//
// $Id$
//
// Narya library - tools for developing networked games
// Copyright (C) 2002-2010 Three Rings Design, Inc., All Rights Reserved
// http://code.google.com/p/narya/
//
// This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
// under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published
// by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2.1 of the License, or
// (at your option) any later version.
//
// This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
// Lesser General Public License for more details.
//
// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
// License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
// Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA

package com.threerings.presents.dobj;

/**
 * The distributed object manager is responsible for managing the creation and destruction of
 * distributed objects and propagating dobj events to the appropriate subscribers. On the client,
 * objects are managed as proxies to the real objects managed by the server, so attribute change
 * requests are forwarded to the server and events coming down from the server are delivered to the
 * local subscribers. On the server, the objects are managed directly.
 */
public interface DObjectManager
{
    /**
     * Returns true if this distributed object manager is the authoritative manager for the
     * specified distributed object, or fals if we are only providing a proxy to the object.
     */
    boolean isManager (DObject object);

    /**
     * Requests that the specified subscriber be subscribed to the object identified by the
     * supplied object id. That subscriber will be notified when the object is available or if the
     * subscription request failed.
     *
     * @param oid The object id of the distributed object to which subscription is desired.
     * @param target The subscriber to be subscribed.
     *
     * @see Subscriber#objectAvailable
     * @see Subscriber#requestFailed
     */
    <T extends DObject> void subscribeToObject (int oid, Subscriber<T> target);

    /**
     * Requests that the specified subscriber be unsubscribed from the object identified by the
     * supplied object id.
     *
     * @param oid The object id of the distributed object from which unsubscription is desired.
     * @param target The subscriber to be unsubscribed.
     */
    <T extends DObject> void unsubscribeFromObject (int oid, Subscriber<T> target);

    /**
     * Posts a distributed object event into the system. Instead of requesting the modification of
     * a distributed object attribute by calling the setter for that attribute on the object
     * itself, an <code>AttributeChangedEvent</code> can be constructed and posted directly. This
     * is true for all event types and is useful for situations where one doesn't have access to
     * the object in question, but needs to affect some event.
     *
     * <p> This event will be forwarded to the ultimate manager of the object (on the client, this
     * means it will be forwarded to the server) where it will be checked for validity and then
     * applied to the object and dispatched to all its subscribers.
     *
     * @param event The event to be dispatched.
     */
    void postEvent (DEvent event);

    /**
     * When a distributed object removes its last subscriber, it will call this function to let the
     * object manager know. The manager might then choose to flush this object from the system or
     * unregister from some upstream manager whose object it was proxying, for example.
     */
    void removedLastSubscriber (DObject obj, boolean deathWish);
}