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/*
* Copyright (c) 2003, 2004, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
* DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
*
* This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
* under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as
* published by the Free Software Foundation. Oracle designates this
* particular file as subject to the "Classpath" exception as provided
* by Oracle in the LICENSE file that accompanied this code.
*
* This code is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
* ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
* FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the GNU General Public License
* version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that
* accompanied this code).
*
* You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License version
* 2 along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
* Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
*
* Please contact Oracle, 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood Shores, CA 94065 USA
* or visit www.oracle.com if you need additional information or have any
* questions.
*/
package java.lang.reflect;
/**
* ParameterizedType represents a parameterized type such as
* Collection<String>.
*
* <p>A parameterized type is created the first time it is needed by a
* reflective method, as specified in this package. When a
* parameterized type p is created, the generic type declaration that
* p instantiates is resolved, and all type arguments of p are created
* recursively. See {@link java.lang.reflect.TypeVariable
* TypeVariable} for details on the creation process for type
* variables. Repeated creation of a parameterized type has no effect.
*
* <p>Instances of classes that implement this interface must implement
* an equals() method that equates any two instances that share the
* same generic type declaration and have equal type parameters.
*
* @since 1.5
*/
public interface ParameterizedType extends Type {
/**
* Returns an array of {@code Type} objects representing the actual type
* arguments to this type.
*
* <p>Note that in some cases, the returned array be empty. This can occur
* if this type represents a non-parameterized type nested within
* a parameterized type.
*
* @return an array of {@code Type} objects representing the actual type
* arguments to this type
* @throws TypeNotPresentException if any of the
* actual type arguments refers to a non-existent type declaration
* @throws MalformedParameterizedTypeException if any of the
* actual type parameters refer to a parameterized type that cannot
* be instantiated for any reason
* @since 1.5
*/
Type[] getActualTypeArguments();
/**
* Returns the {@code Type} object representing the class or interface
* that declared this type.
*
* @return the {@code Type} object representing the class or interface
* that declared this type
* @since 1.5
*/
Type getRawType();
/**
* Returns a {@code Type} object representing the type that this type
* is a member of. For example, if this type is {@code O<T>.I<S>},
* return a representation of {@code O<T>}.
*
* <p>If this type is a top-level type, {@code null} is returned.
*
* @return a {@code Type} object representing the type that
* this type is a member of. If this type is a top-level type,
* {@code null} is returned
* @throws TypeNotPresentException if the owner type
* refers to a non-existent type declaration
* @throws MalformedParameterizedTypeException if the owner type
* refers to a parameterized type that cannot be instantiated
* for any reason
* @since 1.5
*/
Type getOwnerType();
}