SerializableAs.java

/*
 * This file is part of Foxbot.
 *
 *     Foxbot is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
 *     it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
 *     the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
 *     (at your option) any later version.
 *
 *     Foxbot is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
 *     but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
 *     MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
 *     GNU General Public License for more details.
 *
 *     You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
 *     along with Foxbot. If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
 */

package co.foxdev.foxbot.config.yamlconfig.serialization;

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

/**
 * Represents an "alias" that a {@link ConfigurationSerializable} may be stored
 * as. If this is not present on a {@link ConfigurationSerializable} class, it
 * will use the fully qualified name of the class.
 * <p/>
 * This value will be stored in the configuration so that the configuration
 * deserialization can determine what type it is.
 * <p/>
 * Using this annotation on any other class than a
 * {@link ConfigurationSerializable} will have no effect.
 *
 * @see ConfigurationSerialization#registerClass(Class, String)
 */
@Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
@Target(ElementType.TYPE)
public @interface SerializableAs
{
    /**
     * This is the name your class will be stored and retrieved as.
     * <p/>
     * This name MUST be unique. We recommend using names such as
     * "MyPluginThing" instead of "Thing".
     *
     * @return Name to serialize the class as.
     */
    public String value();
}