/*******************************************************************************
 * Copyright (c) 2008, 2009 Sun Microsystems. All rights reserved. 
 * 
 * This program and the accompanying materials are made available under the 
 * terms of the Eclipse Public License v1.0 and Eclipse Distribution License v. 1.0 
 * which accompanies this distribution. 
 * The Eclipse Public License is available at http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html
 * and the Eclipse Distribution License is available at 
 * http://www.eclipse.org/org/documents/edl-v10.php.
 * 
 * Contributors:
 *     Linda DeMichiel - Java Persistence 2.0 - Version 2.0 (October 1, 2009)
 *     Specification available from http://jcp.org/en/jsr/detail?id=317
 *
 ******************************************************************************/
package javax.persistence.metamodel;

/**
 * Instances of the type <code>PluralAttribute</code> represent 
 * persistent collection-valued attributes.
 *
 * @param <X> The type the represented collection belongs to
 * @param <C> The type of the represented collection
 * @param <E> The element type of the represented collection
 *
 * @since Java Persistence 2.0
 */
public interface PluralAttribute<X, C, E> 
		extends Attribute<X, C>, Bindable<E> {
	
	public static enum CollectionType {

	    /** Collection-valued attribute */
	    COLLECTION, 

	    /** Set-valued attribute */
	    SET, 

	    /** List-valued attribute */
	    LIST, 

	    /** Map-valued attribute */
	    MAP
	}
		
    /**
     * Return the collection type.
     * @return collection type
     */
    CollectionType getCollectionType();

    /**
     * Return the type representing the element type of the 
     * collection.
     * @return element type
     */
    Type<E> getElementType();
}