001    /*
002     * Copyright 2004 Sun Microsystems, Inc.  All Rights Reserved.
003     * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
004     *
005     * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
006     * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as
007     * published by the Free Software Foundation.  Sun designates this
008     * particular file as subject to the "Classpath" exception as provided
009     * by Sun in the LICENSE file that accompanied this code.
010     *
011     * This code is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
012     * ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
013     * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License
014     * version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that
015     * accompanied this code).
016     *
017     * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License version
018     * 2 along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
019     * Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
020     *
021     * Please contact Sun Microsystems, Inc., 4150 Network Circle, Santa Clara,
022     * CA 95054 USA or visit www.sun.com if you need additional information or
023     * have any questions.
024     */
025    
026    package com.sun.mirror.declaration;
027    
028    import com.sun.mirror.util.SourcePosition;
029    
030    /**
031     * Represents a value of an annotation type element.
032     *
033     * @author Joseph D. Darcy
034     * @author Scott Seligman
035     * @since 1.5
036     */
037    
038    public interface AnnotationValue {
039    
040        /**
041         * Returns the value.
042         * The result has one of the following types:
043         * <ul><li> a wrapper class (such as {@link Integer}) for a primitive type
044         *     <li> {@code String}
045         *     <li> {@code TypeMirror}
046         *     <li> {@code EnumConstantDeclaration}
047         *     <li> {@code AnnotationMirror}
048         *     <li> {@code Collection<AnnotationValue>}
049         *          (representing the elements, in order, if the value is an array)
050         * </ul>
051         *
052         * @return the value
053         */
054        Object getValue();
055    
056        /**
057         * Returns the source position of the beginning of this annotation value.
058         * Returns null if the position is unknown or not applicable.
059         *
060         * <p>This source position is intended for use in providing diagnostics,
061         * and indicates only approximately where an annotation value begins.
062         *
063         * @return  the source position of the beginning of this annotation value or
064         * null if the position is unknown or not applicable
065         */
066        SourcePosition getPosition();
067    
068        /**
069         * Returns a string representation of this value.
070         * This is returned in a form suitable for representing this value
071         * in the source code of an annotation.
072         *
073         * @return a string representation of this value
074         */
075        String toString();
076    }