JavaTM 2 Platform
Standard Ed. 5.0

java.lang.annotation
Annotation Type Target


@Documented
@Retention(value=RUNTIME)
@Target(value=ANNOTATION_TYPE)
public @interface Target

Indicates the kinds of program element to which an annotation type is applicable. If a Target meta-annotation is not present on an annotation type declaration, the declared type may be used on any program element. If such a meta-annotation is present, the compiler will enforce the specified usage restriction. For example, this meta-annotation indicates that the declared type is itself a meta-annotation type. It can only be used on annotation type declarations:

    @Target(ElementType.ANNOTATION_TYPE)
    public @interface MetaAnnotationType {
        ... 
    }
 
This meta-annotation indicates that the declared type is intended solely for use as a member type in complex annotation type declarations. It cannot be used to annotate anything directly:
    @Target({}) 
    public @interface MemberType {
        ...
    }
 
It is a compile-time error for a single ElementType constant to appear more than once in a Target annotation. For example, the following meta-annotation is illegal:
    @Target({ElementType.FIELD, ElementType.METHOD, ElementType.FIELD})
    public @interface Bogus {
        ...
    }
 


Required Element Summary
 ElementType[] value
           
 

Element Detail

value

public abstract ElementType[] value

JavaTM 2 Platform
Standard Ed. 5.0

Submit a bug or feature
For further API reference and developer documentation, see Java 2 SDK SE Developer Documentation. That documentation contains more detailed, developer-targeted descriptions, with conceptual overviews, definitions of terms, workarounds, and working code examples.

Copyright 2004 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved. Use is subject to license terms. Also see the documentation redistribution policy.