001/*
002 * Copyright 2002-2012 the original author or authors.
003 *
004 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
005 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
006 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
007 *
008 *      https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
009 *
010 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
011 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
012 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
013 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
014 * limitations under the License.
015 */
016
017package org.springframework.beans;
018
019/**
020 * Holder containing one or more {@link PropertyValue} objects,
021 * typically comprising one update for a specific target bean.
022 *
023 * @author Rod Johnson
024 * @author Juergen Hoeller
025 * @since 13 May 2001
026 * @see PropertyValue
027 */
028public interface PropertyValues {
029
030        /**
031         * Return an array of the PropertyValue objects held in this object.
032         */
033        PropertyValue[] getPropertyValues();
034
035        /**
036         * Return the property value with the given name, if any.
037         * @param propertyName the name to search for
038         * @return the property value, or {@code null}
039         */
040        PropertyValue getPropertyValue(String propertyName);
041
042        /**
043         * Return the changes since the previous PropertyValues.
044         * Subclasses should also override {@code equals}.
045         * @param old old property values
046         * @return PropertyValues updated or new properties.
047         * Return empty PropertyValues if there are no changes.
048         * @see Object#equals
049         */
050        PropertyValues changesSince(PropertyValues old);
051
052        /**
053         * Is there a property value (or other processing entry) for this property?
054         * @param propertyName the name of the property we're interested in
055         * @return whether there is a property value for this property
056         */
057        boolean contains(String propertyName);
058
059        /**
060         * Does this holder not contain any PropertyValue objects at all?
061         */
062        boolean isEmpty();
063
064}