/* This file is part of the KDE libraries
   Copyright (C) 2003 David Faure <faure@kde.org>

   This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
   modify it under the terms of the GNU Library General Public
   License version 2 as published by the Free Software Foundation.

   This library 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
   Library General Public License for more details.

   You should have received a copy of the GNU Library General Public License
   along with this library; see the file COPYING.LIB.  If not, write to
   the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor,
   Boston, MA 02110-1301, USA.
*/

#ifndef KDCOPSERVICESTARTER_H
#define KDCOPSERVICESTARTER_H

#include <tqstring.h>
#include <kstaticdeleter.h>

class KDCOPServiceStarter;
class TQCString;

/**
 * A generic DCOP service starter, using TDETrader.
 * The default implementation starts new processes, but this interface can
 * also be reimplemented by specific applications to provide dlopened in-process DCOP objects.
 * @author David Faure <faure@kde.org>
 */
class TDEIO_EXPORT KDCOPServiceStarter {
    friend class KStaticDeleter<KDCOPServiceStarter>;
public:

    static KDCOPServiceStarter* self();

    /**
     * Check if a given DCOP interface is available - from the serviceType it's supposed to implement.
     *
     * The trader is queried to find the preferred application for this serviceType,
     * with the constraint that its X-DCOP-ServiceName property must be defined.
     * Then the DCOP server is checked. If the service is not available,
     * this method will call startServiceFor to start it.
     *
     * @param serviceType the type of service we're looking for
     * @param constraint see TDETrader
     * @param preferences see TDETrader
     * @param error On failure, @p error contains a description of the error
     *         that occurred. If the pointer is 0, the argument will be
     *         ignored
     * @param dcopService On success, @p dcopService contains the DCOP name
     *         under which this service is available. If the pointer is 0 the argument
     *         will be ignored
     * @param flags for future extensions (currently unused)
     *
     * @return an error code indicating success (== 0) or failure (> 0).
     */
    int findServiceFor( const TQString& serviceType,
                        const TQString& constraint = TQString::null,
                        const TQString& preferences = TQString::null,
                        TQString *error=0, TQCString* dcopService=0,
                        int flags=0 );

    /**
     * Find an implementation of the given @p serviceType,
     * and start it, to use its DCOP interface.
     * The default implementation uses TDETrader to find the preferred Application,
     * and then starts it using kapp->startService...
     *
     * However applications (like kontact) can reimplement this method, to provide
     * an in-process way of loading the implementation for this service type.
     *
     * @param serviceType the type of service we're looking for
     * @param constraint see TDETrader
     * @param preferences see TDETrader
     * @param error On failure, @p error contains a description of the error
     *         that occurred. If the pointer is 0, the argument will be
     *         ignored
     * @param dcopService On success, @p dcopService contains the DCOP name
     *         under which this service is available. If the pointer is 0 the argument
     *         will be ignored
     * @param flags for future extensions (currently unused)
     *
     * @return an error code indicating success (== 0) or failure (> 0).
     */
    virtual int startServiceFor( const TQString& serviceType,
                                 const TQString& constraint = TQString::null,
                                 const TQString& preferences = TQString::null,
                                 TQString *error=0, TQCString* dcopService=0,
                                 int flags=0 );
protected:
    KDCOPServiceStarter();
    virtual ~KDCOPServiceStarter();

private:
    static KDCOPServiceStarter* s_self;
};

#endif