package org.neodatis.odb.core.query.execution;

import java.io.Serializable;

import org.neodatis.odb.OID;
import org.neodatis.odb.core.layers.layer2.instance.IInstanceBuilder;
import org.neodatis.odb.core.layers.layer2.meta.AttributeValuesMap;

/**
 * Used to implement generic action on matching object. The Generic query executor is responsible for checking if an object meets the criteria conditions. 
 * Then an(some) object actions are called to execute what must be done with matching objects. A ValuesQuery can contain more than
 * one QueryFieldAction.
 * @author osmadja
 *
 */
public interface IQueryFieldAction extends Serializable{
	void start();
	void end();
	void execute(final OID oid, final AttributeValuesMap values);
	Object getValue();
	String getAttributeName();
	String getAlias();
	
	/** To indicate if a query will return one row (for example, sum, average, max and min, or will return more than one row*/
	boolean isMultiRow();
	void setMultiRow(boolean isMultiRow);

	/** used to create a copy!*/
	IQueryFieldAction copy();
	
	void setInstanceBuilder(IInstanceBuilder builder);
	IInstanceBuilder getInstanceBuilder();
	
	/**
	 * @param returnInstance
	 */
	void setReturnInstance(boolean returnInstance);
	boolean returnInstance();
}