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| Chapter 15 The java.net Package |

# URLStreamHandlerFactory

## Name

URLStreamHandlerFactory

## Synopsis

Interface Name:

  `java.net.StreamHandlerFactory`

Super-interface:

  None

Immediate Sub-interfaces:

  None

Implemented By:

  None

Availability:

  JDK 1.0 or later

## Description

The `URLStreamHandlerFactory` interface defines a method that creates a `URLStreamHandler` object for a specific protocol. The interface is implemented by classes that select `URLStreamHandler` subclasses to process particular protocol types.

The `URL` class uses a `URLStreamHandlerFactory` to create `URLStreamHandler` objects. The protocol type is determined by the portion of the URL up to the first colon. For example, given the following URL:

    http://www.tolstoi.org/ilych.html

the protocol type is `http`. A `URLStreamHandlerFactory` that recognizes `http` returns a `URLStreamHandler` that can process the URL.

## Interface Declaration

    public abstract interface java.net.URLStreamHandlerFactory {
      // Methods
      public abstract URLStreamHandler createURLStreamHandler(String protocol);
    }

## Methods

### createURLStreamHandler

#### public abstract URLStreamHandler createURLStreamHandler (String protocol)

Parameters

  `protocol`

    A `String` that represents a protocol.

Description

  This method creates an object of the appropriate subclass of `URLStreamHandler` that can process a URL using the named protocol.

## See Also

`URL`, `URLStreamHandler`

URLStreamHandler |  | UnknownHostException