1/*
2 * Copyright (c) 2003, 2004, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
3 * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
4 *
5 * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
6 * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as
7 * published by the Free Software Foundation.  Oracle designates this
8 * particular file as subject to the "Classpath" exception as provided
9 * by Oracle in the LICENSE file that accompanied this code.
10 *
11 * This code is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
12 * ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
13 * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License
14 * version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that
15 * accompanied this code).
16 *
17 * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License version
18 * 2 along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
19 * Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
20 *
21 * Please contact Oracle, 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood Shores, CA 94065 USA
22 * or visit www.oracle.com if you need additional information or have any
23 * questions.
24 */
25
26package java.lang.annotation;
27
28/**
29 * Annotation retention policy.  The constants of this enumerated type
30 * describe the various policies for retaining annotations.  They are used
31 * in conjunction with the {@link Retention} meta-annotation type to specify
32 * how long annotations are to be retained.
33 *
34 * @author  Joshua Bloch
35 * @since 1.5
36 */
37public enum RetentionPolicy {
38    /**
39     * Annotations are to be discarded by the compiler.
40     */
41    SOURCE,
42
43    /**
44     * Annotations are to be recorded in the class file by the compiler
45     * but need not be retained by the VM at run time.  This is the default
46     * behavior.
47     */
48    CLASS,
49
50    /**
51     * Annotations are to be recorded in the class file by the compiler and
52     * retained by the VM at run time, so they may be read reflectively.
53     *
54     * @see java.lang.reflect.AnnotatedElement
55     */
56    RUNTIME
57}
58