The mapping in the Java programming language of an SQL REF
value, which is a reference to an SQL structured type value in the database.
SQL REF values are stored in a table that contains
instances of a referenceable SQL structured type, and each REF
value is a unique identifier for one instance in that table.
An SQL REF value may be used in place of the
SQL structured type it references, either as a column value in a
table or an attribute value in a structured type.
Because an SQL REF value is a logical pointer to an
SQL structured type, a Ref object is by default also a logical
pointer. Thus, retrieving an SQL REF value as
a Ref object does not materialize
the attributes of the structured type on the client.
A Ref object can be stored in the database using the
PreparedStatement.setRef method.
All methods on the Ref interface must be fully implemented if the
JDBC driver supports the data type.
See Also: Struct since: 1.2 |