Hi, For these kinds of things, I use the State Pattern by the GoF. It has been quite successful in the past for me. Enjoy ! PL -- View this message in context: http://netty-forums-and-mailing-lists.685743.n2.nabble.com/State-machine-driven-by-messages-tp5285744p5295745.html Sent from the Netty User Group mailing list archive at Nabble.com.