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#ifndef __com_sun_star_uno_XWeak_idl__
#define __com_sun_star_uno_XWeak_idl__

#include <com/sun/star/uno/XInterface.idl>

#include <com/sun/star/uno/XAdapter.idl>


//=============================================================================

 module com {  module sun {  module star {  module uno {

//=============================================================================

// DocMerge from xml: interface com::sun::star::uno::XWeak
/** the server-side interface to a weak object.



    <p>This interface is proxy to the adapted object.
    In order to make it possible to have weak references to objects,
    the <type>XAdapter</type> interface must be implemented to provide
    a weak adapter for the clients.

    <h4>Concept of weak referencing:</h4>

    </p>
    <p>This module specifies the interfaces for implementing and using
    weak references.</p>
    <p>

    </p>
    <p>The sense of weak references is to hold a reference to an object
    without affecting the lifetime of the object. That means that a weak
    reference may become invalid, at any time, if the referenced object dies.

    </p>
    <p>The following interfaces describe one way to handle weak references
    by providing a weak adapter. The weak object has to provide this
    adapter if anyone wants to hold a weak reference. To separate their
    lifetimes, the adapter and the original object must not share the same
    reference counter.  The weak reference is in fact only a hard reference
    to the adapter, which knows - but does not hold - the original object.
    That means that the implementation and synchronization of weak
    referencing is the responsibility of the object.  The following
    interfaces are involved in the concept of weak referencing:

    <dl>
    <dt>
    <type>XWeak</type>
    </dt>
    <dd>is the server-side interface of the referred object. This
    referred object must support the <type>XAdapter</type> interface.

    </dd>
    <dt>
    <type>XReference</type>
    </dt>
    <dd>is a client-side interface which must be implemented by
    the holder of any weak reference. It is used for notification
    when the adapted object dies.

    </dd>
    </dl>
    </p>
 */
published interface XWeak: com::sun::star::uno::XInterface
{
    //-------------------------------------------------------------------------

    // DocMerge from xml: method com::sun::star::uno::XWeak::queryAdapter
    /** queries the weak adapter.



        <p>It is important that the adapter must know, but not hold
        the adapted object. If the adapted object dies, all references
        to the adapter have to be notified to release the adapter.

        </p>
     */
    com::sun::star::uno::XAdapter queryAdapter();

};

//=============================================================================

}; }; }; };

#endif

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