aoqi@0: /*
aoqi@0:  * Copyright (c) 2006, 2013, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
aoqi@0:  * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
aoqi@0:  *
aoqi@0:  * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
aoqi@0:  * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as
aoqi@0:  * published by the Free Software Foundation.  Oracle designates this
aoqi@0:  * particular file as subject to the "Classpath" exception as provided
aoqi@0:  * by Oracle in the LICENSE file that accompanied this code.
aoqi@0:  *
aoqi@0:  * This code is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
aoqi@0:  * ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
aoqi@0:  * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License
aoqi@0:  * version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that
aoqi@0:  * accompanied this code).
aoqi@0:  *
aoqi@0:  * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License version
aoqi@0:  * 2 along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
aoqi@0:  * Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
aoqi@0:  *
aoqi@0:  * Please contact Oracle, 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood Shores, CA 94065 USA
aoqi@0:  * or visit www.oracle.com if you need additional information or have any
aoqi@0:  * questions.
aoqi@0:  */
aoqi@0: 
aoqi@0: package javax.xml.bind.annotation;
aoqi@0: 
aoqi@0: import javax.xml.bind.JAXBContext;
aoqi@0: import java.lang.annotation.ElementType;
aoqi@0: import java.lang.annotation.Retention;
aoqi@0: import static java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME;
aoqi@0: import java.lang.annotation.Target;
aoqi@0: 
aoqi@0: /**
aoqi@0:  * Instructs JAXB to also bind other classes when binding this class.
aoqi@0:  *
aoqi@0:  * <p>
aoqi@0:  * Java makes it impractical/impossible to list all sub-classes of
aoqi@0:  * a given class. This often gets in a way of JAXB users, as it JAXB
aoqi@0:  * cannot automatically list up the classes that need to be known
aoqi@0:  * to {@link JAXBContext}.
aoqi@0:  *
aoqi@0:  * <p>
aoqi@0:  * For example, with the following class definitions:
aoqi@0:  *
aoqi@0:  * <pre>
aoqi@0:  * class Animal {}
aoqi@0:  * class Dog extends Animal {}
aoqi@0:  * class Cat extends Animal {}
aoqi@0:  * </pre>
aoqi@0:  *
aoqi@0:  * <p>
aoqi@0:  * The user would be required to create {@link JAXBContext} as
aoqi@0:  * <tt>JAXBContext.newInstance(Dog.class,Cat.class)</tt>
aoqi@0:  * (<tt>Animal</tt> will be automatically picked up since <tt>Dog</tt>
aoqi@0:  * and <tt>Cat</tt> refers to it.)
aoqi@0:  *
aoqi@0:  * <p>
aoqi@0:  * {@link XmlSeeAlso} annotation would allow you to write:
aoqi@0:  * <pre>
aoqi@0:  * &#64;XmlSeeAlso({Dog.class,Cat.class})
aoqi@0:  * class Animal {}
aoqi@0:  * class Dog extends Animal {}
aoqi@0:  * class Cat extends Animal {}
aoqi@0:  * </pre>
aoqi@0:  *
aoqi@0:  * <p>
aoqi@0:  * This would allow you to do <tt>JAXBContext.newInstance(Animal.class)</tt>.
aoqi@0:  * By the help of this annotation, JAXB implementations will be able to
aoqi@0:  * correctly bind <tt>Dog</tt> and <tt>Cat</tt>.
aoqi@0:  *
aoqi@0:  * @author Kohsuke Kawaguchi
aoqi@0:  * @since JAXB2.1
aoqi@0:  */
aoqi@0: @Target({ElementType.TYPE})
aoqi@0: @Retention(RUNTIME)
aoqi@0: public @interface XmlSeeAlso {
aoqi@0:     Class[] value();
aoqi@0: }