/*
 * Copyright 2002-2006,2009 The Apache Software Foundation.
 * 
 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
 * 
 *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 * 
 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 * limitations under the License.
 */
package com.opensymphony.xwork2.conversion.annotations;

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

/**
 * <!-- START SNIPPET: description -->
 * A marker annotation for type conversions at Type level.
 * <!-- END SNIPPET: description -->
 *
 * <p>
 *     <u>Annotation usage:</u>
 * </p>
 *
 * <!-- START SNIPPET: usage -->
 * The Conversion annotation must be applied at Type level.
 * <!-- END SNIPPET: usage -->
 *
 * <p> <u>Annotation parameters:</u> </p>
 *
 * <!-- START SNIPPET: parameters -->
 * <table summary="">
 * <thead>
 * <tr>
 * <th>Parameter</th>
 * <th>Required</th>
 * <th>Default</th>
 * <th>Description</th>
 * </tr>
 * </thead>
 * <tbody>
 * <tr>
 * <td>conversion</td>
 * <td>no</td>
 * <td>&nbsp;</td>
 * <td>used for Type Conversions applied at Type level.</td>
 * </tr>
 * </tbody>
 * </table>
 * <!-- END SNIPPET: parameters -->
 *
 * <p> <u>Example code:</u> </p>
 *
 * <pre>
 * <!-- START SNIPPET: example -->
 * &#64;Conversion(
 *     conversions = {
 *          // key must be the name of a property for which converter should be used
 *          &#64;TypeConversion(key = "date", converter = "org.demo.converter.DateConverter")
 *     }
 * )
 * public class ConversionAction implements Action {
 *
 *     private Date date;
 *
 *     public setDate(Date date) {
 *         this.date = date;
 *     }
 *
 *     public Date getDate() {
 *         return date;
 *     }
 *
 * }
 *
 * <!-- END SNIPPET: example -->
 * </pre>
 *
 * @author Rainer Hermanns
 * @version $Id$
 */
@Target({ElementType.TYPE})
@Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
public @interface Conversion {

    /**
     * Allow Type Conversions being applied at Type level.
     *
     * @return type conversion
     */
    TypeConversion[] conversions() default {};
}
