1 /*
2 * Copyright 2012 The Netty Project
3 *
4 * The Netty Project licenses this file to you under the Apache License,
5 * version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
6 * with the License. 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, WITHOUT
12 * WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
13 * License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations
14 * under the License.
15 */
16 package io.netty.channel;
17
18 import io.netty.util.Attribute;
19 import io.netty.util.AttributeKey;
20
21 import java.lang.annotation.Documented;
22 import java.lang.annotation.ElementType;
23 import java.lang.annotation.Inherited;
24 import java.lang.annotation.Retention;
25 import java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy;
26 import java.lang.annotation.Target;
27
28 /**
29 * Handles or intercepts a {@link ChannelInboundInvoker} or {@link ChannelOutboundInvoker} operation, and forwards it
30 * to the next handler in a {@link ChannelPipeline}.
31 *
32 * <h3>Sub-types</h3>
33 * <p>
34 * {@link ChannelHandler} itself does not provide many methods. To handle a
35 * a {@link ChannelInboundInvoker} or {@link ChannelOutboundInvoker} operation
36 * you need to implement its sub-interfaces. There are many different sub-interfaces
37 * which handles inbound and outbound operations.
38 *
39 * But the most useful for developers may be:
40 * <ul>
41 * <li>{@link ChannelInboundHandlerAdapter} handles and intercepts inbound operations</li>
42 * <li>{@link ChannelOutboundHandlerAdapter} handles and intercepts outbound operations</li>
43 * </ul>
44 *
45 * You will also find more detailed explanation from the documentation of
46 * each sub-interface on how an event is interpreted when it goes upstream and
47 * downstream respectively.
48 *
49 * <h3>The context object</h3>
50 * <p>
51 * A {@link ChannelHandler} is provided with a {@link ChannelHandlerContext}
52 * object. A {@link ChannelHandler} is supposed to interact with the
53 * {@link ChannelPipeline} it belongs to via a context object. Using the
54 * context object, the {@link ChannelHandler} can pass events upstream or
55 * downstream, modify the pipeline dynamically, or store the information
56 * (using {@link AttributeKey}s) which is specific to the handler.
57 *
58 * <h3>State management</h3>
59 *
60 * A {@link ChannelHandler} often needs to store some stateful information.
61 * The simplest and recommended approach is to use member variables:
62 * <pre>
63 * public interface Message {
64 * // your methods here
65 * }
66 *
67 * public class DataServerHandler extends {@link SimpleChannelInboundHandler}<Message> {
68 *
69 * <b>private boolean loggedIn;</b>
70 *
71 * {@code @Override}
72 * public void channelRead0({@link ChannelHandlerContext} ctx, Message message) {
73 * {@link Channel} ch = e.getChannel();
74 * if (message instanceof LoginMessage) {
75 * authenticate((LoginMessage) message);
76 * <b>loggedIn = true;</b>
77 * } else (message instanceof GetDataMessage) {
78 * if (<b>loggedIn</b>) {
79 * ch.write(fetchSecret((GetDataMessage) message));
80 * } else {
81 * fail();
82 * }
83 * }
84 * }
85 * ...
86 * }
87 * </pre>
88 * Because the handler instance has a state variable which is dedicated to
89 * one connection, you have to create a new handler instance for each new
90 * channel to avoid a race condition where a unauthenticated client can get
91 * the confidential information:
92 * <pre>
93 * // Create a new handler instance per channel.
94 * // See {@link ChannelInitializer#initChannel(Channel)}.
95 * public class DataServerInitializer extends {@link ChannelInitializer}<{@link Channel}> {
96 * {@code @Override}
97 * public void initChannel({@link Channel} channel) {
98 * channel.pipeline().addLast("handler", <b>new DataServerHandler()</b>);
99 * }
100 * }
101 *
102 * </pre>
103 *
104 * <h4>Using {@link AttributeKey}</h4>
105 *
106 * Although it's recommended to use member variables to store the state of a
107 * handler, for some reason you might not want to create many handler instances.
108 * In such a case, you can use {@link AttributeKey}s which is provided by
109 * {@link ChannelHandlerContext}:
110 * <pre>
111 * public interface Message {
112 * // your methods here
113 * }
114 *
115 * {@code @Sharable}
116 * public class DataServerHandler extends {@link SimpleChannelInboundHandler}<Message> {
117 * private final {@link AttributeKey}<{@link Boolean}> auth =
118 * {@link AttributeKey#valueOf(String) AttributeKey.valueOf("auth")};
119 *
120 * {@code @Override}
121 * public void channelRead({@link ChannelHandlerContext} ctx, Message message) {
122 * {@link Attribute}<{@link Boolean}> attr = ctx.attr(auth);
123 * {@link Channel} ch = ctx.channel();
124 * if (message instanceof LoginMessage) {
125 * authenticate((LoginMessage) o);
126 * <b>attr.set(true)</b>;
127 * } else (message instanceof GetDataMessage) {
128 * if (<b>Boolean.TRUE.equals(attr.get())</b>) {
129 * ch.write(fetchSecret((GetDataMessage) o));
130 * } else {
131 * fail();
132 * }
133 * }
134 * }
135 * ...
136 * }
137 * </pre>
138 * Now that the state of the handler isattached to the {@link ChannelHandlerContext}, you can add the
139 * same handler instance to different pipelines:
140 * <pre>
141 * public class DataServerInitializer extends {@link ChannelInitializer}<{@link Channel}> {
142 *
143 * private static final DataServerHandler <b>SHARED</b> = new DataServerHandler();
144 *
145 * {@code @Override}
146 * public void initChannel({@link Channel} channel) {
147 * channel.pipeline().addLast("handler", <b>SHARED</b>);
148 * }
149 * }
150 * </pre>
151 *
152 *
153 * <h4>The {@code @Sharable} annotation</h4>
154 * <p>
155 * In the example above which used an {@link AttributeKey},
156 * you might have noticed the {@code @Sharable} annotation.
157 * <p>
158 * If a {@link ChannelHandler} is annotated with the {@code @Sharable}
159 * annotation, it means you can create an instance of the handler just once and
160 * add it to one or more {@link ChannelPipeline}s multiple times without
161 * a race condition.
162 * <p>
163 * If this annotation is not specified, you have to create a new handler
164 * instance every time you add it to a pipeline because it has unshared state
165 * such as member variables.
166 * <p>
167 * This annotation is provided for documentation purpose, just like
168 * <a href="http://www.javaconcurrencyinpractice.com/annotations/doc/">the JCIP annotations</a>.
169 *
170 * <h3>Additional resources worth reading</h3>
171 * <p>
172 * Please refer to the {@link ChannelHandler}, and
173 * {@link ChannelPipeline} to find out more about inbound and outbound operations,
174 * what fundamental differences they have, how they flow in a pipeline, and how to handle
175 * the operation in your application.
176 */
177 public interface ChannelHandler {
178
179 /**
180 * Gets called after the {@link ChannelHandler} was added to the actual context and it's ready to handle events.
181 */
182 void handlerAdded(ChannelHandlerContext ctx) throws Exception;
183
184 /**
185 * Gets called after the {@link ChannelHandler} was removed from the actual context and it doesn't handle events
186 * anymore.
187 */
188 void handlerRemoved(ChannelHandlerContext ctx) throws Exception;
189
190 /**
191 * Gets called if a {@link Throwable} was thrown.
192 *
193 * @deprecated is part of {@link ChannelInboundHandler}
194 */
195 @Deprecated
196 void exceptionCaught(ChannelHandlerContext ctx, Throwable cause) throws Exception;
197
198 /**
199 * Indicates that the same instance of the annotated {@link ChannelHandler}
200 * can be added to one or more {@link ChannelPipeline}s multiple times
201 * without a race condition.
202 * <p>
203 * If this annotation is not specified, you have to create a new handler
204 * instance every time you add it to a pipeline because it has unshared
205 * state such as member variables.
206 * <p>
207 * This annotation is provided for documentation purpose, just like
208 * <a href="http://www.javaconcurrencyinpractice.com/annotations/doc/">the JCIP annotations</a>.
209 */
210 @Inherited
211 @Documented
212 @Target(ElementType.TYPE)
213 @Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
214 @interface Sharable {
215 // no value
216 }
217 }