/*
 * 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.util;

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

/**
 * <!-- START SNIPPET: description -->
 * <p>Sets the Element for type conversion.</p>
 * <!-- END SNIPPET: description -->
 *
 * <p><u>Annotation usage:</u></p>
 *
 * <!-- START SNIPPET: usage -->
 * <p>The Element annotation must be applied at field or method level.</p>
 * <!-- 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>value</td>
 * <td>no</td>
 * <td>java.lang.Object.class</td>
 * <td>The element property value.</td>
 * </tr>
 * </tbody>
 * </table>
 * <!-- END SNIPPET: parameters -->
 *
 * <p><u>Example code:</u></p>
 * <pre>
 * <!-- START SNIPPET: example -->
 * // The key property for User objects within the users collection is the <code>userName</code> attribute.
 * &#64;Element( value = com.acme.User )
 * private Map&lt;Long, User&gt; userMap;
 *
 * &#64;Element( value = com.acme.User )
 * public List&lt;User&gt; userList;
 * <!-- END SNIPPET: example -->
 * </pre>
 *
 * @author Rainer Hermanns
 */
@Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
@Target({ElementType.FIELD, ElementType.METHOD})
public @interface Element {

    /**
     * @return The Element value. Defaults to <tt>java.lang.Object.class</tt>.
     */
    Class value() default java.lang.Object.class;
}
