/*
 * Copyright (C) 2005 Alfresco, Inc.
 *
 * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
 * modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License
 * as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2
 * of the License, or (at your option) any later version.

 * This program 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 for more details.

 * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 * along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
 * Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA  02110-1301, USA.
 */
package org.alfresco.repo.domain;

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
{
    public long getId();

    /**
     * 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);

    public AssociationRef getNodeAssocRef();
    
    public Node getSource();

    public Node getTarget();

    /**
     * @return Returns the qualified name of this association type 
     */
    public QName getTypeQName();

    /**
     * @param qname the qualified name of the association type
     */
    public void setTypeQName(QName qname);
}