001/*
002 * Validate.java July 2006
003 *
004 * Copyright (C) 2006, Niall Gallagher <niallg@users.sf.net>
005 *
006 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
007 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
008 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
009 *
010 *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
011 *
012 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
013 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
014 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or 
015 * implied. See the License for the specific language governing 
016 * permissions and limitations under the License.
017 */
018
019package org.simpleframework.xml.core;
020
021import java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy;
022import java.lang.annotation.Retention;
023
024/**
025 * The <code>Validate</code> annotation is used to mark a method in
026 * a serializable object that requires a callback from the persister
027 * once the deserialization completes. The validate method is invoked
028 * by the <code>Persister</code> after all fields have been assigned
029 * and before the commit method is invoked.
030 * <p>
031 * Typically the validate method is used to validate the fields that
032 * have been assigned once deserialization has been completed. The
033 * validate method must be a no argument public method or a method
034 * that takes a <code>Map</code> as the only argument. When invoked 
035 * the object can determine whether the fields are valid, if the  
036 * field values do not conform to the objects requirements then the
037 * method can throw an exception to terminate deserialization.
038 * 
039 * @author Niall Gallagher
040 * 
041 * @see org.simpleframework.xml.core.Commit
042 */
043@Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
044public @interface Validate {
045}