Source.java

/**
 * Copyright (C) 2009 Original Authors
 *
 * This file is part of Spring ME.
 *
 * Spring ME 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 2, or (at your option) any
 * later version.
 *
 * Spring ME 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 Spring ME; see the file COPYING. If not, write to the Free
 * Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA
 * 02110-1301 USA.
 *
 * Linking this library statically or dynamically with other modules is
 * making a combined work based on this library. Thus, the terms and
 * conditions of the GNU General Public License cover the whole
 * combination.
 *
 * As a special exception, the copyright holders of this library give you
 * permission to link this library with independent modules to produce an
 * executable, regardless of the license terms of these independent
 * modules, and to copy and distribute the resulting executable under
 * terms of your choice, provided that you also meet, for each linked
 * independent module, the terms and conditions of the license of that
 * module. An independent module is a module which is not derived from or
 * based on this library. If you modify this library, you may extend this
 * exception to your version of the library, but you are not obligated to
 * do so. If you do not wish to do so, delete this exception statement
 * from your version.
 */
package me.springframework.di;

/**
 * The interface to be implemented by objects modeling the values injected.
 *
 * @author Wilfred Springer
 *
 */
public interface Source extends Typed {

    /**
     * Returns an artificial ID, that fits the Java requirements for
     * identifiers.
     *
     * @return An artificial ID, fitting the Java requirements for identifiers.
     */
    String getId();

    /**
     * The subtypes existing for this interface.
     *
     */
    enum SourceType {

        /**
         * An anonymous instance, injected in a single instance only.
         */
        Instance,

        /**
         * A String representation of a value.
         */
        StringRepresentation,

        /**
         * A reference to another instance, by name.
         */
        InstanceReference,

        /**
         * A list of values / references.
         */
        List,
        
        /**
         * A map of entries.
         */
        Map;

    };

    /**
     * Returns the {@link SourceType} of an instance implementing this
     * interface.
     *
     * @return The {@link SourceType} of an instance implementing this
     *         interface.
     */
    SourceType getSourceType();

}