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;
  
  import java.util.List;
  
  /**
   * Metadata for a collection based value. Values of the collection are defined
   * by Metadata objects. This Collection Metadata can constrain the values of the
   * collection to a specific type.
   * 
   * @ThreadSafe
   * @version $Revision$
   */
  
  public interface CollectionMetadata extends NonNullMetadata {
  
  	/**
  	 * Return the type of the collection.
  	 * 
  	 * The possible types are: array (<code>Object[]</code>), <code>Set</code>,
  	 * and <code>List</code>. This information is specified in the element name.
  	 * 
  	 * @return The type of the collection. <code>Object[]</code> is returned to
  	 *         indicate an array.
  	 */
  	Class<?> getCollectionClass();
  
  	/**
  	 * Return the type specified for the values of the collection.
  	 * 
  	 * The <code>value-type</code> attribute specified this information.
  	 * 
  	 * @return The type specified for the values of the collection.
  	 */
  	String getValueType();
  
  	/**
  	 * Return Metadata for the values of the collection.
  	 * 
  	 * @return A List of Metadata for the values of the collection.
  	 */
  	List<Metadata> getValues();
  }
  