Copyable.java

/**
 * Copyright 2010 CosmoCode GmbH
 *
 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
 *
 *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 *
 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 * limitations under the License.
 */

package de.cosmocode.palava.model.base;

/**
 * A copyable entity can produce meaningful copies
 * of itself. The copy being produced should <strong>not</strong>
 * include the primary identifier to prevent the database
 * from overwriting the original source entity.
 *
 * @author Willi Schoenborn
 * @param <T> the generic entity type
 */
public interface Copyable<T> {

    /**
     * Produce a copy.
     * 
     * @return a copy of this entity
     */
    T copy();
    
}