/**
* Fortika - Robust Group Communication
* Copyright (C) 2002-2006 Sergio Mena de la Cruz (EPFL) (sergio.mena@epfl.ch)
*
* This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
* it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
* the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
* (at your option) any later version.
*
* This program 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 General Public License for more details.
*
* You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
* along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
* Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA
*/
package framework.libraries;
import uka.transport.Transportable;
/**
* This interface represents the framework library implementing timers.
* All protocols that need timers must accept an instance of a class implementing
* this interface. This instance is usually passed as a parameter in the protocol
* constructor.
*/
public interface Timer {
/**
* Schedules a timer event to be triggered after the amount of time passed
* in the third parameter. When this period of time has passed by, the
* timer library must trigger a timer event including the first parameter of this
* method.
*
* Timers can be non-periodic: the timer event is triggered at most once. Then,
* it is immediately canceled. Timers can also be periodic: they are re-scheduled
* every time they expire, until the protocol cancels them.
*
* There is no guarantee in the maximum amount of time between the scheduling
* operation and the triggering of the timer event. The only guarantee is in the
* minimum amount of time.
*
* @param key The parameter that will be attached to the timer event when it is triggered
* @param periodic Indicates whether this timer is periodic or non-periodic
* @param time The lapse, in milliseconds, before triggering the timer event
*/
public void schedule(Transportable key, boolean periodic, int time);
/**
* Cancels a previously set timer. If the timer event was allready triggered, this method
* has no effect.
*
* @param key The parameter that was passed as first argument (of equivalent:
* equals method would return <b>true</b>) when the timer was scheduled
*/
public void cancel(Transportable key);
/**
* Resets a previously set timer to zero. The achieved effect is as though the timer had just been
* scheduled for the fisrt time.
*
* @param key The parameter that was passed as first argument (of equivalent:
* equals method would return <b>true</b>) when the timer was scheduled
*/
public void reset(Transportable key);
}