content: /*
   * Copyright (c) OSGi Alliance (2008, 2009). All Rights Reserved.
   *
   * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
   * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
   * You may obtain a copy of the License at
   *
   *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
   *
   * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
   * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
   * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
   * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
   * limitations under the License.
   */
  package org.osgi.service.blueprint.reflect;
  
  /**
   * Metadata for a factory method or constructor argument of a bean. The
   * arguments of a bean are obtained from {@link BeanMetadata#getArguments()}.
   * 
   * This is specified by the <code>argument</code> elements of a bean.
   * 
   * @ThreadSafe
   * @version $Revision$
   */
  public interface BeanArgument {
  
  	/**
  	 * Return the Metadata for the argument value.
  	 * 
  	 * This is specified by the <code>value</code> attribute.
  	 * 
  	 * @return The Metadata for the argument value.
  	 */
  	Metadata getValue();
  
  	/**
  	 * Return the name of the value type to match the argument and convert the
  	 * value into when invoking the constructor or factory method.
  	 * 
  	 * This is specified by the <code>type</code> attribute.
  	 * 
  	 * @return The name of the value type to convert the value into, or
  	 *         <code>null</code> if no type is specified.
  	 */
  	String getValueType();
  
  	/**
  	 * Return the zero-based index into the parameter list of the factory method
  	 * or constructor to be invoked for this argument. This is determined by
  	 * specifying the <code>index</code> attribute for the bean. If not
  	 * explicitly set, this will return -1 and the initial ordering is defined
  	 * by its position in the {@link BeanMetadata#getArguments()} list.
  	 * 
  	 * This is specified by the <code>index</code> attribute.
  	 * 
  	 * @return The zero-based index of the parameter, or -1 if no index is
  	 *         specified.
  	 */
  	int getIndex();
  }
  