Class Reference

java.lang.Object

org.simpleframework.xml.convert.Reference

All Implemented Interfaces:

Value

class Reference
extends Object
implements Value

The Reference object represents a value that holds an object instance. If an object instance is to be provided from a Strategy implementation it must be wrapped in a value object. The value object can then provide the details of the instance and the actual object instance to the serializer.

Field Summary

Fields

Modifier and Type	Field	Description
private Class	actual	This is the actual type of the reference that is represented.
private Object	data	This represents the object instance that this represents.
private Value	value	This represents the original value returned from a strategy.

Constructor Summary

Constructors

Constructor	Description
Reference(Value value, Object data, Class actual)	Constructor for a Reference object.

Method Summary

Modifier and Type	Method	Description
int	getLength()	This will return the length of an array reference.
Class	getType()	This is the type of the object instance this represents.
Object	getValue()	This returns the actual object instance that is held by this reference object.
boolean	isReference()	This will always return true as this Value object will always contain an object instance.
void	setValue(Object data)	This is used to set the value of the object.

Methods inherited from class Object

clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait

Field Details

value

private Value value

This represents the original value returned from a strategy.

data

private Object data

This represents the object instance that this represents.

actual

private Class actual

This is the actual type of the reference that is represented.

Constructor Details

Reference

public Reference(Value value,
 Object data,
 Class actual)

Constructor for a Reference object. To create this a value and an object instance is required. The value provided may be null, but the instance should be a valid object instance to be used by the serializer.

Parameters:

value - this is the original value from a strategy

data - this is the object instance that is wrapped

actual - this is the overriding type of the reference

Method Details

getLength

public int getLength()

This will return the length of an array reference. Because the value will represent the value itself the length is never used, as no instance needs to be created.

Specified by:

getLength in interface Value

Returns:

this will always return zero for a reference

getType

public Class getType()

This is the type of the object instance this represents. The type returned by this is used to instantiate an object which will be set on this value and the internal graph maintained.

Specified by:

getType in interface Value

Returns:

the type of the object that must be instantiated

getValue

public Object getValue()

This returns the actual object instance that is held by this reference object.

Specified by:

getValue in interface Value

Returns:

an instance of the type this object represents

isReference

public boolean isReference()

This will always return true as this Value object will always contain an object instance. Returning true from this method tells the serializer that there is no need to actually perform any further deserialization.

Specified by:

isReference in interface Value

Returns:

this always returns true as this will be a reference

setValue

public void setValue(Object data)

This is used to set the value of the object. If the internal Value is not null then the internal value will have the instance set also.

Specified by:

setValue in interface Value

Parameters:

data - this is the object instance that is to be set