/*
* Copyright 2006 Assaf Arkin, Ralf Joachim
*
* 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.exolab.castor.mapping;
/**
* Describes the properties of a field. Implementations will extend this inteface to
* provide additional properties.
*
* @author <a href="mailto:arkin AT intalio DOT com">Assaf Arkin</a>
* @author <a href="mailto:ralf DOT joachim AT syscon DOT eu">Ralf Joachim</a>
* @version $Revision: 6907 $ $Date: 2005-12-06 14:55:28 -0700 (Tue, 06 Dec 2005) $
*/
public interface FieldDescriptor {
//--------------------------------------------------------------------------
/**
* Set the class descriptor which contains this field.
*
* @param parent The class descriptor which contains this field.
*/
void setContainingClassDescriptor(ClassDescriptor parent);
/**
* Get the class descriptor which contains this field.
*
* @return The class descriptor which contains this field.
*/
ClassDescriptor getContainingClassDescriptor();
/**
* Returns the name of the field. The field must have a name, even if set through
* accessor methods.
*
* @return Field name.
*/
String getFieldName();
/**
* Returns the Java type of the field.
*
* @return Field type.
*/
Class getFieldType();
/**
* Returns the class descriptor related to the field type. If the field type is a
* class for which a descriptor exists, this descriptor is returned. If the field
* type is a class for which no mapping is provided, null is returned.
*
* @return The class descriptor of the field type, or null.
*/
ClassDescriptor getClassDescriptor();
/**
* Returns the handler of the field. In order to persist or marshal a field
* descriptor will be associated with a handler.
*
* @return The field handler.
*/
FieldHandler getHandler();
/**
* Returns true if the field is transient. Transient fields are never persisted or
* marshalled.
*
* @return True if transient field.
*/
boolean isTransient();
/**
* Returns true if the field type is immutable.
*
* @return True if the field type is immutable.
*/
boolean isImmutable();
/**
* Returns true if the field type is required.
*
* @return True if the field type is required.
*/
boolean isRequired();
/**
* Returns true if the field is multivalued (a collection).
*
* @return True if the field is multivalued.
*/
boolean isMultivalued();
//--------------------------------------------------------------------------
}
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