>external</i> client request to manipulate a flow execution.
30  * <p>
31  * The design of this interface was inspired by JSF's own ExternalContext
32  * abstraction and shares the same name for consistency. If a particular
33  * external client type does not support all methods defined by this interface,
34  * they can just be implemented as returning an empty map or <code>null</code>.
35  *
36  * @author Keith Donald
37  * @author Erwin Vervaet
38  */
39 public interface ExternalContext {
40
41     /**
42      * Returns the path (or identifier) of the application that is executing.
43      * @return the application context path (e.g. "/myapp")
44      */
45     public String JavaDoc getContextPath();
46
47     /**
48      * Returns the path (or identifier) of the dispatcher <i>within</i> the
49      * application that dispatched this request.
50      * @return the dispatcher path (e.g. "/dispatcher")
51      */
52     public String JavaDoc getDispatcherPath();
53
54     /**
55      * Returns the path info of this external request. Could be null.
56      * @return the request path info (e.g. "/flows.htm")
57      */
58     public String JavaDoc getRequestPathInfo();
59
60     /**
61      * Provides access to the parameters associated with the user request that
62      * led to SWF being called. This map is expected to be immutable and cannot
63      * be changed.
64      * @return the immutable request parameter map
65      */
66     public ParameterMap getRequestParameterMap();
67
68     /**
69      * Provides access to the external request attribute map, providing a
70      * storage for data local to the current user request and accessible to both
71      * internal and external SWF artifacts.
72      * @return the mutable request attribute map
73      */
74     public MutableAttributeMap getRequestMap();
75
76     /**
77      * Provides access to the external session map, providing a storage for data
78      * local to the current user session and accessible to both internal and
79      * external SWF artifacts.
80      * @return the mutable session attribute map
81      */
82     public SharedAttributeMap getSessionMap();
83
84     /**
85      * Provides access to the <i>global</i> external session map, providing a storage for data
86      * globally accross the user session and accessible to both internal and
87      * external SWF artifacts.
88      * <p>
89      * Note: most external context implementations do not distinguish between the concept of a
90      * "local" user session scope and a "global" session scope. The Portlet world does, but
91      * not the Servlet for example. In those cases calling this method returns the same
92      * map as calling {@link #getSessionMap()}.
93      * @return the mutable global session attribute map
94      */
95     public SharedAttributeMap getGlobalSessionMap();
96     
97     /**
98      * Provides access to the external application map, providing a storage for
99      * data local to the current user application and accessible to both
100      * internal and external SWF artifacts.
101      * @return the mutable application attribute map
102      */
103     public SharedAttributeMap getApplicationMap();
104
105 }
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