# Protected Methods

These methods are exposed via the extended generated superclass of an entity (the `_Gen` class) for the use of business methods implemented on the entity. With few exceptions, the methods exposed as public methods on business entities are also exposed within the entity as protected methods for the convenience of business logic. Additionally, the following methods are added:

- `thisEntity()`- Return the instance of the current entity. Generally, this is used when an entity needs to pass itself as an argument in a method call.
- `addError(ServerMessage)`- Add an error relating to the current entity.
- `addError(ServerMessage, Property)`- Add an error relating to the passed property on the current entity.
- `addWarning(ServierMessage)`- Add a warning to the current warning list.

Parent topic: Business Entity Public Methods