/*
 * Copyright 2002-2016 the original author or authors.
 *
 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
 *
 *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 *
 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 * limitations under the License.
 */

package org.springframework.beans.factory;

import org.springframework.beans.BeansException;

/**
 * A variant of {@link ObjectFactory} designed specifically for injection points,
 * allowing for programmatic optionality and lenient not-unique handling.
 *
 * @author Juergen Hoeller
 * @since 4.3
 */
public interface ObjectProvider<T> extends ObjectFactory<T> {

	/**
	 * Return an instance (possibly shared or independent) of the object
	 * managed by this factory.
	 * <p>Allows for specifying explicit construction arguments, along the
	 * lines of {@link BeanFactory#getBean(String, Object...)}.
	 * @param args arguments to use when creating a corresponding instance
	 * @return an instance of the bean
	 * @throws BeansException in case of creation errors
	 * @see #getObject()
	 */
	T getObject(Object... args) throws BeansException;

	/**
	 * Return an instance (possibly shared or independent) of the object
	 * managed by this factory.
	 * @return an instance of the bean, or {@code null} if not available
	 * @throws BeansException in case of creation errors
	 * @see #getObject()
	 */
	T getIfAvailable() throws BeansException;

	/**
	 * Return an instance (possibly shared or independent) of the object
	 * managed by this factory.
	 * @return an instance of the bean, or {@code null} if not available or
	 * not unique (i.e. multiple candidates found with none marked as primary)
	 * @throws BeansException in case of creation errors
	 * @see #getObject()
	 */
	T getIfUnique() throws BeansException;

}
