001/* TypeVariable.java
002   Copyright (C) 2004 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
003
004This file is part of GNU Classpath.
005
006GNU Classpath is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
007it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
008the Free Software Foundation; either version 2, or (at your option)
009any later version.
010
011GNU Classpath is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but
012WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
013MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU
014General Public License for more details.
015
016You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
017along with GNU Classpath; see the file COPYING.  If not, write to the
018Free Software Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA
01902110-1301 USA.
020
021Linking this library statically or dynamically with other modules is
022making a combined work based on this library.  Thus, the terms and
023conditions of the GNU General Public License cover the whole
024combination.
025
026As a special exception, the copyright holders of this library give you
027permission to link this library with independent modules to produce an
028executable, regardless of the license terms of these independent
029modules, and to copy and distribute the resulting executable under
030terms of your choice, provided that you also meet, for each linked
031independent module, the terms and conditions of the license of that
032module.  An independent module is a module which is not derived from
033or based on this library.  If you modify this library, you may extend
034this exception to your version of the library, but you are not
035obligated to do so.  If you do not wish to do so, delete this
036exception statement from your version. */
037
038
039package java.lang.reflect;
040
041/**
042 * <p> 
043 * This is a common interface for all type variables provided by
044 * the Java language.  Instances are created the first time a type
045 * variable is needed by one of the reflective methods declared in
046 * this package.
047 * </p>
048 * <p> 
049 * Creating a type variable requires resolving the appropriate type.
050 * This may involve resolving other classes as a side effect (e.g.
051 * if the type is nested inside other classes).  Creation should not
052 * involve resolving the bounds.  Repeated creation has no effect; an
053 * equivalent instance is returned.  Caching is not required, but all
054 * instances must be <code>equal()</code> to each other.
055 * </p>
056 *
057 * @author Tom Tromey (tromey@redhat.com)
058 * @author Andrew John Hughes (gnu_andrew@member.fsf.org)
059 * @since 1.5
060 */ 
061public interface TypeVariable<T extends GenericDeclaration> extends Type
062{
063
064  /**
065   * Returns an array of <code>Type</code> objects which represent the upper
066   * bounds of this type variable.  There is always a default bound of
067   * <code>Object</code>.  Any <code>ParameterizedType</code>s will be
068   * created as necessary, and other types resolved.
069   *
070   * @return an array of <code>Type</code> objects representing the upper
071   *         bounds.
072   * @throws TypeNotPresentException if any of the bounds refer to a
073   *         non-existant type.
074   * @throws MalformedParameterizedTypeException if the creation of a
075   *         <code>ParameterizedType</code> fails.
076   */
077  Type[] getBounds();
078
079
080  /**
081   * Returns a representation of the declaration used to declare this
082   * type variable.
083   *
084   * @return the <code>GenericDeclaration</code> object for this type
085   *         variable.
086   */
087  T getGenericDeclaration();
088
089  /**
090   * Returns the name of the type variable, as written in the source
091   * code.
092   *
093   * @return the name of the type variable.
094   */
095  String getName();
096}