IdentifierService.java

package org.springframework.roo.addon.jpa.addon.identifier;

import java.util.List;

import org.springframework.roo.model.JavaType;

/**
 * Provides a list of identifier fields that a given {@link JavaType} may
 * require.
 * 
 * @author Ben Alex
 * @since 1.1
 */
public interface IdentifierService {

  /**
   * For the given type, returns zero or more identifier fields that the type
   * requires. An implementation may return null if they do not have knowledge
   * of any identifier fields for that type. An implementation returning a
   * non-null value indicates the implementation is authoritative for
   * determining identifier fields for the type. It is legal to return a
   * non-null list, which would denote an authoritative implementation but the
   * type simply has no identifier field requirement.
   * 
   * @param pkType the PK class type for which identifier information is
   *            desired (required)
   * @return null if the implementation is non-authoritative for the type,
   *         otherwise zero or more identifiers that the type should have
   */
  List<Identifier> getIdentifiers(JavaType pkType);
}