org.eclipse.persistence.annotations.Converter Maven / Gradle / Ivy

Go to download

Show more of this group Show more artifacts with this name
Show all versions of eclipselink Show documentation

EclipseLink build based upon Git transaction 346465e

There is a newer version: 5.0.0-B03

/*******************************************************************************
 * Copyright (c) 1998, 2013 Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
 * This program and the accompanying materials are made available under the 
 * terms of the Eclipse Public License v1.0 and Eclipse Distribution License v. 1.0 
 * which accompanies this distribution. 
 * The Eclipse Public License is available at http://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-v10.html
 * and the Eclipse Distribution License is available at 
 * http://www.eclipse.org/org/documents/edl-v10.php.
 *
 * Contributors:
 *     Oracle - initial API and implementation from Oracle TopLink
 ******************************************************************************/  
package org.eclipse.persistence.annotations;

import java.lang.annotation.Retention;
import java.lang.annotation.Target;

import static java.lang.annotation.ElementType.FIELD;
import static java.lang.annotation.ElementType.METHOD;
import static java.lang.annotation.ElementType.TYPE;
import static java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME;
 
/** 
 * A Converter is used to customize the values during the reading from the 
 * database into the object model as well as during the writing back of changes 
 * into the database. This annotation allows developers to define a named 
 * converter that can be used in their mappings. A converter can be defined on 
 * an entity class, method, or field. 
 * 
 * A Converter must be be uniquely identified by name and can be defined at 
 * the class, field and property level and can be specified within an Entity, 
 * MappedSuperclass and Embeddable class.
 * 
 * The usage of a Converter is always specified via the Convert annotation and 
 * is supported on a Basic, BasicMap or BasicCollection mapping.
 * 
 * @see org.eclipse.persistence.annotations.Convert
 * @author Guy Pelletier
 * @since Oracle TopLink 11.1.1.0.0 
 */ 
@Target({TYPE, METHOD, FIELD})
@Retention(RUNTIME)
public @interface Converter {
    /**
     * (Required) Name this converter. The name should be unique across the 
     * whole persistence unit.
     */
    String name();

    /**
     * (Required) The converter class to be used. This class must implement the
     *  org.eclipse.persistence.mappings.converters.Converter interface.
     */
    Class converterClass(); 
}