javax.persistence.criteria.Expression Maven / Gradle / Ivy
// $Id: Expression.java 17752 2009-10-15 01:19:21Z [email protected] $
// EJB3 Specification Copyright 2004-2009 Sun Microsystems, Inc.
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);
}