1/*
2 * Copyright (c) 2005, 2013, 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 javax.lang.model.element;
27
28import javax.lang.model.util.Elements;
29
30/**
31 * Represents a field, {@code enum} constant, method or constructor
32 * parameter, local variable, resource variable, or exception
33 * parameter.
34 *
35 * @author Joseph D. Darcy
36 * @author Scott Seligman
37 * @author Peter von der Ahé
38 * @since 1.6
39 */
40public interface VariableElement extends Element {
41
42    /**
43     * Returns the value of this variable if this is a {@code final}
44     * field initialized to a compile-time constant.  Returns {@code
45     * null} otherwise.  The value will be of a primitive type or a
46     * {@code String}.  If the value is of a primitive type, it is
47     * wrapped in the appropriate wrapper class (such as {@link
48     * Integer}).
49     *
50     * <p>Note that not all {@code final} fields will have
51     * constant values.  In particular, {@code enum} constants are
52     * <em>not</em> considered to be compile-time constants.  To have a
53     * constant value, a field's type must be either a primitive type
54     * or {@code String}.
55     *
56     * @return the value of this variable if this is a {@code final}
57     * field initialized to a compile-time constant, or {@code null}
58     * otherwise
59     *
60     * @see Elements#getConstantExpression(Object)
61     * @jls 15.28 Constant Expression
62     * @jls 4.12.4 final Variables
63     */
64    Object getConstantValue();
65
66    /**
67     * Returns the simple name of this variable element.
68     *
69     * <p>For method and constructor parameters, the name of each
70     * parameter must be distinct from the names of all other
71     * parameters of the same executable.  If the original source
72     * names are not available, an implementation may synthesize names
73     * subject to the distinctness requirement above.
74     *
75     * @return the simple name of this variable element
76     */
77    @Override
78    Name getSimpleName();
79
80    /**
81     * Returns the enclosing element of this variable.
82     *
83     * The enclosing element of a method or constructor parameter is
84     * the executable declaring the parameter.
85     *
86     * @return the enclosing element of this variable
87     */
88    @Override
89    Element getEnclosingElement();
90}
91