001/**
002 * Copyright (c) 2004-2011 QOS.ch
003 * All rights reserved.
004 *
005 * Permission is hereby granted, free  of charge, to any person obtaining
006 * a  copy  of this  software  and  associated  documentation files  (the
007 * "Software"), to  deal in  the Software without  restriction, including
008 * without limitation  the rights to  use, copy, modify,  merge, publish,
009 * distribute,  sublicense, and/or sell  copies of  the Software,  and to
010 * permit persons to whom the Software  is furnished to do so, subject to
011 * the following conditions:
012 *
013 * The  above  copyright  notice  and  this permission  notice  shall  be
014 * included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
015 *
016 * THE  SOFTWARE IS  PROVIDED  "AS  IS", WITHOUT  WARRANTY  OF ANY  KIND,
017 * EXPRESS OR  IMPLIED, INCLUDING  BUT NOT LIMITED  TO THE  WARRANTIES OF
018 * MERCHANTABILITY,    FITNESS    FOR    A   PARTICULAR    PURPOSE    AND
019 * NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE
020 * LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION
021 * OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE,  ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION
022 * WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
023 *
024 */
025package org.slf4j;
026
027/**
028 * <code>ILoggerFactory</code> instances manufacture {@link Logger}
029 * instances by name.
030 * 
031 * <p>Most users retrieve {@link Logger} instances through the static
032 * {@link LoggerFactory#getLogger(String)} method. An instance of this
033 * interface is bound internally with {@link LoggerFactory} class at 
034 * compile time. 
035 * 
036 * @author Ceki G&uuml;lc&uuml;
037 */
038public interface ILoggerFactory {
039
040    /**
041     * Return an appropriate {@link Logger} instance as specified by the
042     * <code>name</code> parameter.
043     * 
044     * <p>If the name parameter is equal to {@link Logger#ROOT_LOGGER_NAME}, that is 
045     * the string value "ROOT" (case insensitive), then the root logger of the 
046     * underlying logging system is returned.
047     * 
048     * <p>Null-valued name arguments are considered invalid.
049     *
050     * <p>Certain extremely simple logging systems, e.g. NOP, may always
051     * return the same logger instance regardless of the requested name.
052     * 
053     * @param name the name of the Logger to return
054     * @return a Logger instance 
055     */
056    public Logger getLogger(String name);
057}