net.sf.mmm.util.lang.api

Interface EnumType<V>

Type Parameters:

V - is the generic type of the value. This may be a simple datatype such as String or Long or this type itself implementing EnumType.

All Superinterfaces:

AttributeReadValue<V>, Datatype, Serializable, SimpleDatatype<V>

All Known Implementing Classes:

Conjunction, EnumEnumType

public interface EnumType<V>
extends SimpleDatatype<V>

This is the interface for a particular enumeration. An enumeration has a finite set of characteristics. This can be a java Enum but also something more complex such as a dynamic enumeration that is configured via a database. For this reason it is called EnumType rather than EnumDatatype. However, for convenience and simplicity it extends Datatype. For being less invasive, also standard java Enums are supported by EnumDefinition. Therefore it is recommended but NOT technically required to implement this interface for your custom Enums that shall be supported by EnumProvider. If you have an Enum with a category you will need to implement EnumTypeWithCategory for according support.
NOTE:
It is strongly recommended to use a Datatype or at least a transfer-object to represent the enumeration instances. Using an Entity as EnumType should be avoided.

Since:

3.0.0

Author:

Joerg Hohwiller (hohwille at users.sourceforge.net)

Method Summary

Methods inherited from interface net.sf.mmm.util.lang.api.SimpleDatatype

getValue

Methods inherited from interface net.sf.mmm.util.lang.api.Datatype

toString