1/*
2 * Copyright (c) 1999, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
3 * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
4 *
5 * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
6 * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as
7 * published by the Free Software Foundation.  Oracle designates this
8 * particular file as subject to the "Classpath" exception as provided
9 * by Oracle in the LICENSE file that accompanied this code.
10 *
11 * This code is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
12 * ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
13 * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License
14 * version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that
15 * accompanied this code).
16 *
17 * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License version
18 * 2 along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
19 * Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
20 *
21 * Please contact Oracle, 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood Shores, CA 94065 USA
22 * or visit www.oracle.com if you need additional information or have any
23 * questions.
24 */
25
26package javax.naming;
27
28/**
29  * This interface is implemented by an object that can provide a
30  * Reference to itself.
31  *<p>
32  * A Reference represents a way of recording address information about
33  * objects which themselves are not directly bound to the naming system.
34  * Such objects can implement the Referenceable interface as a way
35  * for programs that use that object to determine what its Reference is.
36  * For example, when binding an object, if an object implements the
37  * Referenceable interface, getReference() can be invoked on the object to
38  * get its Reference to use for binding.
39  *
40  * @author Rosanna Lee
41  * @author Scott Seligman
42  * @author R. Vasudevan
43  *
44  * @see Context#bind
45  * @see javax.naming.spi.NamingManager#getObjectInstance
46  * @see Reference
47  * @since 1.3
48  */
49public interface Referenceable {
50    /**
51      * Retrieves the Reference of this object.
52      *
53      * @return The non-null Reference of this object.
54      * @exception NamingException If a naming exception was encountered
55      *         while retrieving the reference.
56      */
57    Reference getReference() throws NamingException;
58}
59