import type { EntityMetadata, PopulateHintOptions, PopulateOptions } from '../typings.js';
import { LoadStrategy, ReferenceKind } from '../enums.js';
/**
 * @internal
 */
export declare function expandDotPaths<Entity>(meta: EntityMetadata<Entity>, populate?: readonly (string | PopulateOptions<Entity>)[], normalized?: boolean): PopulateOptions<Entity>[];
/**
 * Returns the loading strategy based on the provided hint.
 * If `BALANCED` strategy is used, it will return JOINED if the property is a to-one relation.
 * @internal
 */
export declare function getLoadingStrategy(strategy: LoadStrategy | `${LoadStrategy}`, kind: ReferenceKind): LoadStrategy.SELECT_IN | LoadStrategy.JOINED;
/**
 * Applies per-relation overrides from `populateHints` to the normalized populate tree.
 * @internal
 */
export declare function applyPopulateHints<Entity>(populate: PopulateOptions<Entity>[], hints: Record<string, PopulateHintOptions>): void;