/*

 * Copyright (c) 2000, 2005, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

 * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.

 *

 * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it

 * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as

 * published by the Free Software Foundation.  Oracle designates this

 * particular file as subject to the "Classpath" exception as provided

 * by Oracle in the LICENSE file that accompanied this code.

 *

 * This code 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 General Public License

 * version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that

 * accompanied this code).

 *

 * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License version

 * 2 along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,

 * Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.

 *

 * Please contact Oracle, 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood Shores, CA 94065 USA

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 */

package javax.management.relation;

/**

 * A RelationSupport object is used internally by the Relation Service to

 * represent simple relations (only roles, no properties or methods), with an

 * unlimited number of roles, of any relation type. As internal representation,

 * it is not exposed to the user.

 * <P>RelationSupport class conforms to the design patterns of standard MBean. So

 * the user can decide to instantiate a RelationSupport object himself as

 * a MBean (as it follows the MBean design patterns), to register it in the

 * MBean Server, and then to add it in the Relation Service.

 * <P>The user can also, when creating his own MBean relation class, have it

 * extending RelationSupport, to retrieve the implementations of required

 * interfaces (see below).

 * <P>It is also possible to have in a user relation MBean class a member

 * being a RelationSupport object, and to implement the required interfaces by

 * delegating all to this member.

 * <P> RelationSupport implements the Relation interface (to be handled by the

 * Relation Service).

 *

 * @since 1.5

 */

public interface RelationSupportMBean

    extends Relation {

    /**

     * Returns an internal flag specifying if the object is still handled by

     * the Relation Service.

     *

     * @return a Boolean equal to {@link Boolean#TRUE} if the object

     * is still handled by the Relation Service and {@link

     * Boolean#FALSE} otherwise.

     */

    public Boolean isInRelationService();

    /**

     * <p>Specifies whether this relation is handled by the Relation

     * Service.</p>

     * <P>BEWARE, this method has to be exposed as the Relation Service will

     * access the relation through its management interface. It is RECOMMENDED

     * NOT to use this method. Using it does not affect the registration of the

     * relation object in the Relation Service, but will provide wrong

     * information about it!

     *

     * @param flag whether the relation is handled by the Relation Service.

     *

     * @exception IllegalArgumentException  if null parameter

     */

    public void setRelationServiceManagementFlag(Boolean flag)

        throws IllegalArgumentException;

}