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org.apache.bsf
public interface: BSFEngine [javadoc | source]

All Implemented Interfaces:
    PropertyChangeListener

All Known Implementing Classes:
    JavaClassEngine, JythonEngine, JPythonEngine, XSLTEngine, ActiveScriptEngine, JavaEngine, JaclEngine, NetRexxEngine, JavaScriptEngine, BSFEngineImpl

This is the view of a scripting engine assumed by the Bean Scripting Framework. This interface is used when an application decides to run some script under application control. (This is the reverse of the more common situation, which is that of the scripting language calling into the application.)

When a scripting engine is first fired up, the initialize() method is called right after construction.

A scripting engine must provide two access points for applications to call into them: via function calls and via expression evaluation. It must also support loading scripts.

A scripting engine is a property change listener and will be notified when any of the relevant properties of the manager change. (See BSFManager to see which of its properties are bound.)

Method from org.apache.bsf.BSFEngine Summary:
apply,   call,   compileApply,   compileExpr,   compileScript,   declareBean,   eval,   exec,   iexec,   initialize,   terminate,   undeclareBean
Method from org.apache.bsf.BSFEngine Detail:
 public Object apply(String source,
    int lineNo,
    int columnNo,
    Object funcBody,
    Vector paramNames,
    Vector arguments) throws BSFException
    This is used by an application to invoke an anonymous function. An anonymous function is a multi-line script which when evaluated will produce a value. These are separated from expressions and scripts because the prior are spsed to be good 'ol expressions and scripts are not value returning. We allow anonymous functions to have parameters as well for completeness.
 public Object call(Object object,
    String name,
    Object[] args) throws BSFException
    This is used by an application to call into the scripting engine to make a function/method call. The "object" argument is the object whose method is to be called, if that applies. For non-OO languages, this is typically ignored and should be given as null. For pretend-OO languages such as VB, this would be the (String) name of the object. The arguments are given in the args array.
 public  void compileApply(String source,
    int lineNo,
    int columnNo,
    Object funcBody,
    Vector paramNames,
    Vector arguments,
    CodeBuffer cb) throws BSFException
    This is used by an application to compile an anonymous function. See comments in apply for more hdetails.
 public  void compileExpr(String source,
    int lineNo,
    int columnNo,
    Object expr,
    CodeBuffer cb) throws BSFException
    This is used by an application to compile a value-returning expression. The expr may be string or some other type, depending on the language. The generated code is dumped into the CodeBuffer.
 public  void compileScript(String source,
    int lineNo,
    int columnNo,
    Object script,
    CodeBuffer cb) throws BSFException
    This is used by an application to compile some script. The script may be string or some other type, depending on the language. The generated code is dumped into the CodeBuffer.
 public  void declareBean(BSFDeclaredBean bean) throws BSFException
    Declare a bean after the engine has been started. Declared beans are beans that are named and which the engine must make available to the scripts it runs in the most first class way possible.
 public Object eval(String source,
    int lineNo,
    int columnNo,
    Object expr) throws BSFException
    This is used by an application to evaluate an expression. The expression may be string or some other type, depending on the language. (For example, for BML it'll be an org.w3c.dom.Element object.)
 public  void exec(String source,
    int lineNo,
    int columnNo,
    Object script) throws BSFException
    This is used by an application to execute some script. The expression may be string or some other type, depending on the language. Returns nothing but if something goes wrong it excepts (of course).
 public  void iexec(String source,
    int lineNo,
    int columnNo,
    Object script) throws BSFException
    This is used by an application to execute some script, as though one were interacting with the language in an interactive session. The expression may be string or some other type, depending on the language. Returns nothing but if something goes wrong it excepts (of course).
 public  void initialize(BSFManager mgr,
    String lang,
    Vector declaredBeans) throws BSFException
    This method is used to initialize the engine right after construction. This method will be called before any calls to eval or call. At this time the engine should capture the current values of interesting properties from the manager. In the future, any changes to those will be mirrored to me by the manager via a property change event.
 public  void terminate()
    Graceful termination
 public  void undeclareBean(BSFDeclaredBean bean) throws BSFException
    Undeclare a previously declared bean.