/*
 * Copyright (C) 1999-2004 <a href="mailto:mandarax@jbdietrich.com">Jens Dietrich</a>
 *
 * This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
 * modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
 * License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either
 * version 2 of the License, or (at your option) any later version.
 *
 * This library 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
 * Lesser General Public License for more details.
 *
 * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public
 * License along with this library; if not, write to the Free Software
 * Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307  USA
 */
package org.mandarax.kernel;


/**
 * Predicates, defined by name and structure.
 * In version 3.0 named slots have been added. This is to support the 
 * JDBC driver - predicates are considered as 'tables' and terms as 'columns'.
 * @author <A HREF="mailto:mandarax@jbdietrich.com">Jens Dietrich</A>
 * @version 3.3.1 <9 August 2004>
 * @since 1.0
 */
public interface Predicate extends Constructor {
	/**
	 * Get the slot names.
	 * @return an array of strings, the length of the array is the same as
	 * the length of the array of terms (the structure of the predicate)
	 */
	public String[] getSlotNames();
	/**
	 * Set the slot names.
	 * @param names an array of strings, the length of the array is the same as
	 * the length of the array of terms (the structure of the predicate)
	 */
	public void setSlotNames(String[] names);
	/**
	 * Indicates whether the slot names can be modified.
	 * If false, setSlotNames should either throw an exception or be ignored
	 * @return a boolean
	 */
	public boolean slotNamesCanBeEdited(); 
	
	
}
