/*
 * Copyright (c) 2007, 2018 Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
 *
 * This program and the accompanying materials are made available under the
 * terms of the Eclipse Distribution License v. 1.0, which is available at
 * http://www.eclipse.org/org/documents/edl-v10.php.
 *
 * SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
 */

package org.glassfish.gmbal ;

import java.lang.annotation.Documented ;
import java.lang.annotation.Target ;
import java.lang.annotation.ElementType ;
import java.lang.annotation.Retention ;
import java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy ;

This annotation defines an attribute in open MBean (ManagedObject) or 
CompositeData (ManagedData).  It is useful in cases where the parent class 
cannot be annotated (for example, Object.toString(), or a framework class 
that must be extended
but cannot be modified).  The attribute id is defined in the annotation, and 
it is implemented by the methods inherited by the Managed entity. 

An example of a use of this is to handle @ManagedData that inherits from
Collection, and it is desired to display a read-only attribute containing
the elements of the Collection.  Simple add the annotation

 methodName="iterator" )

to handle this case.  Note that this only supports read-only attributes.
/** This annotation defines an attribute in open MBean (ManagedObject) or 
 * CompositeData (ManagedData).  It is useful in cases where the parent class 
 * cannot be annotated (for example, Object.toString(), or a framework class 
 * that must be extended
 * but cannot be modified).  The attribute id is defined in the annotation, and 
 * it is implemented by the methods inherited by the Managed entity. 
 * <p>
 * An example of a use of this is to handle @ManagedData that inherits from
 * Collection<X>, and it is desired to display a read-only attribute containing
 * the elements of the Collection.  Simple add the annotation
 * <p>
 * @InheritedAttribute( methodName="iterator" )
 * <p>
 * to handle this case.  Note that this only supports read-only attributes.
 */
@Documented 
@Target(ElementType.TYPE) 
@Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
public @interface InheritedAttribute {
    
The description of the attribute.  Can be a key to a resource
bundle for I18N support. Note that this needs a description, otherwise
the InheritedAttributes annotation won't work.  The Description
annotation is used in all other cases.  The description cannot be 
empty.
Returns:
The description./** The description of the attribute.  Can be a key to a resource
     * bundle for I18N support. Note that this needs a description, otherwise
     * the InheritedAttributes annotation won't work.  The Description
     * annotation is used in all other cases.  The description cannot be 
     * empty.
     * @return The description.
     */
    String description() ;

    
The name of the attribute,  This class must inherit a method whose name
corresponds to this id in one of the standard ways.
Returns:
The ID./** The name of the attribute,  This class must inherit a method whose name
     * corresponds to this id in one of the standard ways.
     * @return The ID.
     */
    String id() default "" ;

    
The name of the method implementing this attribute.  At least one of
id and methodName must not be empty.  If only one is given, the other
is derived according to the extended attribute name rules.
/** The name of the method implementing this attribute.  At least one of
     * id and methodName must not be empty.  If only one is given, the other
     * is derived according to the extended attribute name rules.
     */
    String methodName() default "" ;
}