/*

 * Copyright 1998-2006 Sun Microsystems, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.

 * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.

 *

 * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it

 * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as

 * published by the Free Software Foundation.  Sun designates this

 * particular file as subject to the "Classpath" exception as provided

 * by Sun in the LICENSE file that accompanied this code.

 *

 * This code is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT

 * ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or

 * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License

 * version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that

 * accompanied this code).

 *

 * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License version

 * 2 along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,

 * Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.

 *

 * Please contact Sun Microsystems, Inc., 4150 Network Circle, Santa Clara,

 * CA 95054 USA or visit www.sun.com if you need additional information or

 * have any questions.

 */

package java.sql;

/**

 * The mapping in the Java programming language of an SQL <code>REF</code>

 * value, which is a reference to an SQL structured type value in the database.

 * <P>

 * SQL <code>REF</code> values are stored in a table that contains

 * instances of a referenceable SQL structured type, and each <code>REF</code>

 * value is a unique identifier for one instance in that table.

 * An SQL <code>REF</code> value may be used in place of the

 * SQL structured type it references, either as a column value in a

 * table or an attribute value in a structured type.

 * <P>

 * Because an SQL <code>REF</code> value is a logical pointer to an

 * SQL structured type, a <code>Ref</code> object is by default also a logical

 * pointer. Thus, retrieving an SQL <code>REF</code> value as

 * a <code>Ref</code> object does not materialize

 * the attributes of the structured type on the client.

 * <P>

 * A <code>Ref</code> object can be stored in the database using the

 * <code>PreparedStatement.setRef</code> method.

  * <p>

 * All methods on the <code>Ref</code> interface must be fully implemented if the

 * JDBC driver supports the data type.

 *

 * @see Struct

 * @since 1.2

 */

public interface Ref {

    /**

     * Retrieves the fully-qualified SQL name of the SQL structured type that

     * this <code>Ref</code> object references.

     *

     * @return the fully-qualified SQL name of the referenced SQL structured type

     * @exception SQLException if a database access error occurs

     * @exception SQLFeatureNotSupportedException if the JDBC driver does not support

     * this method

     * @since 1.2

     */

    String getBaseTypeName() throws SQLException;

    /**

     * Retrieves the referenced object and maps it to a Java type

     * using the given type map.

     *

     * @param map a <code>java.util.Map</code> object that contains

     *        the mapping to use (the fully-qualified name of the SQL

     *        structured type being referenced and the class object for

     *        <code>SQLData</code> implementation to which the SQL

     *        structured type will be mapped)

     * @return  a Java <code>Object</code> that is the custom mapping for

     *          the SQL structured type to which this <code>Ref</code>

     *          object refers

     * @exception SQLException if a database access error occurs

     * @exception SQLFeatureNotSupportedException if the JDBC driver does not support

     * this method

     * @since 1.4

     * @see #setObject

     */

    Object getObject(java.util.Map<String,Class<?>> map) throws SQLException;

    /**

     * Retrieves the SQL structured type instance referenced by

     * this <code>Ref</code> object.  If the connection's type map has an entry

     * for the structured type, the instance will be custom mapped to

     * the Java class indicated in the type map.  Otherwise, the

     * structured type instance will be mapped to a <code>Struct</code> object.

     *

     * @return  a Java <code>Object</code> that is the mapping for

     *          the SQL structured type to which this <code>Ref</code>

     *          object refers

     * @exception SQLException if a database access error occurs

     * @exception SQLFeatureNotSupportedException if the JDBC driver does not support

     * this method

     * @since 1.4

     * @see #setObject

     */

    Object getObject() throws SQLException;

    /**

     * Sets the structured type value that this <code>Ref</code>

     * object references to the given instance of <code>Object</code>.

     * The driver converts this to an SQL structured type when it

     * sends it to the database.

     *

     * @param value an <code>Object</code> representing the SQL

     *        structured type instance that this

     *        <code>Ref</code> object will reference

     * @exception SQLException if a database access error occurs

     * @exception SQLFeatureNotSupportedException if the JDBC driver does not support

     * this method

     * @since 1.4

     * @see #getObject()

     * @see #getObject(Map)

     * @see PreparedStatement#setObject(int, Object)

     * @see CallableStatement#setObject(String, Object)

     */

    void setObject(Object value) throws SQLException;

}