org.simpleframework.xml.Namespace Maven / Gradle / Ivy
/*
* Namespace.java July 2008
*
* Copyright (C) 2008, Niall Gallagher
*
* This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or
* modify it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public
* License as published by the Free Software Foundation.
*
* This library is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
* but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
* MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
* GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
*
* You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General
* Public License along with this library; if not, write to the
* Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330,
* Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA
*/
package org.simpleframework.xml;
import java.lang.annotation.Retention;
import java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy;
/**
* The Namespace annotation is used to set a namespace
* on an element or attribute. By annotating a method, field or
* class with this annotation that entity assumes the XML namespace
* provided. When used on a class the annotation describes the
* namespace that should be used, this however can be overridden by
* an annotated field or method declaration of that type.
*
*
* <book:book xmlns:book="http://www.example.com/book">
* <book:author>saurabh</book:author>
* <book:title>example title</book:title>
* <book:isbn>ISB-16728-10</book:isbn>
* </book:book>
*
*
* In the above XML snippet a namespace has been declared with the
* prefix "book" and the reference "http://www.example.com/book". If
* such a namespace is applied to a class, method, or field then
* each of the attributes an elements, which does not have an
* explicit override then they inherit their parents prefix.
*
*
* <root:example xmlns:root="http://www.example.com/root">
* <child xmlns="">
* <anonymous>anonymous element</anonymous>
* </child>
* </root:example>
*
*
* In order to override the parent namespace an anonymous namespace
* can be declared. This overrides the parents scope with no default
* namespace tied to the child elements which is declared within a
* given namespace.
*
* @author Niall Gallagher
*/
@Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
public @interface Namespace {
/**
* This is used to specify the unique reference URI that is used
* to define the namespace within the document. This is typically
* a URI as this is a well know universally unique identifier.
* It can be anything unique, but typically should be a unique
* URI reference. If left as the empty string then this will
* signify that the anonymous namespace will be used.
*
* @return this returns the reference used by this namespace
*/
public String reference() default "";
/**
* This is used to specify the prefix used for the namespace. If
* no prefix is specified then the reference becomes the default
* namespace for the enclosing element. This means that all
* attributes and elements that do not contain a prefix belong
* to the namespace declared by this annotation.
*
* @return this returns the prefix used for this namespace
*/
public String prefix() default "";
}