SymbolicValue (PMD Java 7.0.0-rc2 API)

All Known Subinterfaces:

SymbolicValue.SymAnnot

All Known Implementing Classes:

SymbolicValue.SymArray, SymbolicValue.SymClass, SymbolicValue.SymEnum, SymbolicValue.SymValue
```
public interface SymbolicValue
```
Structure to represent constant values of annotations symbolically. Annotations may contain:
- Primitive or string values: SymbolicValue.SymValue
- Enum constants: SymbolicValue.SymEnum
- Class instances: SymbolicValue.SymClass
- Other annotations: SymbolicValue.SymAnnot
- Arrays of the above, of dimension 1: SymbolicValue.SymArray
Any other values, including the null reference, are unsupported and cannot be represented by this API.
Currently the public API allows comparing the values to an actual java value that you compiled against (valueEquals(Object)). This may be improved later to allow comparing values without needing them in the compile classpath.
This is a sealed interface and should not be implemented by clients.
Note: the point of this api is to enable comparisons between values, not deep introspection into values. This is why there are very few getter methods, except in SymbolicValue.SymAnnot, which is the API point used by AnnotableSymbol.

Nested Class Summary

Nested Classes
Modifier and Type	Interface	Description
`static interface`	`SymbolicValue.SymAnnot`	Symbolic representation of an annotation.
`static class`	`SymbolicValue.SymArray`	An array of values.
`static class`	`SymbolicValue.SymClass`	Represents a class constant.
`static class`	`SymbolicValue.SymEnum`	Symbolic representation of an enum constant.
`static class`	`SymbolicValue.SymValue`	Represents a primitive or string value.

Method Summary

All Methods Static Methods Instance Methods Abstract Methods
Modifier and Type	Method	Description
`boolean`	`equals(Object o)`	Returns true if this value is equal to the other one.
`static @Nullable SymbolicValue`	`of(TypeSystem ts, Object value)`	Returns a symbolic value for the given java object Returns an annotation element for the given java value.
`boolean`	`valueEquals(Object o)`	Returns true if this symbolic value represents the same value as the given object.

- Method Detail
  - valueEquals
```
boolean valueEquals(Object o)
```
    Returns true if this symbolic value represents the same value as the given object. If the parameter is null, returns false.
  - equals
```
boolean equals(Object o)
```
    Returns true if this value is equal to the other one. The parameter must be a SymbolicValue of the same type. Use valueEquals(Object) to compare to a java object.
    
    Overrides:
    
    equals in class Object
  - of
```
static @Nullable SymbolicValue of(TypeSystem ts,
                                  Object value)
```
    Returns a symbolic value for the given java object Returns an annotation element for the given java value. Returns null if the value cannot be an annotation element or cannot be constructed.