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/*
* Copyright (c) "Neo4j"
* Neo4j Sweden AB [https://neo4j.com]
*
* This file is part of Neo4j.
*
* Neo4j is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
* it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
* the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
* (at your option) any later version.
*
* This program 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 for more details.
*
* You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
* along with this program. If not, see
* Relationships are created by invoking the
* {@link Node#createRelationshipTo(Node, RelationshipType)
* Node.createRelationshipTo()} method on a node as follows:
*
*
* Relationship rel = node.{@link Node#createRelationshipTo(Node, RelationshipType) createRelationshipTo}( otherNode, MyRels.REL_TYPE );
*
*
* The fact that the relationship API gives meaning to {@link #getStartNode()
* start} and {@link #getEndNode() end} nodes implicitly means that all
* relationships have a direction. In the example above, rel would
* be directed from node to otherNode. A
* relationship's start node and end node and their relation to
* {@link Direction#OUTGOING} and {@link Direction#INCOMING} are defined so that
* the assertions in the following code are true:
*
*
*
* {@link Node} a = tx.{@link Transaction#createNode() createNode}();
* {@link Node} b = tx.{@link Transaction#createNode() createNode}();
* {@link Relationship} rel = a.{@link Node#createRelationshipTo(Node, RelationshipType)
* createRelationshipTo}( b, {@link RelationshipType MyRels.REL_TYPE} );
* // Now we have: (a) --- REL_TYPE ---> (b)
*
* assert rel.{@link Relationship#getStartNode() getStartNode}().equals( a );
* assert rel.{@link Relationship#getEndNode() getEndNode}().equals( b );
* assert rel.{@link Relationship#getNodes() getNodes}()[0].equals( a ) &&
* rel.{@link Relationship#getNodes() getNodes}()[1].equals( b );
*
*
*
* Even though all relationships have a direction they are equally well
* traversed in both directions so there's no need to create duplicate
* relationships in the opposite direction (with regard to traversal or
* performance).
*
* Furthermore, Neo4j guarantees that a relationship is never "hanging freely,"
* i.e. {@link #getStartNode()}, {@link #getEndNode()},
* {@link #getOtherNode(Node)} and {@link #getNodes()} are guaranteed to always
* return valid, non-null nodes.
*
* A relationship's id is unique, but note the following: Neo4j reuses its internal ids
* when nodes and relationships are deleted, which means it's bad practice to
* refer to them this way. Instead, use application generated ids.
*/
@PublicApi
public interface Relationship extends Entity {
// Node accessors
/**
* Returns the start node of this relationship. For a definition of how
* start node relates to {@link Direction directions} as arguments to the
* {@link Node#getRelationships() relationship accessors} in Node, see the
* class documentation of Relationship.
*
* @return the start node of this relationship
*/
Node getStartNode();
/**
* Returns the end node of this relationship. For a definition of how end
* node relates to {@link Direction directions} as arguments to the
* {@link Node#getRelationships() relationship accessors} in Node, see the
* class documentation of Relationship.
*
* @return the end node of this relationship
*/
Node getEndNode();
/**
* A convenience operation that, given a node that is attached to this
* relationship, returns the other node. For example if node is
* a start node, the end node will be returned, and vice versa. This is a
* very convenient operation when you're manually traversing the graph
* by invoking one of the {@link Node#getRelationships() getRelationships()}
* operations on a node. For example, to get the node "at the other end" of
* a relationship, use the following:
*
*
* Node endNode = node.getSingleRelationship( MyRels.REL_TYPE ).getOtherNode( node );
*
*
* This operation will throw a runtime exception if node is
* neither this relationship's start node nor its end node.
*
* @param node the start or end node of this relationship
* @return the other node
* @throws RuntimeException if the given node is neither the start nor end
* node of this relationship
*/
Node getOtherNode(Node node);
/**
* Returns the two nodes that are attached to this relationship. The first
* element in the array will be the start node, the second element the end
* node.
*
* @return the two nodes that are attached to this relationship
*/
Node[] getNodes();
/**
* Returns the type of this relationship. A relationship's type is an
* immutable attribute that is specified at Relationship
* {@link Node#createRelationshipTo creation}. Remember that relationship
* types are semantically equivalent if their
* {@link RelationshipType#name() names} are {@link Object#equals(Object)
* equal}. This is NOT the same as checking for identity equality using the
* == operator. If you want to know whether this relationship is of a
* certain type, use the {@link #isType(RelationshipType) isType()}
* operation.
*
* @return the type of this relationship
*/
RelationshipType getType();
/**
* Indicates whether this relationship is of the type type.
* This is a convenience method that checks for equality using the contract
* specified by RelationshipType, i.e. by checking for equal
* {@link RelationshipType#name() names}.
*
* @param type the type to check
* @return true if this relationship is of the type
* type, false otherwise or if
* null
*/
boolean isType(RelationshipType type);
/**
* Returns the id of the start node of this relationship. For a definition of how
* start node relates to {@link Direction directions} as arguments to the
* {@link Node#getRelationships() relationship accessors} in Node, see the
* class documentation of Relationship.
*
* Note that this id can get reused in the future, if this relationship and the given node are deleted.
*
* @return the id of the start node of this relationship.
*/
@Deprecated(since = "5.0", forRemoval = true)
default long getStartNodeId() {
return getStartNode().getId();
}
/**
* Returns the id of the end node of this relationship. For a definition of how end
* node relates to {@link Direction directions} as arguments to the
* {@link Node#getRelationships() relationship accessors} in Node, see the
* class documentation of Relationship.
*
* Note that this id can get reused in the future, if this relationship and the given node are deleted.
*
* @return the id of the end node of this relationship.
*/
@Deprecated(since = "5.0", forRemoval = true)
default long getEndNodeId() {
return getEndNode().getId();
}
/**
* A convenience operation that, given an id of a node that is attached to this
* relationship, returns the id of the other node. For example if id is
* the start node id, the end node id will be returned, and vice versa.
*
* This operation will throw a runtime exception if id is
* not the id of either of this relationship's nodes.
*
* Note that this id can get reused in the future, if this relationship and the given node are deleted.
*
* @param id the id of the start or end node of this relationship
* @return the id of the other node
* @throws RuntimeException if the given node id is not the id of either the start or end
* node of this relationship.
*/
@Deprecated(since = "5.0", forRemoval = true)
default long getOtherNodeId(long id) {
long start = getStartNodeId();
long end = getEndNodeId();
if (id == start) {
return end;
} else if (id == end) {
return start;
}
throw new NotFoundException("Node[" + id + "] not connected to this relationship[" + getId() + "]");
}
}