001////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
002// checkstyle: Checks Java source code for adherence to a set of rules.
003// Copyright (C) 2001-2014  Oliver Burn
004//
005// This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
006// modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
007// License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
008// version 2.1 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
009//
010// This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
011// but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
012// MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
013// Lesser General Public License for more details.
014//
015// You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
016// License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
017// Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307  USA
018////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
019package com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle;
020
021import com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.api.CheckstyleException;
022
023/**
024 * A module factory creates Objects from a given name.
025 * It's purpose is to map the shortnames like
026 * <code>AvoidStarImport</code> to full classnames like
027 * <code>com.puppycrawl.tools.checkstyle.checks.AvoidStarImportCheck</code>.
028 * A ModuleFactory can implement this name resolution by using naming
029 * conventions, fallback strategies, etc.
030 *
031 * @author lkuehne
032 */
033public interface ModuleFactory
034{
035    /**
036     * Creates a new instance of a class from a given name.
037     * If the provided module name is a class name an instance of that class
038     * is returned. If the name is not a class name the ModuleFactory uses
039     * heuristics to find the corresponding class.
040     *
041     * @param name the name of the module, might be a shortname
042     * @return the created module
043     * @throws CheckstyleException if no module can be instantiated from name
044     */
045    Object createModule(String name) throws CheckstyleException;
046}