/* Copyright 2004, 2005, 2006 Acegi Technology Pty Limited

  *

  * 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.acegisecurity;

 /**

  * Processes an {@link Authentication} request.

  *

  * @author Ben Alex

  * @version $Id: AuthenticationManager.java 1784 2007-02-24 21:00:24Z luke_t $

  */

 public interface AuthenticationManager {

     //~ Methods ========================================================================================================

     /**

      * Attempts to authenticate the passed {@link Authentication} object, returning a fully populated

      * <code>Authentication</code> object (including granted authorities) if successful.<p>An

      * <code>AuthenticationManager</code> must honour the following contract concerning exceptions:</p>

      *  <p>A {@link DisabledException} must be thrown if an account is disabled and the

      * <code>AuthenticationManager</code> can test for this state.</p>

      *  <p>A {@link LockedException} must be thrown if an account is locked and the

      * <code>AuthenticationManager</code> can test for account locking.</p>

      *  <p>A {@link BadCredentialsException} must be thrown if incorrect credentials are presented. Whilst the

      * above exceptions are optional, an <code>AuthenticationManager</code> must <B>always</B> test credentials.</p>

      *  <p>Exceptions should be tested for and if applicable thrown in the order expressed above (ie if an

      * account is disabled or locked, the authentication request is immediately rejected and the credentials testing

      * process is not performed). This prevents credentials being tested against  disabled or locked accounts.</p>

      *

      * @param authentication the authentication request object

      *

      * @return a fully authenticated object including credentials

      *

      * @throws AuthenticationException if authentication fails

      */

     Authentication authenticate(Authentication authentication)

         throws AuthenticationException;

 }