/*
* Copyright 2002-2009 the original author or authors.
*
* 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.springframework.beans;
/**
* Holder containing one or more {@link PropertyValue} objects,
* typically comprising one update for a specific target bean.
*
* @author Rod Johnson
* @author Juergen Hoeller
* @since 13 May 2001
* @see PropertyValue
*/
public interface PropertyValues {
/**
* Return an array of the PropertyValue objects held in this object.
*/
PropertyValue[] getPropertyValues();
/**
* Return the property value with the given name, if any.
* @param propertyName the name to search for
* @return the property value, or null
*/
PropertyValue getPropertyValue(String propertyName);
/**
* Return the changes since the previous PropertyValues.
* Subclasses should also override equals
.
* @param old old property values
* @return PropertyValues updated or new properties.
* Return empty PropertyValues if there are no changes.
* @see java.lang.Object#equals
*/
PropertyValues changesSince(PropertyValues old);
/**
* Is there a property value (or other processing entry) for this property?
* @param propertyName the name of the property we're interested in
* @return whether there is a property value for this property
*/
boolean contains(String propertyName);
/**
* Does this holder not contain any PropertyValue objects at all?
*/
boolean isEmpty();
}