1 /*
2 * Copyright 2002-2012 the original author or authors.
3 *
4 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
5 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
6 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
7 *
8 * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
9 *
10 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
11 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
12 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
13 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
14 * limitations under the License.
15 */
16
17 package org.springframework.beans;
18
19 /**
20 * Holder containing one or more {@link PropertyValue} objects,
21 * typically comprising one update for a specific target bean.
22 *
23 * @author Rod Johnson
24 * @author Juergen Hoeller
25 * @since 13 May 2001
26 * @see PropertyValue
27 */
28 public interface PropertyValues {
29
30 /**
31 * Return an array of the PropertyValue objects held in this object.
32 */
33 PropertyValue[] getPropertyValues();
34
35 /**
36 * Return the property value with the given name, if any.
37 * @param propertyName the name to search for
38 * @return the property value, or {@code null}
39 */
40 PropertyValue getPropertyValue(String propertyName);
41
42 /**
43 * Return the changes since the previous PropertyValues.
44 * Subclasses should also override {@code equals}.
45 * @param old old property values
46 * @return PropertyValues updated or new properties.
47 * Return empty PropertyValues if there are no changes.
48 * @see Object#equals
49 */
50 PropertyValues changesSince(PropertyValues old);
51
52 /**
53 * Is there a property value (or other processing entry) for this property?
54 * @param propertyName the name of the property we're interested in
55 * @return whether there is a property value for this property
56 */
57 boolean contains(String propertyName);
58
59 /**
60 * Does this holder not contain any PropertyValue objects at all?
61 */
62 boolean isEmpty();
63
64 }