/*
 * The MIT License
 *
 * Copyright (c) 2004-2009, Sun Microsystems, Inc.
 *
 * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
 * of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
 * in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
 * to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
 * copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
 * furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
 *
 * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
 * all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
 *
 * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
 * IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
 * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
 * AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
 * LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
 * OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN
 * THE SOFTWARE.
 */

package hudson.cli.declarative;

import static java.lang.annotation.ElementType.METHOD;
import static java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME;

import hudson.cli.CLICommand;
import java.lang.annotation.Documented;
import java.lang.annotation.Retention;
import java.lang.annotation.Target;
import org.jvnet.hudson.annotation_indexer.Indexed;
import org.kohsuke.args4j.CmdLineException;

/**
 * Annotates a resolver method that binds a portion of the command line arguments and parameters
 * to an instance whose {@link CLIMethod} is invoked for the final processing.
 *
 * <p>
 * Hudson uses the return type of the resolver method
 * to pick the resolver method to use, of all the resolver methods it discovers. That is,
 * if Hudson is looking to find an instance of type {@code T} for the current command, it first
 * looks for the resolver method whose return type is {@code T}, then it checks for the base type of {@code T},
 * and so on.
 *
 * <p>
 * If the chosen resolver method is an instance method on type {@code S}, the "parent resolver" is then
 * located to resolve an instance of type 'S'. This process repeats until a static resolver method is discovered
 * (since most of Hudson's model objects are anchored to the root {@link jenkins.model.Jenkins} object, normally that would become
 * the top-most resolver method.)
 *
 * <p>
 * Parameters of the resolver method receives the same parameter/argument injections that {@link CLIMethod}s receive.
 * Parameters and arguments consumed by the resolver will not be visible to {@link CLIMethod}s.
 *
 * <p>
 * The resolver method shall never return null &mdash; it should instead indicate a failure by throwing
 * {@link CmdLineException}.
 *
 * @author Kohsuke Kawaguchi
 * @see CLICommand
 * @since 1.321
 */
@Indexed
@Retention(RUNTIME)
@Target(METHOD)
@Documented
public @interface CLIResolver {
}
