Enum Class RetentionPolicy

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

public enum RetentionPolicy extends Enum<RetentionPolicy>
Annotation retention policy. The constants of this enumerated class describe the various policies for retaining annotations. They are used in conjunction with the Retention meta-annotation interface to specify how long annotations are to be retained.
Since:
1.5
  • Enum Constant Details

    • SOURCE

      public static final RetentionPolicy SOURCE
      Annotations are to be discarded by the compiler.
    • CLASS

      public static final RetentionPolicy CLASS
      Annotations are to be recorded in the class file by the compiler but need not be retained by the VM at run time. This is the default behavior.
    • RUNTIME

      public static final RetentionPolicy RUNTIME
      Annotations are to be recorded in the class file by the compiler and retained by the VM at run time, so they may be read reflectively.
      See Also:
  • Method Details

    • values

      public static RetentionPolicy[] values()
      Returns an array containing the constants of this enum class, in the order they are declared.
      Returns:
      an array containing the constants of this enum class, in the order they are declared
    • valueOf

      public static RetentionPolicy valueOf(String name)
      Returns the enum constant of this class with the specified name. The string must match exactly an identifier used to declare an enum constant in this class. (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 class has no constant with the specified name
      NullPointerException - if the argument is null