Lazy Loading pattern

[Pho Tek]

Pattern

Instead of holding a reference to the real object, you manage an intermediary Reference instance.

Examples:-

a) Eclipse 3.2 API

interface IWorkbenchPage
{
  ...
  IViewReference findViewReference(String viewId);
}
 
interface IViewReference
{
  ...
  IViewPart getView(boolean restore);
}

b) OSGi R4 api

interface BundleContext
{
  ...
  ServiceReference[] getServicesInUse();
}

Does anybody know if there's a formal definition of this pattern somewhere ?
Or is it worthy to be called a pattern ?

[Ilja Preuss]

"Patterns of Enterprise Application Architecture" has a Lazy Load pattern included: http://www.developerdotstar.com/mag/bookreviews/joyce_PEAA.html

Don't have my copy at hand, so I can't tell how closely it fits your description.