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/*
* Contact.java April 2007
*
* Copyright (C) 2007, 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.core;
import java.lang.annotation.Annotation;
import org.simpleframework.xml.strategy.Type;
/**
* The Contact
interface is used to provide a point of
* contact with an object. Typically this will be used to get and
* set to an from a field or a pair of matching bean methods. Each
* contact must be labeled with an annotation.
*
* @author Niall Gallagher
*
* @see org.simpleframework.xml.core.Label
*/
interface Contact extends Type {
/**
* This represents the name of the object contact. If the contact
* is a field then the name of the field is provided. If however
* the contact is a method then the Java Bean name of the method
* is provided, which will be the decapitalized name of the
* method without the get, set, or is prefix to the method.
*
* @return this returns the name of the contact represented
*/
String getName();
/**
* This provides the dependent class for the contact. This will
* typically represent a generic type for the actual type. For
* contacts that use a Collection
type this will
* be the generic type parameter for that collection.
*
* @return this returns the dependent type for the contact
*/
Class getDependent();
/**
* This provides the dependent classes for the contact. This will
* typically represent a generic types for the actual type. For
* contacts that use a Map
type this will be the
* generic type parameter for that map type declaration.
*
* @return this returns the dependent types for the contact
*/
Class[] getDependents();
/**
* This is the class that declares the contact. The declaring
* class is where the field or method has been defined. This will
* typically be a class rather than an interface.
*
* @return this returns the class the contact is declared within
*/
Class getDeclaringClass();
/**
* This is the annotation associated with the point of contact.
* This will be an XML annotation that describes how the contact
* should be serialized and deserialized from the object.
*
* @return this provides the annotation associated with this
*/
Annotation getAnnotation();
/**
* This is used to set the value on the specified object through
* this contact. Depending on the type of contact this will set
* the value given, typically this will be done by invoking a
* method or setting the value on the object field.
*
* @param source this is the object to set the value on
* @param value this is the value to be set through the contact
*/
void set(Object source, Object value) throws Exception;
/**
* This is used to get the value from the specified object using
* the point of contact. Typically the value is retrieved from
* the specified object by invoking a get method of by acquiring
* the value from a field within the specified object.
*
* @param source this is the object to acquire the value from
*
* @return this is the value acquired from the point of contact
*/
Object get(Object source) throws Exception;
/**
* This is used to determine if the annotated contact is for a
* read only variable. A read only variable is a field that
* can be set from within the constructor such as a blank final
* variable. It can also be a method with no set counterpart.
*
* @return this returns true if the contact is a constant one
*/
boolean isReadOnly();
/**
* This is used to describe the contact as it exists within the
* owning class. This is used to provide error messages that can
* be used to debug issues that occur when processing a contact.
*
* @return this returns a string representation of the contact
*/
String toString();
}