// jTDS JDBC Driver for Microsoft SQL Server and Sybase
// Copyright (C) 2004 The jTDS Project
//
// This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
// modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
// License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
// version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
//
// This library 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
// Lesser General Public License for more details.
//
// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
// License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
// Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307  USA
//
package net.sourceforge.jtds.jdbc.cache;

import java.util.Collection;

/**
 * Interface for a statement cache. Abstraction of the caching mechanism by use
 * of this interface will allow developers to create custom caching schemes
 * that are optimal for their specific applications. Any synchronization
 * required by an implementation should utilize the implementing object for the
 * lock.
 * <p>
 * There are two types of attributes that the cache is concerned with:
 * <dl>
 *   <dt>statement key</dt>
 *   <dd><code>String</code> generated from the SQL query for which the
 *     prepared statement was created, the database name and the parameter
 *     types; this key uniquely identifies a server-side preparation of the
 *     statement and is used to retrieve the handle of the statement when it
 *     needs to be executed</dd>
 *   <dd>temporary procedure name or <code>sp_prepare</code> or
 *     <code>sp_cursorprepare</code> handle on the server; one
 *     <code>PreparedStatement</code> can map to multiple handles, depending on
 *     the types of the parameters it is called with (hence the need to be able
 *     to map both keys and SQL strings to handles)</dd>
 * </dl>
 * The cache can retrieve statement handles using statement keys.
 * <p>
 * The caching types provided by jTDS should be:
 * <ul>
 *   <li>Arbitrary first un-latched (initial default until other caches are
 *     implemented)</li>
 *   <li>Fast caching (never latches and never releases handles)</li>
 *   <li>FIFO</li>
 *   <li>LRU</li>
 *   <li>No caching</li>
 *   <li>Touch Count / Most Frequently Used</li>
 * </ul>
 *
 * @author Brian Heineman
 * @version $Id: StatementCache.java,v 1.4 2004/10/26 12:53:36 alin_sinpalean Exp $
 */
public interface StatementCache {
	/**
	 * Returns a statement handle associated with the specified key or
     * <code>null</code> if the key specified does not have an associated
     * statement handle.
	 *
     * @param key the statement key whose associated handle is to be returned
     * @return statement handle
	 */
	public Object get(String key);

	/**
	 * Places the specified statement handle in the cache for the given key. If
	 * a key already exists in the cache, the handle will be overwritten.
	 *
     * @param key the statement key to associated with the handle
     * @param handle the statement handle
     */
	public void put(String key, Object handle);

	/**
	 * Removes a statement key and handle from the cache for the specified key.
	 *
     * @param key the statement key whose associated handle is to be removed
     *            from the cache
	 */
	public void remove(String key);

	/**
	 * Returns a <code>Collection</code> of obsolete statement handles that may
     * be released, or <code>null</code> if no statement handles are obsolete.
	 *
     * @param handles the statement handles that are no longer being used
	 * @return <code>Collection</code> of obsolete statement handles to be
     *         removed
	 */
	public Collection getObsoleteHandles(Collection handles);
}
