java.lang.annotation
Enum RetentionPolicy

java.lang.Object
  extended by java.lang.Enum<RetentionPolicy>
      extended by java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy
All Implemented Interfaces:
Serializable, Comparable<RetentionPolicy>

public enum RetentionPolicy
extends Enum<RetentionPolicy>

This enum is used to control the lifetime of an annotation.

Since:
1.5
See Also:
Retention

Enum Constant Summary
CLASS
          Indicates that the annotation should be stored in class files.
RUNTIME
          Indicates that the annotation should be available at runtime.
SOURCE
          Indicates that the annotation should only be available when parsing the source code.
 
Method Summary
static RetentionPolicy valueOf(String name)
          Returns the enum constant of this type with the specified name.
static RetentionPolicy[] values()
          Returns an array containing the constants of this enum type, in the order they are declared.
 
Methods inherited from class java.lang.Enum
clone, compareTo, equals, finalize, getDeclaringClass, hashCode, name, ordinal, toString, valueOf
 
Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object
getClass, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait
 

Enum Constant Detail

CLASS

public static final RetentionPolicy CLASS
Indicates that the annotation should be stored in class files.


RUNTIME

public static final RetentionPolicy RUNTIME
Indicates that the annotation should be available at runtime.


SOURCE

public static final RetentionPolicy SOURCE
Indicates that the annotation should only be available when parsing the source code.

Method Detail

values

public static RetentionPolicy[] values()
Returns an array containing the constants of this enum type, in the order they are declared. This method may be used to iterate over the constants as follows:
for (RetentionPolicy c : RetentionPolicy.values())
    System.out.println(c);

Returns:
an array containing the constants of this enum type, in the order they are declared

valueOf

public static RetentionPolicy valueOf(String name)
Returns the enum constant of this type with the specified name. The string must match exactly an identifier used to declare an enum constant in this type. (Extraneous whitespace characters are not permitted.)

Parameters:
name - the name of the enum constant to be returned.
Returns:
the enum constant with the specified name
Throws:
IllegalArgumentException - if this enum type has no constant with the specified name
NullPointerException - if the argument is null