Package io.milton.annotations

Annotation Interface ChildrenOf

@Target(METHOD) @Retention(RUNTIME) public @interface ChildrenOf
Marks a method as one which locates children for the given parent. The parent will always be the first method argument

There may be multiple matching childrenOf methods for a given parent object, in which case all of the results are merged into a single set

The method must:

  • return a collection, or array, or a single POJO object which has appropriate controllers
  • the first argument must be the hierarchical parent of these objects

Example: 

  @ChildrenOf
    public List<Band> getBands(BandsController root) {
        return Band.findAll(SessionManager.session());
    }
Performance Tip Note that Milton will scan children collections to locate single objects as part of resource location if no @ChildOf method is present. It will also scan by default if any @ChildOf methods have returned null. This can be a performance problem in many cases. To prevent @ChildrenOf methods being used to locate single items set the allowChildLookups property to false

  • Optional Element Summary

    Optional Elements
    Modifier and Type
    Optional Element
    Description
    boolean
    allowChildLookups
    If true (default) then the method this annotates can be used to locate single items.
    boolean
    override
    If true this method will replace (ie override) calls to any other methods with a target base class For example if you have @ChildrenOf method targeting Animal, and another method targeting Cat, then by default both sets of resources will be combined to produce children for a source object of Cat.

  • Element Details

    • allowChildLookups

      boolean allowChildLookups
      If true (default) then the method this annotates can be used to locate single items. Otherwise this method will be ignored for single child lookups
      Returns:
      Default:
      true

    • override

      boolean override
      If true this method will replace (ie override) calls to any other methods with a target base class For example if you have @ChildrenOf method targeting Animal, and another method targeting Cat, then by default both sets of resources will be combined to produce children for a source object of Cat. But by setting override to true only the Cat method will be used
      Returns:
      Default:
      false