## org.apache.catalina.tribes
Interface Channel

All Known Subinterfaces:
  ManagedChannel

All Known Implementing Classes:
  GroupChannel

    public interface Channel

Channel interface
A channel is a representation of a group of nodes all participating in some sort of communication with each other.
The channel is the main API class for Tribes, this is essentially the only class that an application needs to be aware of. Through the channel the application can:
1. send messages
2. receive message (by registering a `ChannelListener`
3. get all members of the group `getMembers()`
4. receive notifications of members added and members disappeared by registerering a `MembershipListener`
The channel has 5 major components:
1. Data receiver, with a built in thread pool to receive messages from other peers
2. Data sender, an implementation for sending data using NIO or java.io
3. Membership listener,listens for membership broadcasts
4. Membership broadcaster, broadcasts membership pings.
5. Channel interceptors, the ability to manipulate messages as they are sent or arrive
The channel layout is:

      ChannelListener_1..ChannelListener_N MembershipListener_1..MembershipListener_N [Application Layer]
                \          \                  /                   /
                 \          \                /                   /
                  \          \              /                   /
                   \          \            /                   /
                    \          \          /                   /
                     \          \        /                   /
                      ---------------------------------------
                                      |
                                      |
                                   Channel
                                      |
                             ChannelInterceptor_1
                                      |                                               [Channel stack]
                             ChannelInterceptor_N
                                      |
                                 Coordinator (implements MessageListener,MembershipListener,ChannelInterceptor)
                              --------------------
                             /        |           \
                            /         |            \
                           /          |             \
                          /           |              \
                         /            |               \
               MembershipService ChannelSender ChannelReceiver                        [IO layer]

For example usage @see org.apache.catalina.tribes.group.GroupChannel

Version:
  $Revision: 467222 $, $Date: 2006-10-24 05:17:11 +0200 (Tue, 24 Oct 2006) $
Author:
  Filip Hanik

Field Summary
`static int` `DEFAULT` Start and stop sequences can be controlled by these constants This allows you to start separate components of the channel DEFAULT - starts or stops all components in the channel
`static int` `MBR_RX_SEQ` Start and stop sequences can be controlled by these constants This allows you to start separate components of the channel MBR_RX_SEQ - starts or stops the membership listener.
`static int` `MBR_TX_SEQ` Start and stop sequences can be controlled by these constants This allows you to start separate components of the channel MBR_TX_SEQ - starts or stops the membership broadcaster.
`static int` `SEND_OPTIONS_ASYNCHRONOUS` Send options, when a message is sent, it can have an option flag to trigger certain behavior.
`static int` `SEND_OPTIONS_BYTE_MESSAGE` Send options, when a message is sent, it can have an option flag to trigger certain behavior.
`static int` `SEND_OPTIONS_DEFAULT` Send options, when a message is sent, it can have an option flag to trigger certain behavior.
`static int` `SEND_OPTIONS_SECURE` Send options, when a message is sent, it can have an option flag to trigger certain behavior.
`static int` `SEND_OPTIONS_SYNCHRONIZED_ACK` Send options, when a message is sent, it can have an option flag to trigger certain behavior.
`static int` `SEND_OPTIONS_USE_ACK` Send options, when a message is sent, it can have an option flag to trigger certain behavior.
`static int` `SND_RX_SEQ` Start and stop sequences can be controlled by these constants This allows you to start separate components of the channel SND_RX_SEQ - starts or stops the data receiver.
`static int` `SND_TX_SEQ` Start and stop sequences can be controlled by these constants This allows you to start separate components of the channel SND_TX_SEQ - starts or stops the data sender.

Method Summary
`void` `addChannelListener(ChannelListener listener)` Add a channel listener, this is a callback object when messages are received If the channel listener implements the Heartbeat interface the `heartbeat()` method will be invoked when the heartbeat runs on the channel
`void` `addInterceptor(ChannelInterceptor interceptor)` Adds an interceptor to the channel message chain.
`void` `addMembershipListener(MembershipListener listener)` Add a membership listener, will get notified when a new member joins, leaves or crashes If the membership listener implements the Heartbeat interface the `heartbeat()` method will be invoked when the heartbeat runs on the channel
`Member` `getLocalMember(boolean incAlive)` Return the member that represents this node.
`Member` `getMember(Member mbr)` Returns the member from the membership service with complete and recent data.
`Member[]` `getMembers()` Get all current group members
`boolean` `hasMembers()` Returns true if there are any members in the group, this call is the same as `getMembers().length>0`
`void` `heartbeat()` Sends a heart beat through the interceptor stacks Use this method to alert interceptors and other components to clean up garbage, timed out messages etc.
`void` `removeChannelListener(ChannelListener listener)` remove a channel listener, listeners are removed based on Object.hashCode and Object.equals
`void` `removeMembershipListener(MembershipListener listener)` remove a membership listener, listeners are removed based on Object.hashCode and Object.equals
`UniqueId` `send(Member[] destination, java.io.Serializable msg, int options)` Send a message to one or more members in the cluster
`UniqueId` `send(Member[] destination, java.io.Serializable msg, int options, ErrorHandler handler)` Send a message to one or more members in the cluster
`void` `setHeartbeat(boolean enable)` Enables or disables internal heartbeat.
`void` `start(int svc)` Starts up the channel.
`void` `stop(int svc)` Shuts down the channel.

Field Detail

### DEFAULT

    static final int DEFAULT

  Start and stop sequences can be controlled by these constants This allows you to start separate components of the channel
  DEFAULT - starts or stops all components in the channel

  See Also:
    `start(int)`, `stop(int)`, Constant Field Values

### SND_RX_SEQ

    static final int SND_RX_SEQ

  Start and stop sequences can be controlled by these constants This allows you to start separate components of the channel
  SND_RX_SEQ - starts or stops the data receiver. Start means opening a server socket in case of a TCP implementation

  See Also:
    `start(int)`, `stop(int)`, Constant Field Values

### SND_TX_SEQ

    static final int SND_TX_SEQ

  Start and stop sequences can be controlled by these constants This allows you to start separate components of the channel
  SND_TX_SEQ - starts or stops the data sender. This should not open any sockets, as sockets are opened on demand when a message is being sent

  See Also:
    `start(int)`, `stop(int)`, Constant Field Values

### MBR_RX_SEQ

    static final int MBR_RX_SEQ

  Start and stop sequences can be controlled by these constants This allows you to start separate components of the channel
  MBR_RX_SEQ - starts or stops the membership listener. In a multicast implementation this will open a datagram socket and join a group and listen for membership messages members joining

  See Also:
    `start(int)`, `stop(int)`, Constant Field Values

### MBR_TX_SEQ

    static final int MBR_TX_SEQ

  Start and stop sequences can be controlled by these constants This allows you to start separate components of the channel
  MBR_TX_SEQ - starts or stops the membership broadcaster. In a multicast implementation this will open a datagram socket and join a group and broadcast the local member information

  See Also:
    `start(int)`, `stop(int)`, Constant Field Values

### SEND_OPTIONS_BYTE_MESSAGE

    static final int SEND_OPTIONS_BYTE_MESSAGE

  Send options, when a message is sent, it can have an option flag to trigger certain behavior. Most flags are used to trigger channel interceptors as the message passes through the channel stack.
  However, there are five default flags that every channel implementation must implement
  SEND_OPTIONS_BYTE_MESSAGE - The message is a pure byte message and no marshalling or unmarshalling will be performed.

  See Also:
    `send(Member[], Serializable , int)`, `send(Member[], Serializable, int, ErrorHandler)`, Constant Field Values

### SEND_OPTIONS_USE_ACK

    static final int SEND_OPTIONS_USE_ACK

  Send options, when a message is sent, it can have an option flag to trigger certain behavior. Most flags are used to trigger channel interceptors as the message passes through the channel stack.
  However, there are five default flags that every channel implementation must implement
  SEND_OPTIONS_USE_ACK - Message is sent and an ACK is received when the message has been received by the recipient
  If no ack is received, the message is not considered successful

  See Also:
    `send(Member[], Serializable , int)`, `send(Member[], Serializable, int, ErrorHandler)`, Constant Field Values

### SEND_OPTIONS_SYNCHRONIZED_ACK

    static final int SEND_OPTIONS_SYNCHRONIZED_ACK

  Send options, when a message is sent, it can have an option flag to trigger certain behavior. Most flags are used to trigger channel interceptors as the message passes through the channel stack.
  However, there are five default flags that every channel implementation must implement
  SEND_OPTIONS_SYNCHRONIZED_ACK - Message is sent and an ACK is received when the message has been received and processed by the recipient
  If no ack is received, the message is not considered successful

  See Also:
    `send(Member[], Serializable , int)`, `send(Member[], Serializable, int, ErrorHandler)`, Constant Field Values

### SEND_OPTIONS_ASYNCHRONOUS

    static final int SEND_OPTIONS_ASYNCHRONOUS

  Send options, when a message is sent, it can have an option flag to trigger certain behavior. Most flags are used to trigger channel interceptors as the message passes through the channel stack.
  However, there are five default flags that every channel implementation must implement
  SEND_OPTIONS_ASYNCHRONOUS - Message is sent and an ACK is received when the message has been received and processed by the recipient
  If no ack is received, the message is not considered successful

  See Also:
    `send(Member[], Serializable , int)`, `send(Member[], Serializable, int, ErrorHandler)`, Constant Field Values

### SEND_OPTIONS_SECURE

    static final int SEND_OPTIONS_SECURE

  Send options, when a message is sent, it can have an option flag to trigger certain behavior. Most flags are used to trigger channel interceptors as the message passes through the channel stack.
  However, there are five default flags that every channel implementation must implement
  SEND_OPTIONS_SECURE - Message is sent over an encrypted channel

  See Also:
    `send(Member[], Serializable , int)`, `send(Member[], Serializable, int, ErrorHandler)`, Constant Field Values

### SEND_OPTIONS_DEFAULT

    static final int SEND_OPTIONS_DEFAULT

  Send options, when a message is sent, it can have an option flag to trigger certain behavior. Most flags are used to trigger channel interceptors as the message passes through the channel stack.
  However, there are five default flags that every channel implementation must implement
  SEND_OPTIONS_DEFAULT - the default sending options, just a helper variable.
  The default is `int SEND_OPTIONS_DEFAULT = SEND_OPTIONS_USE_ACK;`

  See Also:
    `SEND_OPTIONS_USE_ACK`, `send(Member[], Serializable , int)`, `send(Member[], Serializable, int, ErrorHandler)`, Constant Field Values

Method Detail

### addInterceptor

    void addInterceptor(ChannelInterceptor interceptor)

  Adds an interceptor to the channel message chain.

  Parameters:
    `interceptor` - ChannelInterceptor

### start

    void start(int svc)
               throws ChannelException

  Starts up the channel. This can be called multiple times for individual services to start The svc parameter can be the logical or value of any constants

  Parameters:
    `svc` - int value of
    DEFAULT - will start all services
    MBR_RX_SEQ - starts the membership receiver
    MBR_TX_SEQ - starts the membership broadcaster
    SND_TX_SEQ - starts the replication transmitter
    SND_RX_SEQ - starts the replication receiver
    Note: In order for the membership broadcaster to transmit the correct information, it has to be started after the replication receiver.
  Throws:
    `ChannelException` - if a startup error occurs or the service is already started or an error occurs.

### stop

    void stop(int svc)
              throws ChannelException

  Shuts down the channel. This can be called multiple times for individual services to shutdown The svc parameter can be the logical or value of any constants

  Parameters:
    `svc` - int value of
    DEFAULT - will shutdown all services
    MBR_RX_SEQ - stops the membership receiver
    MBR_TX_SEQ - stops the membership broadcaster
    SND_TX_SEQ - stops the replication transmitter
    SND_RX_SEQ - stops the replication receiver
  Throws:
    `ChannelException` - if a startup error occurs or the service is already stopped or an error occurs.

### send

    UniqueId send(Member[] destination,
                  java.io.Serializable msg,
                  int options)
                  throws ChannelException

  Send a message to one or more members in the cluster

  Parameters:
    `destination` - Member[] - the destinations, can not be null or zero length, the reason for that is that a membership change can occur and at that time the application is uncertain what group the message actually got sent to.
    `msg` - Serializable - the message to send, has to be serializable, or a `ByteMessage` to send a pure byte array
    `options` - int - sender options, see class documentation for each interceptor that is configured in order to trigger interceptors
  Returns:
    a unique Id that identifies the message that is sent
  Throws:
    `ChannelException`
  See Also:
    `ByteMessage`, `SEND_OPTIONS_USE_ACK`, `SEND_OPTIONS_ASYNCHRONOUS`, `SEND_OPTIONS_SYNCHRONIZED_ACK`

### send

    UniqueId send(Member[] destination,
                  java.io.Serializable msg,
                  int options,
                  ErrorHandler handler)
                  throws ChannelException

  Send a message to one or more members in the cluster

  Parameters:
    `destination` - Member[] - the destinations, null or zero length means all
    `msg` - ClusterMessage - the message to send
    `options` - int - sender options, see class documentation
    `handler` - ErrorHandler - handle errors through a callback, rather than throw it
  Returns:
    a unique Id that identifies the message that is sent
  Throws:
    `ChannelException` - - if a serialization error happens.

### heartbeat

    void heartbeat()

  Sends a heart beat through the interceptor stacks Use this method to alert interceptors and other components to clean up garbage, timed out messages etc.
  If you application has a background thread, then you can save one thread, by configuring your channel to not use an internal heartbeat thread and invoking this method.

  See Also:
    `setHeartbeat(boolean)`

### setHeartbeat

    void setHeartbeat(boolean enable)

  Enables or disables internal heartbeat.

  Parameters:
    `enable` - boolean - default value is implementation specific
  See Also:
    `heartbeat()`

### addMembershipListener

    void addMembershipListener(MembershipListener listener)

  Add a membership listener, will get notified when a new member joins, leaves or crashes
  If the membership listener implements the Heartbeat interface the `heartbeat()` method will be invoked when the heartbeat runs on the channel

  Parameters:
    `listener` - MembershipListener
  See Also:
    `MembershipListener`

### addChannelListener

    void addChannelListener(ChannelListener listener)

  Add a channel listener, this is a callback object when messages are received
  If the channel listener implements the Heartbeat interface the `heartbeat()` method will be invoked when the heartbeat runs on the channel

  Parameters:
    `listener` - ChannelListener
  See Also:
    `ChannelListener`, `Heartbeat`

### removeMembershipListener

    void removeMembershipListener(MembershipListener listener)

  remove a membership listener, listeners are removed based on Object.hashCode and Object.equals

  Parameters:
    `listener` - MembershipListener
  See Also:
    `MembershipListener`

### removeChannelListener

    void removeChannelListener(ChannelListener listener)

  remove a channel listener, listeners are removed based on Object.hashCode and Object.equals

  Parameters:
    `listener` - ChannelListener
  See Also:
    `ChannelListener`

### hasMembers

    boolean hasMembers()

  Returns true if there are any members in the group, this call is the same as `getMembers().length>0`

  Returns:
    boolean - true if there are any members automatically discovered

### getMembers

    Member[] getMembers()

  Get all current group members

  Returns:
    all members or empty array, never null

### getLocalMember

    Member getLocalMember(boolean incAlive)

  Return the member that represents this node. This is also the data that gets broadcasted through the membership broadcaster component

  Parameters:
    `incAlive` - - optimization, true if you want it to calculate alive time since the membership service started.
  Returns:
    Member

### getMember

    Member getMember(Member mbr)

  Returns the member from the membership service with complete and recent data. Some implementations might serialize and send membership information along with a message, and instead of sending complete membership details, only send the primary identifier for the member but not the payload or other information. When such message is received the application can retrieve the cached member through this call.
  In most cases, this is not necessary.

  Parameters:
    `mbr` - Member
  Returns:
    Member

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