content: /*
   * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
   * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
   * distributed with this work for additional information
   * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
   * to you 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 com.datastax.oss.driver.api.mapper.annotations;
  
  import java.lang.annotation.ElementType;
  import java.lang.annotation.Retention;
  import java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy;
  import java.lang.annotation.Target;
  
  /**
   * A strategy to define which ancestors to scan for annotations for {@link Entity}-annotated classes
   * and {@link Dao}-annotated interfaces.
   *
   * <p>In addition, properties will also be scanned for on {@link Entity}-annotated classes.
   *
   * <p>By default, the mapper will transparently scan all parent classes and interfaces. The closer
   * in proximity a type is to the base type, the more precedence it is given when scanning. In
   * addition, parent classes are given precedence over interfaces.
   *
   * <p>For entities, this enables polymorphic mapping of a class hierarchy into different CQL tables
   * or UDTs.
   *
   * <p>For DAOs, this enables sharing configuration between DAOs by implementing an interface that
   * has annotations defining how the DAO methods should behave.
   *
   * <p>To disable scanning, set {@link #scanAncestors()} to <code>false</code>.
   *
   * <p>To control the highest ancestor considered in scanning for annotations, use {@link
   * #highestAncestor()} and {@link #includeHighestAncestor()}.
   */
  @Target(ElementType.TYPE)
  @Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
  public @interface HierarchyScanStrategy {
  
    /**
     * Whether or not ancestors should be scanned for properties and annotations.
     *
     * <p>If <code>false</code> only the {@link Entity} class or {@link Dao} interface will be
     * scanned.
     *
     * <p>Defaults to <code>true</code>.
     */
    boolean scanAncestors() default true;
  
    /**
     * The {@link Class} to consider the highest ancestor, meaning the classes that this class extends
     * or implements will not be scanned for annotations.
     *
     * <p>Note that If you have a complex hierarchy involving both parent classes and interfaces and
     * highestAncestor specifies a class for example, all interfaces will still be included. Therefore
     * it is recommended to avoid creating complex type hierarchies or to only do so if you expect the
     * entire hierarchy to be scanned.
     *
     * <p>Defaults to {@link Object}.
     */
    Class<?> highestAncestor() default Object.class;
  
    /**
     * Whether or not to include the specified {@link #highestAncestor()} in scanning.
     *
     * <p>Defaults to false.
     */
    boolean includeHighestAncestor() default false;
  }
  