/*
 * 
 * Copyright 2004 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
 * 
 * The contents of this file are subject to the Sun Community Source
 * License v3.0/Jini Technology Specific Attachment v 1.0 (the
 * "License"). You may not use this file except in compliance with the
 * License. You may obtain a copy of the License at
 * http://wwws.sun.com/software/jini/licensing/SCSL3_JiniTSA1.html.
 * Software distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS"
 * basis, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See
 * the License for the specific language governing rights and limitations
 * under the License.
 * 
 * The Reference Code is Jini Technology Core Platform code, v2.0. The
 * Developer of the Reference Code is Sun Microsystems, Inc.
 * 
 * Contributor(s): Sun Microsystems, Inc.
 * 
 * The contents of this file comply with the Jini Technology Core
 * Platform Compatibility Kit, v2.0A.
 * 
 * Tester(s): Sun Microsystems, Inc.
 * 
 * Test Platform(s):
 * Java 2 SDK, Standard Edition, Version 1.4.2_03 for Solaris(TM)SPARC/x86
 * Java 2 SDK, Standard Edition, Version 1.4.2_03 for Linux (Intel x86)
 * Java 2 SDK, Standard Edition, Version 1.4.2_03 for Windows (Intel Platform)
 * 
 */
package net.jini.lookup.entry;

import net.jini.core.entry.Entry;

/**
 * Interface to be implemented by all JavaBeans(TM) components that act 
 * as "front ends" to Entry classes.  Such components must follow several
 * patterns:
 * <ul>
 *
 * <li>The component's name is derived from the name of the Entry class,
 * with "Bean" appended.  Thus, the JavaBeans component for the 
 * <tt>foo.Bar</tt> Entry class is <tt>foo.BarBean</tt>.
 *
 * <li>The component has a public no-arg constructor; this creates a new,
 * uninitialized, instance of the JavaBeans component's Entry class.
 *
 * <li>For each public object field <tt><i>foo</i></tt> in the
 * associated class, the JavaBeans component has both a <tt>set<i>Foo</i>
 * </tt> and a <tt>get<i>Foo</i></tt> method.  The former returns the 
 * value of that field in the linked Entry object, and the latter sets the
 * value of that field.
 *
 * </ul>
 * 
 * @author Sun Microsystems, Inc.
 *
 * @see net.jini.core.entry.Entry
 */
public interface EntryBean {
    /**
     * Make a link to an Entry object.
     *
     * @param e the Entry object to link to
     * @exception java.lang.ClassCastException the Entry is not of the
     * correct type for this JavaBeans component
     */
    void makeLink(Entry e);

    /**
     * Return the Entry linked to by this JavaBeans component.
     * @return the entry linked to by this JavaBeans component. 
     */
    Entry followLink();
}
