All Downloads are FREE. Search and download functionalities are using the official Maven repository.

org.simpleframework.xml.ElementList Maven / Gradle / Ivy

Go to download

Simple is a high performance XML serialization and configuration framework for Java

There is a newer version: 2.9.0
Show newest version
/*
 * ElementList.java July 2006
 *
 * Copyright (C) 2006, Niall Gallagher 
 *
 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
 *
 *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 *
 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or 
 * implied. See the License for the specific language governing 
 * permissions and limitations under the License.
 */

package org.simpleframework.xml;

import java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy;
import java.lang.annotation.Retention;

/**
 * The ElementList annotation represents a method or
 * field that is a Collection for storing entries. The
 * collection object deserialized is typically of the same type as
 * the field. However, a class attribute can be used to
 * override the field type, however the type must be assignable.
 * 
 * 
 *    <list class="java.util.ArrayList">
 *       <entry name="one"/>
 *       <entry name="two"/>
 *       <entry name="three"/>  
 *    </list>
 * 
 * 
* If a class attribute is not provided and the type or * the field or method is abstract, a suitable match is searched for * from the collections available from the Java collections framework. * This annotation can also compose an inline list of XML elements. * An inline list contains no parent or containing element. *
 *
 *    <entry name="one"/>
 *    <entry name="two"/>
 *    <entry name="three"/>  
 * 
 * 
* The above XML is an example of the output for an inline list of * XML elements. In such a list the annotated field or method must * not be given a name. Instead the name is acquired from the name of * the entry type. For example if the type attribute of * this was set to an object example.Entry then the name * of the entry list would be taken as the root name of the object * as taken from the Root annotation for that object. * * @author Niall Gallagher */ @Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME) public @interface ElementList { /** * This represents the name of the XML element. Annotated fields * can optionally provide the name of the element. If no name is * provided then the name of the annotated field or method will * be used in its place. The name is provided if the field or * method name is not suitable as an XML element name. Also, if * the list is inline then this must not be specified. * * @return the name of the XML element this represents */ String name() default ""; /** * This is used to provide a name of the XML element representing * the entry within the list. An entry name is optional and is * used when the name needs to be overridden. This also ensures * that entry, regardless of type has the same root name. * * @return this returns the entry XML element for each value */ String entry() default ""; /** * Represents the type of object the element list contains. This * type is used to deserialize the XML elements from the list. * The object typically represents the deserialized type, but can * represent a subclass of the type deserialized as determined * by the class attribute value for the list. If * this is not specified then the type can be determined from the * generic parameter of the annotated Collection. * * @return the type of the element deserialized from the XML */ Class type() default void.class; /** * This is used to determine whether the element data is written * in a CDATA block or not. If this is set to true then the text * is written within a CDATA block, by default the text is output * as escaped XML. Typically this is useful when this annotation * is applied to an array of primitives, such as strings. * * @return true if entries are to be wrapped in a CDATA block */ boolean data() default false; /** * Determines whether the element is required within the XML * document. Any field marked as not required will not have its * value set when the object is deserialized. If an object is to * be serialized only a null attribute will not appear as XML. * * @return true if the element is required, false otherwise */ boolean required() default true; /** * Determines whether the element list is inlined with respect * to the parent XML element. An inlined element list does not * contain an enclosing element. It is simple a sequence of * elements that appear one after another within an element. * As such an inline element list must not have a name. * * @return this returns true if the element list is inline */ boolean inline() default false; /** * This is used to determine if an optional field or method can * remain null if it does not exist. If this is false then the * optional element is given an empty list. This is a convenience * attribute which avoids having to check if the element is null * before providing it with a suitable default instance. * * @return false if an optional element is always instantiated */ boolean empty() default true; }




© 2015 - 2024 Weber Informatics LLC | Privacy Policy