javax.persistence.criteria.Expression Maven / Gradle / Ivy
/*******************************************************************************
* Copyright (c) 2008 - 2013 Oracle Corporation. All rights reserved.
*
* This program and the accompanying materials are made available under the
* terms of the Eclipse Public License v1.0 and Eclipse Distribution License v. 1.0
* which accompanies this distribution.
* The Eclipse Public License is available at http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html
* and the Eclipse Distribution License is available at
* http://www.eclipse.org/org/documents/edl-v10.php.
*
* Contributors:
* Linda DeMichiel - Java Persistence 2.1
* Linda DeMichiel - Java Persistence 2.0
*
******************************************************************************/
package javax.persistence.criteria;
import java.util.Collection;
/**
* Type for query expressions.
*
* @param the type of the expression
*
* @since Java Persistence 2.0
*/
public interface Expression extends Selection {
/**
* Create a predicate to test whether the expression is null.
* @return predicate testing whether the expression is null
*/
Predicate isNull();
/**
* Create a predicate to test whether the expression is
* not null.
* @return predicate testing whether the expression is not null
*/
Predicate isNotNull();
/**
* Create a predicate to test whether the expression is a member
* of the argument list.
* @param values values to be tested against
* @return predicate testing for membership
*/
Predicate in(Object... values);
/**
* Create a predicate to test whether the expression is a member
* of the argument list.
* @param values expressions to be tested against
* @return predicate testing for membership
*/
Predicate in(Expression... values);
/**
* Create a predicate to test whether the expression is a member
* of the collection.
* @param values collection of values to be tested against
* @return predicate testing for membership
*/
Predicate in(Collection values);
/**
* Create a predicate to test whether the expression is a member
* of the collection.
* @param values expression corresponding to collection to be
* tested against
* @return predicate testing for membership
*/
Predicate in(Expression> values);
/**
* Perform a typecast upon the expression, returning a new
* expression object.
* This method does not cause type conversion:
* the runtime type is not changed.
* Warning: may result in a runtime failure.
* @param type intended type of the expression
* @return new expression of the given type
*/
Expression as(Class type);
}