/*******************************************************************************
 * Copyright (c) 2007, 2010 Oracle. All rights reserved.
 * This program and the accompanying materials are made available under the
 * terms of the Eclipse Public License v1.0, which accompanies this distribution
 * and is available at http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html.
 * 
 * Contributors:
 *     Oracle - initial API and implementation
 ******************************************************************************/
package org.eclipse.jpt.jpa.core.context;

import java.util.ListIterator;

/**
 * Reference table (i.e. a table that joins with one other table,
 * as opposed to a "join table" that joins with two other tables)<ul>
 * <li>join table
 * <li>collection table
 * </ul>
 * Provisional API: This interface is part of an interim API that is still
 * under development and expected to change significantly before reaching
 * stability. It is available at this early stage to solicit feedback from
 * pioneering adopters on the understanding that any code that uses this API
 * will almost certainly be broken (repeatedly) as the API evolves.
 * 
 * @version 2.3
 * @since 2.3
 */
public interface ReferenceTable
	extends Table, ReadOnlyReferenceTable
{
	// ********** join columns **********

	/**
	 * Convert the reference table's default join column to a specified join column.
	 */
	void convertDefaultToSpecifiedJoinColumn();

	ListIterator<? extends JoinColumn> joinColumns();

	ListIterator<? extends JoinColumn> specifiedJoinColumns();

	JoinColumn getSpecifiedJoinColumn(int index);

	/**
	 * Add and return a specified join column to the reference table.
	 */
	JoinColumn addSpecifiedJoinColumn();

	/**
	 * Add and return a specified join column to the reference table.
	 */
	JoinColumn addSpecifiedJoinColumn(int index);

	/**
	 * Remove the join column at the specified index from the reference table.
	 */
	void removeSpecifiedJoinColumn(int index);

	/**
	 * Remove the specified join column from the reference table.
	 */
	void removeSpecifiedJoinColumn(JoinColumn joinColumn);

	/**
	 * Move the join column at the specified source index to the
	 * specified target index.
	 */
	void moveSpecifiedJoinColumn(int targetIndex, int sourceIndex);

	JoinColumn getDefaultJoinColumn();
}