1 /*
2 * File: IBackEndAttributeInformation.java
3 * Created: 23.2.2006 10:43:19
4 *
5 * Copyright 2007 Michal Burda.
6 *
7 * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
8 * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
9 * the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
10 * (at your option) any later version.
11 *
12 * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
13 * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
14 * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
15 * GNU General Public License for more details.
16 *
17 * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
18 * along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
19 * Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA
20 */
21
22 package net.sf.webmancer.db;
23
24 /**
25 * @author Michal Burda
26 */
27 public interface IBackEndAttributeInformation extends ICommonAttributeInformation {
28 /**
29 * Returns <code>true</code> if the attribute is directly stored in the persistent storage. If <code>false</code>,
30 * the attribute represents information that has not to be directly stored in the database, e.g. if this attribute's
31 * value is used in computation of some other's attribute value.
32 *
33 * @return <code>true</code> if the attribute is directly stored in the database, <code>false</code> otherwise.
34 */
35 boolean isInDatabase();
36
37 /**
38 * Returns <code>true</code> if the attribute's value is derived (computed) from some others' attributes' values.
39 * If <code>false</code>, the attribute's value is not computed, i.e. it is always specified by the user.
40 *
41 * @return <code>true</code> if the attribute's value is derived from values of other attributes,
42 * <code>false</code> otherwise.
43 */
44 boolean isDerived();
45
46 /**
47 * @param dbValue
48 * @return
49 */
50 Object convertDbToInternal(Object dbValue);
51 }