Source code

001/*
002 * BioJava development code
003 *
004 * This code may be freely distributed and modified under the
005 * terms of the GNU Lesser General Public Licence. This should
006 * be distributed with the code. If you do not have a copy,
007 * see:
008 *
009 * http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/lesser.html
010 *
011 * Copyright for this code is held jointly by the individual
012 * authors. These should be listed in @author doc comments.
013 *
014 * For more information on the BioJava project and its aims,
015 * or to join the biojava-l mailing list, visit the home page
016 * at:
017 *
018 * http://www.biojava.org/
019 *
020 */
021
022package org.biojavax.bio;
023import org.biojava.utils.ChangeType;
024import org.biojava.utils.ChangeVetoException;
025import org.biojava.utils.Changeable;
026import org.biojavax.ontology.ComparableTerm;
027
028
029/**
030 * Represents the relation between two bioentries. The bioentry_relationship in
031 * BioSQL is what this represents.
032 * @author Mark Schreiber
033 * @author Richard Holland
034 * @see BioEntry
035 * @since 1.5
036 */
037public interface BioEntryRelationship extends Comparable,Changeable {
038 
039 public static final ChangeType RANK = new ChangeType(
040 "This bioentry relationship's rank has changed",
041 "org.biojavax.bio.BioEntryRelationship",
042 "RANK"
043 );
044 
045 /**
046 * Sets the rank of this relationship. The rank may be null in
047 * the database, hence the use of an Integer object here and not
048 * an int primitive.
049 * @param rank Value of property rank.
050 * @throws ChangeVetoException if the rank rankles.
051 */
052 public void setRank(Integer rank) throws ChangeVetoException;
053 
054 /**
055 * Returns the rank of this relationship. The rank may be null in
056 * the database, hence the use of an Integer object here and not
057 * an int primitive.
058 * @return Value of property rank.
059 */
060 public Integer getRank();
061 
062 /**
063 * Returns the object of this relationship (ie. the BioEntry which
064 * this relationship starts from). This is an immutable
065 * property set by the constructor of an instantiating class.
066 * @return Value of property object.
067 */
068 public BioEntry getObject();
069 
070 /**
071 * Returns the subject of this relationship (ie. the BioEntry which
072 * this relationship targets). This is an immutable
073 * property set by the constructor of an instantiating class.
074 * @return Value of property subject.
075 */
076 public BioEntry getSubject();
077 
078 /**
079 * Returns the term describing the relationship. This is an immutable
080 * property set by the constructor of an instantiating class.
081 * @return Value of property term.
082 */
083 public ComparableTerm getTerm();
084}
085