001    /*
002     * Copyright 2004-2007 Stephen J. McConnell.
003     *
004     * Licensed  under the  Apache License,  Version 2.0  (the "License");
005     * you may not use  this file  except in  compliance with the License.
006     * You may obtain a copy of the License at
007     *
008     *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
009     *
010     * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
011     * distributed  under the  License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
012     * WITHOUT  WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS  OF ANY KIND, either  express  or
013     * implied.
014     *
015     * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
016     * limitations under the License.
017     */
018    
019    package net.dpml.appliance;
020    
021    import java.io.IOException;
022    import java.rmi.Remote;
023    import java.rmi.RemoteException;
024    
025    import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
026    
027    /**
028     * Appliance connector.
029     */
030    public interface ApplianceConnector extends Remote
031    {
032       /**
033        * Connect an appliance to the connector.
034        * @param appliance the appliance 
035        * @exception RemoteException if a remote error occurs
036        */
037        void connect( Appliance appliance ) throws RemoteException;
038        
039       /**
040        * Retrieve the connected appliance.
041        * @param units the timout units
042        * @param timeout duration (in units) to wait for a connection
043        * @return the appliance
044        * @exception IOException if an I/O error occurs
045        */
046        Appliance getAppliance( TimeUnit units, int timeout ) throws IOException;
047        
048    }
049