ObjectFactory (Java Platform SE 8 )
Keywords: javax.naming.spi.ObjectFactory interface
Date: 2026-03-29

compact3
javax.naming.spi

## Interface ObjectFactory

- All Known Subinterfaces:
    DirObjectFactory

      public interface ObjectFactory

  This interface represents a factory for creating an object.

  The JNDI framework allows for object implementations to be loaded in dynamically via object factories. For example, when looking up a printer bound in the name space, if the print service binds printer names to References, the printer Reference could be used to create a printer object, so that the caller of lookup can directly operate on the printer object after the lookup.

  An `ObjectFactory` is responsible for creating objects of a specific type. In the above example, you may have a PrinterObjectFactory for creating Printer objects.

  An object factory must implement the `ObjectFactory` interface. In addition, the factory class must be public and must have a public constructor that accepts no parameters.

  The `getObjectInstance()` method of an object factory may be invoked multiple times, possibly using different parameters. The implementation is thread-safe.

  The mention of URL in the documentation for this class refers to a URL string as defined by RFC 1738 and its related RFCs. It is any string that conforms to the syntax described therein, and may not always have corresponding support in the java.net.URL class or Web browsers.

  Since:
    1.3
  See Also:
    `NamingManager.getObjectInstance(java.lang.Object, javax.naming.Name, javax.naming.Context, java.util.Hashtable<?, ?>)`, `NamingManager.getURLContext(java.lang.String, java.util.Hashtable<?, ?>)`, `ObjectFactoryBuilder`, `StateFactory`

- - ### Method Summary

    All Methods Instance Methods Abstract Methods
    Modifier and Type | Method and Description
    --- | ---
    `Object` | `getObjectInstance(Object obj, Name name, Context nameCtx, Hashtable<?,?> environment)` Creates an object using the location or reference information specified.

- - ### Method Detail

    - #### getObjectInstance

          Object getObjectInstance(Object obj,
                                   Name name,
                                   Context nameCtx,
                                   Hashtable<?,?> environment)
                            throws Exception

      Creates an object using the location or reference information specified.

      Special requirements of this object are supplied using `environment`. An example of such an environment property is user identity information.

      `NamingManager.getObjectInstance()` successively loads in object factories and invokes this method on them until one produces a non-null answer. When an exception is thrown by an object factory, the exception is passed on to the caller of `NamingManager.getObjectInstance()` (and no search is made for other factories that may produce a non-null answer). An object factory should only throw an exception if it is sure that it is the only intended factory and that no other object factories should be tried. If this factory cannot create an object using the arguments supplied, it should return null.

      A URL context factory is a special ObjectFactory that creates contexts for resolving URLs or objects whose locations are specified by URLs. The `getObjectInstance()` method of a URL context factory will obey the following rules.

      1. If `obj` is null, create a context for resolving URLs of the scheme associated with this factory. The resulting context is not tied to a specific URL: it is able to handle arbitrary URLs with this factory's scheme id. For example, invoking `getObjectInstance()` with `obj` set to null on an LDAP URL context factory would return a context that can resolve LDAP URLs such as "ldap://ldap.wiz.com/o=wiz,c=us" and "ldap://ldap.umich.edu/o=umich,c=us".
      2. If `obj` is a URL string, create an object (typically a context) identified by the URL. For example, suppose this is an LDAP URL context factory. If `obj` is "ldap://ldap.wiz.com/o=wiz,c=us", getObjectInstance() would return the context named by the distinguished name "o=wiz, c=us" at the LDAP server ldap.wiz.com. This context can then be used to resolve LDAP names (such as "cn=George") relative to that context.
      3. If `obj` is an array of URL strings, the assumption is that the URLs are equivalent in terms of the context to which they refer. Verification of whether the URLs are, or need to be, equivalent is up to the context factory. The order of the URLs in the array is not significant. The object returned by getObjectInstance() is like that of the single URL case. It is the object named by the URLs.
      4. If `obj` is of any other type, the behavior of `getObjectInstance()` is determined by the context factory implementation.

      The `name` and `environment` parameters are owned by the caller. The implementation will not modify these objects or keep references to them, although it may keep references to clones or copies.

      Name and Context Parameters. The `name` and `nameCtx` parameters may optionally be used to specify the name of the object being created. `name` is the name of the object, relative to context `nameCtx`. If there are several possible contexts from which the object could be named -- as will often be the case -- it is up to the caller to select one. A good rule of thumb is to select the "deepest" context available. If `nameCtx` is null, `name` is relative to the default initial context. If no name is being specified, the `name` parameter should be null. If a factory uses `nameCtx` it should synchronize its use against concurrent access, since context implementations are not guaranteed to be thread-safe.

      Parameters:
        `obj` - The possibly null object containing location or reference information that can be used in creating an object.
        `name` - The name of this object relative to `nameCtx`, or null if no name is specified.
        `nameCtx` - The context relative to which the `name` parameter is specified, or null if `name` is relative to the default initial context.
        `environment` - The possibly null environment that is used in creating the object.
      Returns:
        The object created; null if an object cannot be created.
      Throws:
        `Exception` - if this object factory encountered an exception while attempting to create an object, and no other object factories are to be tried.
      See Also:
        `NamingManager.getObjectInstance(java.lang.Object, javax.naming.Name, javax.naming.Context, java.util.Hashtable<?, ?>)`, `NamingManager.getURLContext(java.lang.String, java.util.Hashtable<?, ?>)`

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