/*******************************************************************************
 * Copyright (c) 1998, 2008 Oracle. 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:
 *     Oracle - initial API and implementation from Oracle TopLink
 ******************************************************************************/  
package org.eclipse.persistence.annotations;

/** 
 * An enum that is used within the ChangeTracking annotation.
 * 
 * @see org.eclipse.persistence.annotations.ChangeTracking.
 * @author Guy Pelletier
 * @since Oracle TopLink 11.1.1.0.0 
 */ 
public enum ChangeTrackingType {
    /**
     * An ATTRIBUTE change tracking type allows change tracking at the attribute 
     * level of an object. Objects with changed attributes will be processed in 
     * the commit process to include any changes in the results of the commit.
     * Unchanged objects will be ignored.
     */
    ATTRIBUTE,

    /**
     * An OBJECT change tracking policy allows an object to calculate for itself 
     * whether it has changed. Changed objects will be processed in the commit 
     * process to include any changes in the results of the commit.
     * Unchanged objects will be ignored.
     */
    OBJECT,

    /**
     * A DEFERRED change tracking policy defers all change detection to the 
     * UnitOfWork's change detection process. Essentially, the calculateChanges() 
     * method will run for all objects in a UnitOfWork. 
     * This is the default ObjectChangePolicy
     */
    DEFERRED,

    /**
     * Will not set any change tracking policy, and the change tracking will be
     * determined at runtime.
     */
    AUTO
}
