org.qi4j.library.conversion.values
Interface EntityToValueService
- All Superinterfaces:
- Composite, EntityToValue, Identity, ServiceComposite
public interface EntityToValueService
- extends EntityToValue, ServiceComposite
The EntityToValueService converts Entities to matching Values.
The main purpose of this service is to provide convenience to map entities to serializable values, for instance
to be transported across a network. The ValueComposite to convert the Entity to must closely match the Entity
for this mapping to work. The rules are fairly straight forward;
- Any Property in the EntityComposite to be mapped, must (by default) exist in the ValueComposite with the same
fully qualified name, i.e. method declared in the same interface. If the ValueComposite is annotated with
@Unqualified then the Property method look up will only locate the properties with the name only,
i.e. the methods may defined in different interfaces.
- For any Association in the EntityComposite, a Property<String> with the same unqualified
name will be looked up in the ValueComposite. If found, the EntityReference of the Association will be
converted to an URI and written to the String property.
- For any ManyAssociation in the EntityComposite, a Property<List<String>> with the same
unqualified name will be looked up in the ValueComposite. If found, the EntityReferences in the
ManyAssociation will be converted to URIs and placed into a List and set to the Property in ValueComposite.
If a Property from the Entity is not found in the Value, then it is ignored.