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 * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.

 *

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 * 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,

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 *

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package javax.naming.spi;

import java.util.Hashtable;

import javax.naming.*;

/**

  * This interface represents a factory that creates an initial context.

  *<p>

  * The JNDI framework allows for different initial context implementations

  * to be specified at runtime.  The initial context is created using

  * an <em>initial context factory</em>.

  * An initial context factory must implement the InitialContextFactory

  * interface, which provides a method for creating instances of initial

  * context that implement the Context interface.

  * In addition, the factory class must be public and must have a public

  * constructor that accepts no arguments.

  *

  * @author Rosanna Lee

  * @author Scott Seligman

  *

  * @see InitialContextFactoryBuilder

  * @see NamingManager#getInitialContext

  * @see javax.naming.InitialContext

  * @see javax.naming.directory.InitialDirContext

  * @since 1.3

  */

public interface InitialContextFactory {

        /**

          * Creates an Initial Context for beginning name resolution.

          * Special requirements of this context are supplied

          * using <code>environment</code>.

          *<p>

          * The environment parameter is owned by the caller.

          * The implementation will not modify the object or keep a reference

          * to it, although it may keep a reference to a clone or copy.

          *

          * @param environment The possibly null environment

          *             specifying information to be used in the creation

          *             of the initial context.

          * @return A non-null initial context object that implements the Context

          *             interface.

          * @exception NamingException If cannot create an initial context.

          */

        public Context getInitialContext(Hashtable<?,?> environment)

            throws NamingException;

}