/*
 * 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.sql;


import java.sql.ResultSet;
import java.sql.SQLException;

/**
 * Describes how to map a row (the current row in a result set) to a java
 * object. The most simple case is that the result set has just one column
 * (e.g. a column 'name') and the mapping will yield this value. More
 * advanced versions will build objects (like 'customer') from records
 * containing multiple columns.
 * @author <A HREF="mailto:mandarax@jbdietrich.com">Jens Dietrich</A>
 * @version 3.3.1 <9 August 2004>
 * @since 1.6
 */
public interface SQLObjectRelationalMapping extends java.io.Serializable {

    /**
     * Build a java object from a record.
     * The record is represented as result set, therefore ResultSet.next() should not
     * be called in (implementation of) this method.
     * @return an object
     * @param record a result set
     */
    public Object buildObject(ResultSet record) throws SQLException;

    /**
     * Get the target type of the mapping.
     * @return a class
     */
    public Class getTargetType();
}
