bundles/org.eclipse.e4.core.di.annotations/src/org/eclipse/e4/core/di/annotations/Optional.java

/*******************************************************************************
 * Copyright (c) 2009, 2015 IBM Corporation and others.
 *
 * This program and the accompanying materials
 * are made available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License 2.0
 * which accompanies this distribution, and is available at
 * https://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-2.0/
 *
 * SPDX-License-Identifier: EPL-2.0
 *
 * Contributors:
 *     IBM Corporation - initial API and implementation
 *     Lars Vogel <Lars.Vogel@vogella.com> - Bug 468291
 *******************************************************************************/
package org.eclipse.e4.core.di.annotations;

import static java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME;

import java.lang.annotation.Documented;
import java.lang.annotation.ElementType;
import java.lang.annotation.Retention;
import java.lang.annotation.Target;

import javax.inject.Qualifier;

/**
 * This annotation can be applied to methods, fields, and parameters to mark
 * them as optional for the dependency injection. Typically, if the injector is
 * unable to find a value to inject, then injection will fail. However if a
 * value cannot be found and if this annotation is specified, then:
 * <ul>
 * <li>for parameters: a <code>null</code> value will be injected;</li>
 * <li>for methods: the method calls will be skipped;</li>
 * <li>for fields: the values will not be injected.</li>
 * </ul>
 *
 * <p>
 * Note that {@code null} is as an acceptable value and is not the same as a
 * value not being found. For example, the {@code IEclipseContext}-based
 * supplier distinguishes between a value being set to null (i.e.,
 * {@code context.set(SOMEKEY, null)}) and the value not found (i.e.,
 * {@code context.remove(SOMEKEY)}).
 * </p>
 *
 * Example usage:
 *
 * <pre>
 *   public class Car {
 *     &#064;Inject &#064;Optional void setOverdrive(OverdriveMode mode);
 *     ...
 *   }
 * </pre>
 *
 * @since 1.3
 */
@Qualifier
@Documented
@Target({ElementType.METHOD, ElementType.FIELD, ElementType.PARAMETER})
@Retention(RUNTIME)
public @interface Optional {
	// intentionally left empty
}