java.lang.reflect

Interface AnnotatedElement

Known Implementing Classes:
AccessibleObject, Class<T>, Constructor<T>, Field, Method, Package

public interface AnnotatedElement

Represents an element that can be annotated. The methods of this interface provide reflection-based access to the annotations associated with a particular element, such as a class, field, method or package. Each annotation returned by these methods is both immutable and serializable. The returned arrays may be freely modified, without any effect on the arrays returned to future callers.

If an annotation refers to a type or enumeration constant that is inaccessible, then a TypeNotPresentException or EnumConstantNotPresentException will be thrown. Likewise, invalid annotations will produce either a AnnotationTypeMismatchException or IncompleteAnnotationException.

Since:
1.5

Method Summary

extends Annotation> T getAnnotation(Class annotationClass)
Returns the element's annotation for the specified annotation type, or null if no such annotation exists.
Annotation[]
getAnnotations()
Returns all annotations associated with the element.
Annotation[]
getDeclaredAnnotations()
Returns all annotations directly defined by the element.
boolean
isAnnotationPresent(Annotation> annotationClass)
Returns true if an annotation for the specified type is associated with the element.

Method Details

extends Annotation> T getAnnotation

public extends Annotation> T getAnnotation(Class annotationClass)
Returns the element's annotation for the specified annotation type, or null if no such annotation exists.
Parameters:
annotationClass - the type of annotation to look for.
Returns:
this element's annotation for the specified type, or null if no such annotation exists.
Throws:
NullPointerException - if the annotation class is null.

getAnnotations

public Annotation[] getAnnotations()
Returns all annotations associated with the element. If there are no annotations associated with the element, then a zero-length array will be returned. The returned array may be modified by the client code, but this will have no effect on the annotation content of the element, and hence no effect on the return value of this method for future callers.
Returns:
this element's annotations.

getDeclaredAnnotations

public Annotation[] getDeclaredAnnotations()
Returns all annotations directly defined by the element. If there are no annotations directly associated with the element, then a zero-length array will be returned. The returned array may be modified by the client code, but this will have no effect on the annotation content of this class, and hence no effect on the return value of this method for future callers.
Returns:
the annotations directly defined by the element.
Since:
1.5

isAnnotationPresent

public boolean isAnnotationPresent(Annotation> annotationClass)
Returns true if an annotation for the specified type is associated with the element. This is primarily a short-hand for using marker annotations.
Parameters:
annotationClass - the type of annotation to look for.
Returns:
true if an annotation exists for the specified type.
Since:
1.5

AnnotatedElement.java Copyright (C) 2004, 2005 Free Software Foundation, Inc. This file is part of GNU Classpath. GNU Classpath is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option) any later version. GNU Classpath 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 General Public License for more details. You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with GNU Classpath; see the file COPYING. If not, write to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA. Linking this library statically or dynamically with other modules is making a combined work based on this library. Thus, the terms and conditions of the GNU General Public License cover the whole combination. As a special exception, the copyright holders of this library give you permission to link this library with independent modules to produce an executable, regardless of the license terms of these independent modules, and to copy and distribute the resulting executable under terms of your choice, provided that you also meet, for each linked independent module, the terms and conditions of the license of that module. An independent module is a module which is not derived from or based on this library. If you modify this library, you may extend this exception to your version of the library, but you are not obligated to do so. If you do not wish to do so, delete this exception statement from your version.