import { Class, Json } from '../util';
import { Type } from './Type';
import { Attribute, PersistentAttributeType } from './Attribute';
export declare enum CollectionType {
    COLLECTION = 0,
    LIST = 1,
    MAP = 2,
    SET = 3
}
export declare abstract class PluralAttribute<T, E> extends Attribute<T> {
    static readonly CollectionType: typeof CollectionType;
    elementType: Type<E>;
    typeConstructor: Class<T>;
    /**
     * Returns the collection attribute type
     */
    abstract get collectionType(): CollectionType;
    /**
     * @inheritDoc
     */
    get persistentAttributeType(): PersistentAttributeType;
    /**
     * @param name - The attribute name
     * @param typeConstructor - The collection constructor of the attribute
     * @param elementType - The type of the elements of the attribute collection
     */
    protected constructor(name: string, typeConstructor: Class<T>, elementType: Type<E>);
    /**
     * Retrieves a serialized string value of the given json which can be used as object keys
     * @param json The json of which the key should be retrieved
     * @return A serialized version of the json
     */
    protected keyValue(json: Json): string;
}