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 * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
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 * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as
 * published by the Free Software Foundation. Oracle designates this
 * particular file as subject to the "Classpath" exception as provided
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 *
 * 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 Oracle, 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood Shores, CA 94065 USA
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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;

}