/*
 * Copyright (c) 2005, 2006, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
 * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
 *
 * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
 * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as
 * published by the Free Software Foundation.  Oracle designates this
 * particular file as subject to the "Classpath" exception as provided
 * by Oracle in the LICENSE file that accompanied this code.
 *
 * This code 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 General Public License
 * version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that
 * accompanied this code).
 *
 * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License version
 * 2 along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
 * Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
 *
 * Please contact Oracle, 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood Shores, CA 94065 USA
 * or visit www.oracle.com if you need additional information or have any
 * questions.
 */

package javax.xml.ws;


/** The <code>Binding</code> interface is the base interface
 *  for JAX-WS protocol bindings.
 *
 *  @since JAX-WS 2.0
**/
public interface Binding {

   /** 
    * Gets a copy of the handler chain for a protocol binding instance.
    * If the returned chain is modified a call to <code>setHandlerChain</code>
    * is required to configure the binding instance with the new chain.
    *
    *  @return java.util.List&lt;Handler> Handler chain
    */
    public java.util.List<javax.xml.ws.handler.Handler> getHandlerChain();

   /** 
    * Sets the handler chain for the protocol binding instance.
    *
    *  @param chain    A List of handler configuration entries
    *  @throws WebServiceException On an error in the configuration of
    *                  the handler chain
    *  @throws java.lang.UnsupportedOperationException If this
    *          operation is not supported. This may be done to
    *          avoid any overriding of a pre-configured handler
    *          chain.
    */
    public void setHandlerChain(java.util.List<javax.xml.ws.handler.Handler> chain);

    /** 
     * Get the URI for this binding instance. 
     *
     * @return String The binding identifier for the port.
     *    Never returns <code>null</code>
     *
     * @since JAX-WS 2.1
     */
    String getBindingID();      
}
