/*
* Copyright 2004, 2005, 2006 Acegi Technology Pty Limited
*
* Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
* you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
* You may obtain a copy of the License at
*
* http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
*
* Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
* distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
* WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
* See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
* limitations under the License.
*/
package org.springframework.security.access;
import java.io.Serializable;
import org.springframework.security.access.intercept.RunAsManager;
/**
* Stores a security system related configuration attribute.
*
* <p>
* When an
* {@link org.springframework.security.access.intercept.AbstractSecurityInterceptor} is
* set up, a list of configuration attributes is defined for secure object patterns. These
* configuration attributes have special meaning to a {@link RunAsManager},
* {@link AccessDecisionManager} or <code>AccessDecisionManager</code> delegate.
*
* <p>
* Stored at runtime with other <code>ConfigAttribute</code>s for the same secure object
* target.
*
* @author Ben Alex
*/
public interface ConfigAttribute extends Serializable {
// ~ Methods
// ========================================================================================================
/**
* If the <code>ConfigAttribute</code> can be represented as a <code>String</code> and
* that <code>String</code> is sufficient in precision to be relied upon as a
* configuration parameter by a {@link RunAsManager}, {@link AccessDecisionManager} or
* <code>AccessDecisionManager</code> delegate, this method should return such a
* <code>String</code>.
* <p>
* If the <code>ConfigAttribute</code> cannot be expressed with sufficient precision
* as a <code>String</code>, <code>null</code> should be returned. Returning
* <code>null</code> will require any relying classes to specifically support the
* <code>ConfigAttribute</code> implementation, so returning <code>null</code> should
* be avoided unless actually required.
*
* @return a representation of the configuration attribute (or <code>null</code> if
* the configuration attribute cannot be expressed as a <code>String</code> with
* sufficient precision).
*/
String getAttribute();
}