No, the idea was that ObjectPayload itself keeps a reference to a classloader, ie. the one associated with the cache. But again, ObjectPayload is just one possible Payload and you might as well use ByteArrayPayload...

BTW: you may have noticed I changed Buffer to Payload. Main reason being that I already have a Buffer, but it's a class, not an interface, and IMO payload is a better word for the data that's carried in a message than buffer.

New payload interface --------------------- Key: JGRP-2218 URL: https://issues.jboss.org/browse/JGRP-2218 Project: JGroups Issue Type: Feature Request Reporter: Bela Ban Assignee: Bela Ban Fix For: 5.0 h3. Goal Change payload in {{Message}} from byte[] arrays to a {{Payload}} interface which can have multiple implementations. h3. Reason Currently, having to pass a byte[] array to a message leads to unnecessary copying: * When an application has a ref to an NIO (direct) {{ByteBuffer}}, the bytes in the byte buffer have to be copied into a byte[] array and then set in the message * When the application sends around byte[] arrays, but also wants to add some additional metadata, e.g. type (1000-byte requests/responses), it needs to create a new byte[] array of (say) 1001 bytes and copy the data (1000 bytes) plus the request type (1 byte) into the new copy. Example: {{MPerf}} and {{UPerf}} * When an object has to be sent (e.g. in Infinispan), the object has to be marshalled into a byte[] array (first allocation) and then added to the message. With the suggested {{ObjectBuffer}} (below), marshalling of the object would occur late, and it would be marshalled directly into the output stream of the bundler, eliminating the byte[] array allocation made by the application. h3. Design Instead of copying, the application creates an instance of {{Payload}} and sets the payload in {{Message}}. The {{Payload}} is then passed all the way down into the transport where it is marshalled and sent. There can be a number of payload implementations, e.g. * {{ArrayPayload}}: wraps a byte[] array with an offset and length * {{NioDirectPayload}}: wraps an NIO direct {{ByteBuffer}} * {{NioHeapPayload}}: wraps an NIO heap-based {{ByteBuffer}} * {{CompositePayload}}: wraps multiple Buffers. E.g. type (1 byte) and data (1000 bytes) as described above * {{IntPayload}}: a single integer * {{ObjectPayload}}: has an Object and a ClassLoader (for reading), plus a Marshaller which know how to marshal the object, this allows for objects to be passed in payloads and they're only marshalled at the end (transport). * {{PartialPayload}}: a ref to a {{Payload}}, with an offset and length The {{Payload}} interface has methods: * {{size()}} * {{writeTo(DataOutput)}} * {{readFrom(DataInput)}} * {{getInput()}}: this provides a {{DataInput}} stream for reading from the underlying payload and possibly also * {{acquire()}} and * {{release()}} (for ref-counting) * {{copy()}} Each payload impl has an ID and it should be possible to register new impls. A {{PayloadFactory}} maintains a mapping between IDs and impl classes. When marshalling a {{Payload}}, the ID is written first, followed by the payload's {{writeTo()}} method. When reading payloads, the {{PayloadFactory}} is used to create instances from IDs. h4. Fragmentation When fragmenting a buffer, the fragments are instances of {{PartialPayload}} which maintains an offset and length over an underlying payload. When marshalling a {{PartialPayload}}, only the part between offset and offset+length is written to the output stream. h4. Reference counting If we implement ref-counting, then payloads can be reused as soon as the ref-count is 0. For example, when sending a message, the payload's ref-count could be incremented by the app calling {{acquire()}}. (Assuming the message is a unicast message), {{UNICAST3}} would increment the count to 2. This is needed because {{UNICAST3}} might have to retransmit the message if it was lost on the network, and meanwhile the payload cannot be reused (changed). The app calls {{release()}} when the {{JChannel.send()}} call returns, but the payload cannot be reused until {{UNICAST3}} calls {{release()}} as well. This will happen when an {{ACK}} for the given message has been received. h4. Payload management When a request is received, the buffer is created from the bytes received on the network, based on the ID. This should be done by asking a {{PayloadManagement}} (or {{PayloadPool}} component for a new buffer. A naive implementation might create a new buffer every time, and more sophisticated one might use a pool of payloads. The {{PayloadManagement}} instance could be replaced by one's own implementation; this allows for an application to control the lifecycle of payloads: thus the creation of buffers by the application and of payloads received over the network can be controlled by the same payload management impl. h4. Misc * Since this issue includes API changes, the version will be 5.0