/*
 * Copyright (C) 2005-2010 Alfresco Software Limited.
 *
 * This file is part of Alfresco
 *
 * Alfresco is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
 * it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by
 * the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
 * (at your option) any later version.
 *
 * Alfresco 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 Lesser General Public License for more details.
 *
 * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
 * along with Alfresco. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 */
package org.alfresco.repo.domain;

import org.alfresco.repo.domain.qname.QNameDAO;
import org.alfresco.service.cmr.repository.AssociationRef;
import org.alfresco.service.namespace.QName;

/**
 * Represents a generic association between two nodes.  The association is named
 * and bidirectional by default.
 * 
 * @author Derek Hulley
 */
public interface NodeAssoc
{
    /**
     * Wires up the necessary bits on the source and target nodes so that the association
     * is immediately bidirectional.
     * <p>
     * The association attributes still have to be set.
     * 
     * @param sourceNode
     * @param targetNode
     * 
     * @see #setName(String)
     */
    public void buildAssociation(Node sourceNode, Node targetNode);

    /**
     * Convenience method to retrieve the association's reference
     * 
     * @param qnameDAO          helper DAO
     * @return                  the association's reference
     */
    public AssociationRef getNodeAssocRef(QNameDAO qnameDAO);
    
    /**
     * Convenience method to retrieve the association's type QName
     * 
     * @param qnameDAO          helper DAO
     * @return                  the association's type QName
     */
    public QName getTypeQName(QNameDAO qnameDAO);
    
    /**
     * Convenience method to set the association's type
     * 
     * @param qnameDAO      the helper DAO
     * @param typeQName     the association's type QName
     */
    public void setTypeQName(QNameDAO qnameDAO, QName typeQName);
    
    public Long getId();
    
    /**
     * @return  Returns the current version number
     */
    public Long getVersion();

    public Node getSource();

    public Node getTarget();

    /**
     * @return              Returns the type of the association
     */
    public Long getTypeQNameId();
    
    /**
     * @param typeQNameId   the association's dictionary type
     */
    public void setTypeQNameId(Long typeQNameId);
}