public interface HandlerChain extends java.util.List {
// Public Instance Methods
    public abstract void destroy(  ); 
    public abstract String[ ] getRoles(  ); 
    public abstract boolean handleFault(MessageContext context); 
    public abstract boolean handleRequest(MessageContext context); 
    public abstract boolean handleResponse( MessageContext context); 
    public abstract void init( Map config); 
    public abstract void setRoles(String[ ] soapActorNames); 
}

A HandlerChain is a list of Handlers configured to operate on either the client or server side of a SOAP message path. The configuration information required to build a HandlerChain is held in a HandlerRegistry, the content of which may be created at the same time as client-side tools or server-side ties are generated, or which may be installed by application code at runtime.

The handleFault( ), handleRequest( ), and handleResponse( ) methods are called to pass a SOAP fault, request, or response message to each Handler within the chain in turn, resulting in the Handler methods of the same name being called in sequence. Under some circumstances, the message does not fully traverse the message path, as described in the reference entry for Handler, earlier in this chapter. These methods return true if the message is completely processed, or false if a handler in the chain caused message processing to be aborted.

The getRoles( ) method returns an array of strings that correspond to the URIs of the SOAP actors on behalf of which the handlers in the chain claim to act. This list is initialized from configuration information by calling the setRoles( ) method. The init( ) and destroy() methods are intended to mark the beginning and end of the life cycle of a HandlerChain. However, in the reference implementation, these methods are never called.