AnnotationHandler (GlassFish Java EE Annotation Framework 6.2.1 API)

```
@Contract
public interface AnnotationHandler
```
This interface defines the contract for annotation handlers and the annotation processing engine. Each annotation handler is registered for a particular annotation type and will be called by the engine when such annotation type is encountered. The AnnotationHandler is a stateless object, no state should be stored, instead users should use the ProcessingContext. Annotation can be defined or processed in random orders on a particular type, however, a particular annotation may need other annotation to be processed before itself in order to be processed successfully. An annotation type can indicate through the @see getAnnotations() method which annotation types should be processed before itself. Each implementation of this interface must specify the annotation that it can handle using AnnotationHandlerFor annotation.

Author:

Jerome Dochez

Field Summary

Fields
Modifier and Type Field Description

static String ANNOTATION_HANDLER_METADATA

Method Summary

All Methods Instance Methods Abstract Methods
Modifier and Type	Method	Description
`Class<? extends Annotation>`	`getAnnotationType()`
`Class<? extends Annotation>[]`	`getTypeDependencies()`
`HandlerProcessingResult`	`processAnnotation(AnnotationInfo element)`	Process a particular annotation which type is the same as the one returned by @see getAnnotationType().

- Field Detail
  - ANNOTATION_HANDLER_METADATA
```
static final String ANNOTATION_HANDLER_METADATA
```
    See Also:
    
    Constant Field Values
- Method Detail
  - getAnnotationType
```
Class<? extends Annotation> getAnnotationType()
```
    Returns:
    
    the annotation type this annotation handler is handling
  - processAnnotation
```
HandlerProcessingResult processAnnotation(AnnotationInfo element)
                                   throws AnnotationProcessorException
```
    Process a particular annotation which type is the same as the one returned by @see getAnnotationType(). All information pertinent to the annotation and its context is encapsulated in the passed AnnotationInfo instance.
    
    Parameters:
    
    element - the annotation information
    
    Throws:
    
    AnnotationProcessorException
  - getTypeDependencies
```
Class<? extends Annotation>[] getTypeDependencies()
```
    Returns:
    
    an array of annotation types this annotation handler would require to be processed (if present) before it processes it's own annotation type.