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 * If the annotation {@code @Documented} is present on the declaration
30 * of an annotation type <i>A</i>, then any {@code @A} annotation on
31 * an element is considered part of the element's public contract.
32 *
33 * In more detail, when an annotation type <i>A</i> is annotated with
34 * {@code Documented}, the presence and value of annotations of type
35 * <i>A</i> are a part of the public contract of the elements <i>A</i>
36 * annotates.
37 *
38 * Conversely, if an annotation type <i>B</i> is <em>not</em>
39 * annotated with {@code Documented}, the presence and value of
40 * <i>B</i> annotations are <em>not</em> part of the public contract
41 * of the elements <i>B</i> annotates.
42 *
43 * Concretely, if an annotation type is annotated with {@code
44 * Documented}, by default a tool like javadoc will display
45 * annotations of that type in its output while annotations of
46 * annotation types without {@code Documented} will not be displayed.
47 *
48 * @author  Joshua Bloch
49 * @since 1.5
50 */
51@Documented
52@Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
53@Target(ElementType.ANNOTATION_TYPE)
54public @interface Documented {
55}
56