Property (AndHow Annotation Processor 1.5.0 API)

All Known Implementing Classes:

BigDecProp, BolProp, DblProp, FlagProp, IntProp, LngProp, LocalDateTimeProp, PropertyBase, StrProp
```
public interface Property<T>
```
Represents a configuration point of an application. Implementations are typed so that they return String, Integer, Boolean, etc., rather than just configuration strings. Implementor's Notes: See IntProp as a best example of how to implement a new Property. The reason for creating a new implementation would be to handle a new type, such as a DateTime type.
- All implementations can use the PropertyBase as a base class. Most methods are already present w/ just a few methods left to implement.
- All implementations should have a static builder() method that returns a builder capable of building an instance. by convention, builders are inner classes of their associated Property. The PropertyBuilderBase is an easy base class to extend that provide nearly all needed functionality.
- Builders should provide easy access to Validators for their appropriate type. For instance the StrProp has a value type of String and has an associated Regex Validator.
- Please follow existing naming conventions for Properties and the builder methods: https://www.andhowconfig.org/developer-guide/conventions

Method Summary

All Methods Instance Methods Abstract Methods Default Methods
Modifier and Type	Method and Description
`default String`	`getCanonicalName()` The canonical name of a `Property`.
`T`	`getDefaultValue()` The default value, as defined when this Property was constructed.
`String`	`getDescription()` A description of the property, what it is for and what it does in the system.
`T`	`getExplicitValue()` The value found and loaded for this value by a Loader.
`String`	`getHelpText()` Additional help information for this Property that will be included in configuration documentation.
`default List<String>`	`getInAliases()` All the effective 'in' aliases for this property, not including the canonical name.
`default List<String>`	`getOutAliases()` All the 'out' aliases for this property, not including the canonical name.
`PropertyType`	`getPropertyType()` The basic type of the property: Flag, name/value, multi=value.
`List<Name>`	`getRequestedAliases()` 'In' & 'Out' aliases requested when this Property was constructed.
`Trimmer`	`getTrimmer()` The Trimmer responsible for trimming String values before they are converted to the appropriate property type.
`List<Validator<T>>`	`getValidators()` List of validators to validate the converted value.
`T`	`getValue()` Returns the effective value of this property.
`default String`	`getValueAsString()` Converts the effective value of the Property to a String.
`ValueType<T>`	`getValueType()` The type of the value (String, Number, Integer, etc).
`default boolean`	`isExplicitlySet()` True if the Property's value is explicitly set to a non-null value via one of the loaders.
`boolean`	`isNonNullRequired()` If true, the effective value must be non-null to be considered valid.

- Method Detail
  - getValue
```
T getValue()
```
    Returns the effective value of this property. The effective value is the explicitly configured value, or if that is null, the default value. Explicitly setting a property to null is not possible because it will just be ignored and the default used instead.
    
    Returns:
    
    May be null, unless the property is marked as required.
  - getExplicitValue
```
T getExplicitValue()
```
    The value found and loaded for this value by a Loader. If no non-null value was found by a loader for this property, null is returned.
    
    Returns:
    
    May be null
  - getDefaultValue
```
T getDefaultValue()
```
    The default value, as defined when this Property was constructed.
    
    Returns:
    
    May be null
  - isNonNullRequired
```
boolean isNonNullRequired()
```
    If true, the effective value must be non-null to be considered valid. The effective value is the explicitly configured value, or if that is null, the default value.
    
    Returns:
    
    True if a non-null value is required.
  - getPropertyType
```
PropertyType getPropertyType()
```
    The basic type of the property: Flag, name/value, multi=value.
    
    Returns:
    
    Never null
  - getValueType
```
ValueType<T> getValueType()
```
    The type of the value (String, Number, Integer, etc). For Properties that allow multiple values (not yet implemented), an array of values of the specified type can be fetched.
    
    Returns:
    
    Never null
  - getTrimmer
```
Trimmer getTrimmer()
```
    The Trimmer responsible for trimming String values before they are converted to the appropriate property type.
    
    Returns:
    
    Never null
  - getDescription
```
String getDescription()
```
    A description of the property, what it is for and what it does in the system. When the description is presented, the canonical name, validation requirements and helpText is presented as well, so it does not need to all be included in the description.
    
    Returns:
    
    May be empty but not null.
  - getValidators
```
List<Validator<T>> getValidators()
```
    List of validators to validate the converted value.
    
    Returns:
    
    An unmodifiable list of Validators. Never null.
  - getRequestedAliases
```
List<Name> getRequestedAliases()
```
    'In' & 'Out' aliases requested when this Property was constructed.
    The returned aliases may differ from the original requested aliases or those returned by getInAliases() in two ways:
    - NamingStrategy may modify 'In' aliases, e.g. convert them to uppercase for case-insensitive matching. getInAliases() returns the modified 'In' aliases.
    - Aliases may be coalesced if: If an 'In' alias matches an 'Out' alias, a single 'InAndOut' alias may be returned.
    Returns:
    
    A non-null list of alias Names for this Property.
  - getHelpText
```
String getHelpText()
```
    Additional help information for this Property that will be included in configuration documentation. Help text can provide added details, such as details on how to specify special values or interrelated properties.
    
    Returns:
    
    May be empty but not null.
  - getInAliases
```
default List<String> getInAliases()
```
    All the effective 'in' aliases for this property, not including the canonical name.
    'In' aliases are additional names by which a Property value may receive its value from a configuration source. The returned aliases may differ from aliases returned by getRequestedAliases() because the NamingStrategy may modify them (e.g. convert them to uppercase for case-insensitive matching).
    Aliases may be 'in' and/or 'out', so there may be overlap between names returned here and those returned from getOutAliases().
    
    Returns:
    
    A non-null list of 'in' aliases. May or may not be writable, but is disconnected from the underlying list - edits have no effect.
  - getOutAliases
```
default List<String> getOutAliases()
```
    All the 'out' aliases for this property, not including the canonical name.
    'Out' aliases are names used when a Property is exported, such as exporting a group of Property names & values as a Map for a framework that configures this way.
    Aliases may be 'in' and/or 'out', so there may be overlap between names returned here and those returned from getInAliases().
    
    Returns:
    
    A non-null list of 'out' aliases. May or may not be writable, but is disconnected from the underlying list - edits have no effect.
  - getCanonicalName
```
default String getCanonicalName()
```
    The canonical name of a Property.
    Canonical Property names are the full Java classname of the class containing the Property, plus the Property name, e.g. org.acme.myapp.MyClass.MyProperty. Properties contained in inner classes and interfaces continue the same naming structure, e.g. org.acme.myapp.MyClass.MyInnerClass.MyInnerInterface.MyProperty.
    
    Returns:
    
    The canonical name of the Property.
  - getValueAsString
```
default String getValueAsString()
```
    Converts the effective value of the Property to a String.
    Usually this is the same as calling toString() on the effective value, but some Properties may have custom ValueTypes or more complex conversions, such as dates and times.
    
    Returns:
    
    Effective value converted to a String, or null if the value is null.
  - isExplicitlySet
```
default boolean isExplicitlySet()
```
    True if the Property's value is explicitly set to a non-null value via one of the loaders.
    
    Returns:
    
    True if this value is explicitly set.

Interface Property<T>

Method Summary

Method Detail

getValue

getExplicitValue

getDefaultValue

isNonNullRequired

getPropertyType

getValueType

getTrimmer

getDescription

getValidators

getRequestedAliases

getHelpText

getInAliases

getOutAliases

getCanonicalName

getValueAsString

isExplicitlySet