package ora.jwsnut.chapter6.smallbookservice;

import java.rmi.Remote;
import java.rmi.RemoteException;
import javax.xml.rpc.holders.StringHolder;

/**
 * The interface definition for the small
 * book web service.
 */
public interface SmallBookQuery extends Remote {
    
    /**
     * Gets the number of books known to the service
     * @return the number of books known to the service.
     */
    public abstract int getBookCount() throws RemoteException;

    /**
     * Gets the title of a given book.
     * @param index the index of the book whose title is required
     * @return the title of the given book, or <code>null</code> if
     * the index is not valid.
     */
    public abstract String getBookTitle(int index) throws RemoteException;
    
    /**
     * Gets the author for a books with a given title
     * @param title the titles of the book
     * @param author an output parameter that will be set to the author of the given book
     * @throws SmallBookServiceException if the book title is unknown
     */
    public abstract void getBookAuthor(String title, StringHolder author) 
                                        throws SmallBookServiceException, RemoteException;
    
    /**
     * Makes a log entry.
     * @param value the value to be logged.
     */
    public abstract void log(String value) throws RemoteException;
}