com.wm.security.auth
Interface ModuleFactory

public interface ModuleFactory

You use this interface to register a pluggable authentication module on the webMethods Integration Server.

A single instance of a ModuleFactory is registered for a particular authentication token type. At run time, tokens are passed to the ModuleFactory that is registered for that token type. (The Integration Server produces token types "basic" and "x.509").

To register an instance of a ModuleFactory, you must do the following:

    ModuleFactory factory = new YourModuleFactory();
    com.wm.app.b2b.server.AuthenticationManager.registerMechanism("basic", factory);

The factory can be unregistered by calling:

    com.wm.app.b2b.server.AuthenticationManager.unregisterMechanism("basic");

You can automate the registeration and deregistration process using startup and shutdown services. For details, see "Customizing Authentication" in the webMethods Integration Server Administrator's Guide.

The factory interface allows you to manage the way in which instances of an authentication module are returned. Depending on your situation, you may want to implement the getInstance method in one of the following ways:

• On creation of the factory, create one instance of the corresponding authentication module. Always return this instance. This is useful for situations where the module contains thread-safe code.
• Implement an object-pooling scheme within the factory or module to minimize use of external resources.
• Return a new instance of the corresponding authentication module. This approach should be avoided in most cases, because it can cause contention for system resources if the authentication module interacts with another system across a network and, on high-volume systems, places a heavy load on the VM garbage collector.

See Also:

Module, Token

Method Summary

Module

getInstance() Returns an instance of an authentication module.

Method Detail

getInstance

Module getInstance()

Returns an instance of an authentication module.

Returns:

A Module that processes authentication information.