/*
 * Copyright (c) 1997, 2011, 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 com.sun.xml.internal.bind.v2.model.core;

import javax.xml.namespace.QName;

/**
 * {@link TypeInfo} that maps to an element.
 *
 * Either {@link ElementInfo} or {@link ClassInfo}.
 *
 * @author Kohsuke Kawaguchi
 */
public interface Element<T,C> extends TypeInfo<T,C> {
    /**
     * Gets the element name of the class.
     *
     * @return
     *      Always non-null.
     */
    QName getElementName();

    /**
     * If this element can substitute another element, return that element.
     *
     * <p>
     * Substitutability of elements are transitive.
     *
     * @return
     *      null if no such element exists.
     */
    Element<T,C> getSubstitutionHead();

    /**
     * If non-null, this element is only active inside the given scope.
     */
    ClassInfo<T,C> getScope();
}
