Type-token threading on MethodRef.StaticOnly + ReturnTypeRef.TableBoundReturnType

Surfaced by R237 Phase 2 as a (b-relational) structural-lift candidate. MethodRef.StaticOnly carries a reflected returnType token and ReturnTypeRef.TableBoundReturnType carries the field’s TableRef, but nothing structural ties the two: where a leaf pairs them, the emitters assume the method’s return token equals the field’s table token and declare <SpecificTable> table = ... without a cast. The contract is a relationship neither carrier encodes.

Lift: parameterise MethodRef.StaticOnly and ReturnTypeRef.TableBoundReturnType on a shared <T extends Table<?>> type token; thread it through every site that constructs or reads either, so the table-token equality is enforced at construction rather than left to emitter assumption.

Scope note (2026-07-25): the @tableMethod half of the original motivation is gone. The directive was removed, taking with it the root fetcher that declared the uncast local and the strict ClassName.equals return check in ServiceCatalog.reflectTableMethod that guarded it. What survives is MethodRef.StaticOnly itself, minted on the @condition path (ServiceCatalog.java:577) and the @externalField path (:650), plus every ReturnTypeRef.TableBoundReturnType construction and read across the classifier and emitters. The lift still has a subject; its blast radius is smaller and no longer retires a live runtime check.

Blast radius: every call site that constructs or reads MethodRef.StaticOnly or ReturnTypeRef.TableBoundReturnType needs the type-token threaded through, and the threading hits the boundaries jOOQ helpers accept type erasure at (per emitter-conventions.adoc § "Selection-aware queries"). Some sites may need explicit Table<?> widening, which caps how far the bound carries.

The sibling service-catalog return-type contract (already structural because MethodRef.Service carries a captured parameterised return type) benefits as a side effect: the type-token threading lifts both halves of the service-catalog return-type contract under one structural mechanism.

Pre-conditions: none outstanding; R237 has shipped.

Out of scope: the (b-cheap) ColumnBackedField.parentTable lift (R239’s territory). The two are orthogonal axes of the type-system gap R237 surfaced.