+/*
+ * A representation of the reference store for the main repository or
+ * a submodule. The ref_store instances for submodules are kept in a
+ * linked list.
+ */
+struct ref_store {
+ /* The backend describing this ref_store's storage scheme: */
+ const struct ref_storage_be *be;
+
+ /*
+ * The name of the submodule represented by this object, or
+ * the empty string if it represents the main repository's
+ * reference store:
+ */
+ const char *submodule;
+
+ /*
+ * Submodule reference store instances are stored in a linked
+ * list using this pointer.
+ */
+ struct ref_store *next;
+};
+
+/*
+ * Fill in the generic part of refs for the specified submodule and
+ * add it to our collection of reference stores.
+ */
+void base_ref_store_init(struct ref_store *refs,
+ const struct ref_storage_be *be,
+ const char *submodule);
+
+/*
+ * Create, record, and return a ref_store instance for the specified
+ * submodule (or the main repository if submodule is NULL).
+ *
+ * For backwards compatibility, submodule=="" is treated the same as
+ * submodule==NULL.
+ */
+struct ref_store *ref_store_init(const char *submodule);
+
+/*
+ * Return the ref_store instance for the specified submodule (or the
+ * main repository if submodule is NULL). If that ref_store hasn't
+ * been initialized yet, return NULL.
+ *
+ * For backwards compatibility, submodule=="" is treated the same as
+ * submodule==NULL.
+ */
+struct ref_store *lookup_ref_store(const char *submodule);
+
+/*
+ * Return the ref_store instance for the specified submodule. For the
+ * main repository, use submodule==NULL; such a call cannot fail. For
+ * a submodule, the submodule must exist and be a nonbare repository,
+ * otherwise return NULL. If the requested reference store has not yet
+ * been initialized, initialize it first.
+ *
+ * For backwards compatibility, submodule=="" is treated the same as
+ * submodule==NULL.
+ */
+struct ref_store *get_ref_store(const char *submodule);
+
+/*
+ * Die if refs is for a submodule (i.e., not for the main repository).
+ * caller is used in any necessary error messages.
+ */
+void assert_main_repository(struct ref_store *refs, const char *caller);
+