Interface Label

All Known Implementing Classes:
AttributeLabel, CacheLabel, ElementArrayLabel, ElementLabel, ElementListLabel, ElementListUnionLabel, ElementMapLabel, ElementMapUnionLabel, ElementUnionLabel, TemplateLabel, TextLabel, TextListLabel, Variable, VersionLabel

interface Label
The Label interface is used to describe an reference to a field annotated with an XML schema annotation. Because each field and annotation is different, there are different ways in which the annotation can be accessed. This provides a uniform means for accessing the field annotation details and the field properties.

This also exposes a Converter object, which is used to convert an XML node into a property that can be assigned to the annotated field. Each converter returned is specific to the label and knows, based on the annotation, how to serialize the field.

  • Method Summary

    Modifier and Type
    Method
    Description
    This acquires the annotation associated with this label.
    This is used to acquire the contact object for this label.
    This method returns a Converter which can be used to convert an XML node into an object value and vice versa.
    This is used to acquire the Decorator for this.
    This returns the dependent type for the annotation.
    getEmpty(Context context)
    This is used to provide a configured empty value used when the annotated value is null.
    This is used to either provide the entry value provided within the annotation or compute a entry value.
    This method is used to return an XPath expression that is used to represent the position of this label.
    This is the key used to represent this label.
    This is used to acquire the Label that the type provided is represented by.
    This is used to acquire the name of the element or attribute that is used by the class schema.
    This returns a Collection of element names.
    This is used to acquire the name of the element or attribute as taken from the annotation.
    This is used to acquire the path of the element or attribute that is used by the class schema.
    This returns a Collection of element paths.
    This acts as a convenience method used to determine the type of the field this represents.
    getType(Class type)
    This is used to acquire the Type that the type provided is represented by.
    boolean
    This method is used to determine if the label represents an attribute.
    boolean
    This is used to determine if the label is a collection.
    boolean
    This is used to determine whether the annotation requires it and its children to be written as a CDATA block.
    boolean
    This is used to determine whether the label represents an inline XML entity.
    boolean
    Determines whether the XML attribute or element is required.
    boolean
    This is used to determine if the label represents text.
    boolean
    This is used to determine if an annotated list is a text list.
    boolean
    This is used to determine if this label is a union.
    This is used to describe the annotation and method or field that this label represents.
  • Method Details

    • getDecorator

      Decorator getDecorator() throws Exception
      This is used to acquire the Decorator for this. A decorator is an object that adds various details to the node without changing the overall structure of the node. For example comments and namespaces can be added to the node with a decorator as they do not affect the deserialization.
      Returns:
      this returns the decorator associated with this
      Throws:
      Exception
    • getType

      Type getType(Class type) throws Exception
      This is used to acquire the Type that the type provided is represented by. Typically this will return the field or method represented by the label. However, in the case of unions this will provide an override type.
      Parameters:
      type - this is the class to acquire the type for
      Returns:
      this returns the type represented by this class
      Throws:
      Exception
    • getLabel

      Label getLabel(Class type) throws Exception
      This is used to acquire the Label that the type provided is represented by. Typically this will return the same instance. However, in the case of unions this will look for an individual label to match the type provided.
      Parameters:
      type - this is the type to acquire the label for
      Returns:
      this returns the label represented by this type
      Throws:
      Exception
    • getNames

      String[] getNames() throws Exception
      This returns a Collection of element names. This will typically contain both the name and path of the label. However, if this is a union it can contain many names and paths. This method should never return null.
      Returns:
      this returns the names of each of the elements
      Throws:
      Exception
    • getPaths

      String[] getPaths() throws Exception
      This returns a Collection of element paths. This will typically contain only the path of the label, which is composed using the Path annotation and the name of the label. However, if this is a union it can contain many paths. This method should never return null.
      Returns:
      this returns the names of each of the elements
      Throws:
      Exception
    • getEmpty

      Object getEmpty(Context context) throws Exception
      This is used to provide a configured empty value used when the annotated value is null. This ensures that XML can be created with required details regardless of whether values are null or not. It also provides a means for sensible default values.
      Parameters:
      context - this is the context object for the serialization
      Returns:
      this returns the string to use for default values
      Throws:
      Exception
    • getConverter

      Converter getConverter(Context context) throws Exception
      This method returns a Converter which can be used to convert an XML node into an object value and vice versa. The converter requires only the context object in order to perform serialization or deserialization of the provided XML node.
      Parameters:
      context - this is the context object for the serialization
      Returns:
      this returns an object that is used for conversion
      Throws:
      Exception
    • getName

      String getName() throws Exception
      This is used to acquire the name of the element or attribute that is used by the class schema. The name is determined by checking for an override within the annotation. If it contains a name then that is used, if however the annotation does not specify a name the the field or method name is used instead.
      Returns:
      returns the name that is used for the XML property
      Throws:
      Exception
    • getPath

      String getPath() throws Exception
      This is used to acquire the path of the element or attribute that is used by the class schema. The path is determined by acquiring the XPath expression and appending the name of the label to form a fully qualified path.
      Returns:
      returns the path that is used for the XML property
      Throws:
      Exception
    • getExpression

      Expression getExpression() throws Exception
      This method is used to return an XPath expression that is used to represent the position of this label. If there is no XPath expression associated with this then an empty path is returned. This will never return a null expression.
      Returns:
      the XPath expression identifying the location
      Throws:
      Exception
    • getDependent

      Type getDependent() throws Exception
      This returns the dependent type for the annotation. This type is the type other than the annotated field or method type that the label depends on. For the ElementList and the ElementArray this is the component type that is deserialized individually and inserted into the container.
      Returns:
      this is the type that the annotation depends on
      Throws:
      Exception
    • getEntry

      String getEntry() throws Exception
      This is used to either provide the entry value provided within the annotation or compute a entry value. If the entry string is not provided the the entry value is calculated as the type of primitive the object is as a simplified class name.
      Returns:
      this returns the name of the XML entry element used
      Throws:
      Exception
    • getKey

      Object getKey() throws Exception
      This is the key used to represent this label. The key is used to store the parameter in hash containers. Typically the key is generated from the paths associated with the label.
      Returns:
      this is the key used to represent the label
      Throws:
      Exception
    • getAnnotation

      Annotation getAnnotation()
      This acquires the annotation associated with this label. This is typically the annotation acquired from the field or method. However, in the case of unions this will return the actual annotation within the union group that this represents.
      Returns:
      this returns the annotation that this represents
    • getContact

      Contact getContact()
      This is used to acquire the contact object for this label. The contact retrieved can be used to set any object or primitive that has been deserialized, and can also be used to acquire values to be serialized in the case of object persistence. All contacts that are retrieved from this method will be accessible.
      Returns:
      returns the field that this label is representing
    • getType

      Class getType()
      This acts as a convenience method used to determine the type of the field this represents. This is used when an object is written to XML. It determines whether a class attribute is required within the serialized XML element, that is, if the class returned by this is different from the actual value of the object to be serialized then that type needs to be remembered.
      Returns:
      this returns the type of the field class
    • getOverride

      String getOverride()
      This is used to acquire the name of the element or attribute as taken from the annotation. If the element or attribute explicitly specifies a name then that name is used for the XML element or attribute used. If however no overriding name is provided then the method or field is used for the name.
      Returns:
      returns the name of the annotation for the contact
    • isData

      boolean isData()
      This is used to determine whether the annotation requires it and its children to be written as a CDATA block. This is done when a primitive or other such element requires a text value and that value needs to be encapsulated within a CDATA block.
      Returns:
      this returns true if the element requires CDATA
    • isRequired

      boolean isRequired()
      Determines whether the XML attribute or element is required. This ensures that if an XML element is missing from a document that deserialization can continue. Also, in the process of serialization, if a value is null it does not need to be written to the resulting XML document.
      Returns:
      true if the label represents a some required data
    • isAttribute

      boolean isAttribute()
      This method is used to determine if the label represents an attribute. This is used to style the name so that elements are styled as elements and attributes are styled as required.
      Returns:
      this is used to determine if this is an attribute
    • isCollection

      boolean isCollection()
      This is used to determine if the label is a collection. If the label represents a collection then any original assignment to the field or method can be written to without the need to create a new collection. This allows obscure collections to be used and also allows initial entries to be maintained.
      Returns:
      true if the label represents a collection value
    • isInline

      boolean isInline()
      This is used to determine whether the label represents an inline XML entity. The ElementList annotation and the Text annotation represent inline items. This means that they contain no containing element and so can not specify overrides or special attributes.
      Returns:
      this returns true if the annotation is inline
    • isText

      boolean isText()
      This is used to determine if the label represents text. If a label represents text it typically does not have a name, instead the empty string represents the name. Also text labels can not exist with other text labels, or elements.
      Returns:
      this returns true if this label represents text
    • isTextList

      boolean isTextList()
      This is used to determine if an annotated list is a text list. A text list is a list of elements that also accepts free text. Typically this will be an element list union that will allow unstructured XML such as XHTML to be parsed.
      Returns:
      returns true if the label represents a text list
    • isUnion

      boolean isUnion()
      This is used to determine if this label is a union. If this is true then this label represents a number of labels and is simply a wrapper for these labels.
      Returns:
      this returns true if the label represents a union
    • toString

      String toString()
      This is used to describe the annotation and method or field that this label represents. This is used to provide error messages that can be used to debug issues that occur when processing a method. This should provide enough information such that the problem can be isolated correctly.
      Overrides:
      toString in class Object
      Returns:
      this returns a string representation of the label