1 /* 2 * Copyright (c) 2012, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved. 3 * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER. 4 * 5 * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it 6 * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as 7 * published by the Free Software Foundation. Oracle designates this 8 * particular file as subject to the "Classpath" exception as provided 9 * by Oracle in the LICENSE file that accompanied this code. 10 * 11 * This code is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT 12 * ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or 13 * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License 14 * version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that 15 * accompanied this code). 16 * 17 * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License version 18 * 2 along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation, 19 * Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA. 20 * 21 * Please contact Oracle, 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood Shores, CA 94065 USA 22 * or visit www.oracle.com if you need additional information or have any 23 * questions. 24 */ 25 26 package java.lang.annotation; 27 28 /** 29 * The annotation type {@code java.lang.annotation.ContainedBy} is 30 * used to indicate that the annotation type whose declaration it 31 * (meta-)annotates is <em>repeatable</em>. The value of 32 * {@code @ContainedBy} indicates the <em>containing annotation 33 * type</em> for the repeatable annotation type. 34 * 35 * <p>The pair of annotation types {@code @ContainedBy} and 36 * {@link java.lang.annotation.ContainerFor @ContainerFor} are used to 37 * indicate that annotation types are repeatable. Specifically: 38 * 39 * <ul> 40 * <li>The annotation type {@code @ContainedBy} is used on the 41 * declaration of a repeatable annotation type (JLS 9.6) to indicate 42 * its containing annotation type. 43 * 44 * <li>The annotation type {@code @ContainerFor} is used on the 45 * declaration of a containing annotation type (JLS 9.6) to indicate 46 * the repeatable annotation type for which it serves as the 47 * containing annotation type. 48 * </ul> 49 * 50 * <p> 51 * An inconsistent pair of {@code @ContainedBy} and 52 * {@code @ContainerFor} annotations on a repeatable annotation type 53 * and its containing annotation type (JLS 9.6) will lead to 54 * compile-time errors and runtime exceptions when using reflection to 55 * read annotations of a repeatable type. 56 * 57 * @see java.lang.annotation.ContainerFor 58 * @since 1.8 59 * @jls 9.6 Annotation Types 60 * @jls 9.7 Annotations 61 */ 62 @Documented 63 @Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME) 64 @Target(ElementType.ANNOTATION_TYPE) 65 public @interface ContainedBy { 66 /** 67 * Indicates the <em>containing annotation type</em> for the 68 * repeatable annotation type. 69 */ 70 Class<? extends Annotation> value(); 71 }