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      1 /*
      2  * Copyright (c) 2007, 2011, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
      3  * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
      4  *
      5  * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
      6  * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as
      7  * published by the Free Software Foundation.  Oracle designates this
      8  * particular file as subject to the "Classpath" exception as provided
      9  * by Oracle in the LICENSE file that accompanied this code.
     10  *
     11  * This code is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
     12  * ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
     13  * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License
     14  * version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that
     15  * accompanied this code).
     16  *
     17  * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License version
     18  * 2 along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
     19  * Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
     20  *
     21  * Please contact Oracle, 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood Shores, CA 94065 USA
     22  * or visit www.oracle.com if you need additional information or have any
     23  * questions.
     24  */
     25 
     26 package java.nio.file;
     27 
     28 import java.util.List;
     29 
     30 /**
     31  * A token representing the registration of a {@link Watchable watchable} object
     32  * with a {@link WatchService}.
     33  *
     34  * <p> A watch key is created when a watchable object is registered with a watch
     35  * service. The key remains {@link #isValid valid} until:
     36  * <ol>
     37  *   <li> It is cancelled, explicitly, by invoking its {@link #cancel cancel}
     38  *     method, or</li>
     39  *   <li> Cancelled implicitly, because the object is no longer accessible,
     40  *     or </li>
     41  *   <li> By {@link WatchService#close closing} the watch service. </li>
     42  * </ol>
     43  *
     44  * <p> A watch key has a state. When initially created the key is said to be
     45  * <em>ready</em>. When an event is detected then the key is <em>signalled</em>
     46  * and queued so that it can be retrieved by invoking the watch service's {@link
     47  * WatchService#poll() poll} or {@link WatchService#take() take} methods. Once
     48  * signalled, a key remains in this state until its {@link #reset reset} method
     49  * is invoked to return the key to the ready state. Events detected while the
     50  * key is in the signalled state are queued but do not cause the key to be
     51  * re-queued for retrieval from the watch service. Events are retrieved by
     52  * invoking the key's {@link #pollEvents pollEvents} method. This method
     53  * retrieves and removes all events accumulated for the object. When initially
     54  * created, a watch key has no pending events. Typically events are retrieved
     55  * when the key is in the signalled state leading to the following idiom:
     56  *
     57  * <pre>
     58  *     for (;;) {
     59  *         // retrieve key
     60  *         WatchKey key = watcher.take();
     61  *
     62  *         // process events
     63  *         for (WatchEvent&lt;?&gt; event: key.pollEvents()) {
     64  *             :
     65  *         }
     66  *
     67  *         // reset the key
     68  *         boolean valid = key.reset();
     69  *         if (!valid) {
     70  *             // object no longer registered
     71  *         }
     72  *     }
     73  * </pre>
     74  *
     75  * <p> Watch keys are safe for use by multiple concurrent threads. Where there
     76  * are several threads retrieving signalled keys from a watch service then care
     77  * should be taken to ensure that the {@code reset} method is only invoked after
     78  * the events for the object have been processed. This ensures that one thread
     79  * is processing the events for an object at any time.
     80  *
     81  * @since 1.7
     82  */
     83 
     84 public interface WatchKey {
     85 
     86     /**
     87      * Tells whether or not this watch key is valid.
     88      *
     89      * <p> A watch key is valid upon creation and remains until it is cancelled,
     90      * or its watch service is closed.
     91      *
     92      * @return  {@code true} if, and only if, this watch key is valid
     93      */
     94     boolean isValid();
     95 
     96     /**
     97      * Retrieves and removes all pending events for this watch key, returning
     98      * a {@code List} of the events that were retrieved.
     99      *
    100      * <p> Note that this method does not wait if there are no events pending.
    101      *
    102      * @return  the list of the events retrieved; may be empty
    103      */
    104     List<WatchEvent<?>> pollEvents();
    105 
    106     /**
    107      * Resets this watch key.
    108      *
    109      * <p> If this watch key has been cancelled or this watch key is already in
    110      * the ready state then invoking this method has no effect. Otherwise
    111      * if there are pending events for the object then this watch key is
    112      * immediately re-queued to the watch service. If there are no pending
    113      * events then the watch key is put into the ready state and will remain in
    114      * that state until an event is detected or the watch key is cancelled.
    115      *
    116      * @return  {@code true} if the watch key is valid and has been reset, and
    117      *          {@code false} if the watch key could not be reset because it is
    118      *          no longer {@link #isValid valid}
    119      */
    120     boolean reset();
    121 
    122     /**
    123      * Cancels the registration with the watch service. Upon return the watch key
    124      * will be invalid. If the watch key is enqueued, waiting to be retrieved
    125      * from the watch service, then it will remain in the queue until it is
    126      * removed. Pending events, if any, remain pending and may be retrieved by
    127      * invoking the {@link #pollEvents pollEvents} method after the key is
    128      * cancelled.
    129      *
    130      * <p> If this watch key has already been cancelled then invoking this
    131      * method has no effect.  Once cancelled, a watch key remains forever invalid.
    132      */
    133     void cancel();
    134 
    135     /**
    136      * Returns the object for which this watch key was created. This method will
    137      * continue to return the object even after the key is cancelled.
    138      *
    139      * <p> As the {@code WatchService} is intended to map directly on to the
    140      * native file event notification facility (where available) then many of
    141      * details on how registered objects are watched is highly implementation
    142      * specific. When watching a directory for changes for example, and the
    143      * directory is moved or renamed in the file system, there is no guarantee
    144      * that the watch key will be cancelled and so the object returned by this
    145      * method may no longer be a valid path to the directory.
    146      *
    147      * @return the object for which this watch key was created
    148      */
    149     Watchable watchable();
    150 }
    151