ca.uhn.hl7v2.protocol.Initiator Maven / Gradle / Ivy
/*
* Created on 16-Apr-2004
*/
package ca.uhn.hl7v2.protocol;
import java.util.List;
import ca.uhn.hl7v2.HL7Exception;
import ca.uhn.hl7v2.model.Message;
import ca.uhn.hl7v2.parser.Parser;
/**
* A convenient way for the initiator of a message exchange to send a
* message to a remote server and await the response in the same thread.
*
* Acknowledgements, threading, and accept-level retries are handled by
* an associated Processor.
*
* Recall that acknowledgement requirements are specified in MSH fields 15
* and 16 (see HL7 v2.5 chapter 2), so the sender has control. If no response is
* needed, and you would like this call to return right away, specify that no
* acknowledgements are required.
*
* @author Bryan Tripp
* @version $Revision: 1.1 $ updated on $Date: 2007/02/19 02:24:38 $ by $Author: jamesagnew $
*/
public interface Initiator {
/**
* Encodes a message, sends it to a remote system, awaits the response,
* parses it, and returns it. The response may be null if the message doesn't
* require an application-level acknowledgement.
*
* @param theMessage the message to send to the remote system
* @return the response from the remote system
*/
public Message sendAndReceive(Message theMessage) throws HL7Exception;
/**
* @return the Parser that is used to encode outbound messages
* and parse inbound ones. It may be of interest to set certain parameters
* of this parser, for example whether to use XML encoding.
*/
public Parser getParser();
/**
* @return the Processor instance that is used to perform the message
* exchange
*/
public Processor getUnderlyingProcessor();
/**
* @return the list of fields that will be included as metadata when a Message
* is converted to a Transportable. Each field is a Terser
* path (type String).
*/
public List getMetadataFields();
}