ELResolver.java

/*
 * Copyright (c) 1997, 2025 Oracle and/or its affiliates and others.
 * All rights reserved.
 * Copyright 2004 The Apache Software Foundation
 *
 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
 *
 *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 *
 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 * limitations under the License.
 */

package jakarta.el;

/**
 * Enables customization of variable, property, method call, and type conversion resolution behavior for Jakarta
 * Expression Language expression evaluation.
 *
 * <p>
 * While evaluating an expression, the <code>ELResolver</code> associated with the {@link ELContext} is consulted to do
 * the initial resolution of the first variable of an expression. It is also consulted when a <code>.</code> or
 * <code>[]</code> operator is encountered.
 *
 * <p>
 * For example, in the Jakarta Expression Language expression <code>${employee.lastName}</code>, the
 * <code>ELResolver</code> determines what object <code>employee</code> refers to, and what it means to get the
 * <code>lastName</code> property on that object.
 *
 * <p>
 * Most methods in this class accept a <code>base</code> and <code>property</code> parameter. In the case of variable
 * resolution (e.g. determining what <code>employee</code> refers to in <code>${employee.lastName}</code>), the
 * <code>base</code> parameter will be <code>null</code> and the <code>property</code> parameter will always be of type
 * <code>String</code>. In this case, if the <code>property</code> is not a <code>String</code>, the behavior of the
 * <code>ELResolver</code> is undefined.
 *
 * <p>
 * In the case of property resolution, the <code>base</code> parameter identifies the base object and the
 * <code>property</code> object identifies the property on that base. For example, in the expression
 * <code>${employee.lastName}</code>, <code>base</code> is the result of the variable resolution for
 * <code>employee</code> and <code>property</code> is the string <code>"lastName"</code>. In the expression
 * <code>${y[x]}</code>, <code>base</code> is the result of the variable resolution for <code>y</code> and
 * <code>property</code> is the result of the variable resolution for <code>x</code>.
 *
 * <p>
 * In the case of method call resolution, the <code>base</code> parameter identifies the base object and the
 * <code>method</code> parameter identifies a method on that base. In the case of overloaded methods, the <code>
 * paramTypes</code> parameter can be optionally used to identify a method. The <code>params</code>parameter are the
 * parameters for the method call, and can also be used for resolving overloaded methods when the
 * <code>paramTypes</code> parameter is not specified.
 *
 * <p>
 * In the case of type conversion resolution, the <code>obj</code> parameter identifies the source object and the
 * <code>targetType</code> parameter identifies the target type the source to covert to.
 *
 * <p>
 * Though only a single <code>ELResolver</code> is associated with an <code>ELContext</code>, there are usually multiple
 * resolvers considered for any given variable or property resolution. <code>ELResolver</code>s are combined together
 * using {@link CompositeELResolver}s, to define rich semantics for evaluating an expression.
 * </p>
 *
 * <p>
 * For the {@link #getValue}, {@link #getType}, {@link #setValue}, and {@link #isReadOnly} methods, an
 * <code>ELResolver</code> is not responsible for resolving all possible (base, property) pairs. In fact, most resolvers
 * will only handle a <code>base</code> of a single type. To indicate that a resolver has successfully resolved a
 * particular (base, property) pair, it must set the <code>propertyResolved</code> property of the
 * <code>ELContext</code> to <code>true</code>. If it could not handle the given pair, it must leave this property
 * alone. The caller must ignore the return value of the method if <code>propertyResolved</code> is <code>false</code>.
 *
 * <p>
 * Similarly, for the {@link #convertToType} method an <code>ELResolver</code> must set the
 * <code>propertyResolved</code> to <code>true</code> to indicate that it handles the conversion of the object to the
 * target type.
 *
 * <p>
 * The {@link #getCommonPropertyType} method is primarily designed for design-time
 * tool support, but must handle invocation at runtime as well. The {@link java.beans.Beans#isDesignTime} method can be
 * used to determine if the resolver is being consulted at design-time or runtime.
 *
 * @see CompositeELResolver
 * @see ELContext#getELResolver
 * @since Jakarta Server Pages 2.1
 */
public abstract class ELResolver {

    /**
     * Attempts to resolve the given <code>property</code> object on the given <code>base</code> object.
     *
     * <p>
     * If this resolver handles the given (base, property) pair, the <code>propertyResolved</code> property of the
     * <code>ELContext</code> object must be set to <code>true</code> by the resolver, before returning. If this property is
     * not <code>true</code> after this method is called, the caller should ignore the return value.
     * </p>
     *
     * @param context The context of this evaluation.
     * @param base The base object whose property value is to be returned, or <code>null</code> to resolve a top-level
     * variable.
     * @param property The property or variable to be resolved.
     *
     * @return If the <code>propertyResolved</code> property of <code>ELContext</code> was set to <code>true</code>, then
     * the result of the variable or property resolution; otherwise undefined.
     *
     * @throws NullPointerException if context is <code>null</code>
     * @throws PropertyNotFoundException if the given (base, property) pair is handled by this <code>ELResolver</code> but
     * the specified variable or property does not exist or is not readable.
     * @throws ELException if an exception was thrown while performing the property or variable resolution. The thrown
     * exception must be included as the cause property of this exception, if available.
     */
    public abstract Object getValue(ELContext context, Object base, Object property);

    /**
     * Attempts to resolve and invoke the given <code>method</code> on the given <code>base</code> object.
     *
     * <p>
     * If this resolver handles the given (base, method) pair, the <code>propertyResolved</code> property of the
     * <code>ELContext</code> object must be set to <code>true</code> by the resolver, before returning. If this property is
     * not <code>true</code> after this method is called, the caller should ignore the return value.
     *
     * <p>
     * A default implementation is provided that returns null so that existing classes that extend ELResolver can continue
     * to function.
     *
     * @param context The context of this evaluation.
     * @param base The bean on which to invoke the method
     * @param method The simple name of the method to invoke. Will be coerced to a <code>String</code>.
     * @param paramTypes An array of Class objects identifying the method's formal parameter types, in declared order. Use
     * an empty array if the method has no parameters. Can be <code>null</code>, in which case the method's formal parameter
     * types are assumed to be unknown.
     * @param params The parameters to pass to the method, or <code>null</code> if no parameters.
     *
     * @return The result of the method invocation (<code>null</code> if the method has a <code>void</code> return type).
     *
     * @throws MethodNotFoundException if no suitable method can be found.
     * @throws ELException if an exception was thrown while performing (base, method) resolution. The thrown exception must
     * be included as the cause property of this exception, if available. If the exception thrown is an
     * <code>InvocationTargetException</code>, extract its <code>cause</code> and pass it to the <code>ELException</code>
     * constructor.
     *
     * @since Jakarta Expression Language 2.2
     */
    public Object invoke(ELContext context, Object base, Object method, Class<?>[] paramTypes, Object[] params) {
        return null;
    }

    /**
     * For a given <code>base</code> and <code>property</code>, attempts to identify the most general type that is
     * acceptable for an object to be passed as the <code>value</code> parameter in a future call to the {@link #setValue}
     * method.
     *
     * <p>
     * If this resolver handles the given (base, property) pair, the <code>propertyResolved</code> property of the
     * <code>ELContext</code> object must be set to <code>true</code> by the resolver, before returning. If this property is
     * not <code>true</code> after this method is called, the caller should ignore the return value.
     * </p>
     *
     * <p>
     * This is not always the same as <code>getValue().getClass()</code>. For example, in the case of an
     * {@link ArrayELResolver}, the <code>getType</code> method will return the element type of the array, which might be a
     * superclass of the type of the actual element that is currently in the specified array element.
     * </p>
     *
     * <p>
     * If the resolver or the property is read-only, this method must return {@code null}.
     * </p>
     *
     * @param context The context of this evaluation.
     * @param base The base object whose property value is to be analyzed, or <code>null</code> to analyze a top-level
     * variable.
     * @param property The property or variable to return the acceptable type for.
     * @return If the <code>propertyResolved</code> property of <code>ELContext</code> was set to <code>true</code>,
     * the most general acceptable type which must be {@code null} if the either the property or the resolver is
     * read-only; otherwise undefined
     * @throws PropertyNotFoundException if the given (base, property) pair is handled by this <code>ELResolver</code> but
     * the specified variable or property does not exist or is not readable.
     * @throws ELException if an exception was thrown while performing the property or variable resolution. The thrown
     * exception must be included as the cause property of this exception, if available.
     */
    public abstract Class<?> getType(ELContext context, Object base, Object property);

    /**
     * Attempts to set the value of the given <code>property</code> object on the given <code>base</code> object.
     *
     * <p>
     * If this resolver handles the given (base, property) pair, the <code>propertyResolved</code> property of the
     * <code>ELContext</code> object must be set to <code>true</code> by the resolver, before returning. If this property is
     * not <code>true</code> after this method is called, the caller can safely assume no value has been set.
     * </p>
     *
     * @param context The context of this evaluation.
     * @param base The base object whose property value is to be set, or <code>null</code> to set a top-level variable.
     * @param property The property or variable to be set.
     * @param value The value to set the property or variable to.
     * @throws NullPointerException if context is <code>null</code>
     * @throws PropertyNotFoundException if the given (base, property) pair is handled by this <code>ELResolver</code> but
     * the specified variable or property does not exist.
     * @throws PropertyNotWritableException if the given (base, property) pair is handled by this <code>ELResolver</code>
     * but the specified variable or property is not writable.
     * @throws ELException if an exception was thrown while attempting to set the property or variable. The thrown exception
     * must be included as the cause property of this exception, if available.
     */
    public abstract void setValue(ELContext context, Object base, Object property, Object value);

    /**
     * For a given <code>base</code> and <code>property</code>, attempts to determine whether a call to {@link #setValue}
     * will always fail.
     *
     * <p>
     * If this resolver handles the given (base, property) pair, the <code>propertyResolved</code> property of the
     * <code>ELContext</code> object must be set to <code>true</code> by the resolver, before returning. If this property is
     * not <code>true</code> after this method is called, the caller should ignore the return value.
     * </p>
     *
     * @param context The context of this evaluation.
     * @param base The base object whose property value is to be analyzed, or <code>null</code> to analyze a top-level
     * variable.
     * @param property The property or variable to return the read-only status for.
     * @return If the <code>propertyResolved</code> property of <code>ELContext</code> was set to <code>true</code>, then
     * <code>true</code> if the property is read-only or <code>false</code> if not; otherwise undefined.
     * @throws NullPointerException if context is <code>null</code>
     * @throws PropertyNotFoundException if the given (base, property) pair is handled by this <code>ELResolver</code> but
     * the specified variable or property does not exist.
     * @throws ELException if an exception was thrown while performing the property or variable resolution. The thrown
     * exception must be included as the cause property of this exception, if available.
     */
    public abstract boolean isReadOnly(ELContext context, Object base, Object property);

    /**
     * Returns the most general type that this resolver accepts for the <code>property</code> argument, given a
     * <code>base</code> object. One use for this method is to assist tools in auto-completion.
     *
     * <p>
     * This assists tools in auto-completion and also provides a way to express that the resolver accepts a primitive value,
     * such as an integer index into an array. For example, the {@link ArrayELResolver} will accept any <code>int</code> as
     * a <code>property</code>, so the return value would be <code>Integer.class</code>.
     * </p>
     *
     * @param context The context of this evaluation.
     * @param base The base object to return the most general property type for, or <code>null</code> to enumerate the set
     * of top-level variables that this resolver can evaluate.
     * @return <code>null</code> if this <code>ELResolver</code> does not know how to handle the given <code>base</code>
     * object; otherwise <code>Object.class</code> if any type of <code>property</code> is accepted; otherwise the most
     * general <code>property</code> type accepted for the given <code>base</code>.
     */
    public abstract Class<?> getCommonPropertyType(ELContext context, Object base);

    /**
     * Converts an object to a specific type.
     *
     * <p>
     * An <code>ELException</code> is thrown if an error occurs during the conversion.
     * </p>
     *
     * @param <T> The target type for the conversion
     * @param context The context of this evaluation.
     * @param obj The object to convert.
     * @param targetType The target type for the conversion.
     * @return object converted to <code>targetType</code>
     * @throws ELException thrown if errors occur.
     */
    public <T> T convertToType(ELContext context, Object obj, Class<T> targetType) {
        return null;
    }

    /**
     * This class is used as a key for {@link ELContext#getContext(Class)}. The key references a context object that if
     * present and set to {@code Boolean#TRUE}, indicates that the identifier being resolved is a single, stand-alone
     * identifier. This allows {@link ELResolver} instances - and in particular
     * {@code jakarta.servlet.jsp.el.ImportELResolver} - to optimise the resolution of the identifier and avoid
     * unnecessary and expensive class loader lookups.
     * <p>
     * The EL implementation is required to set this key with the value {@code Boolean#TRUE} when resolving a single,
     * stand-alone identifier.
     *
     * @since Jakarta Expression Language 6.1
     */
    public class StandaloneIdentifierMarker {

        private StandaloneIdentifierMarker() {
            // Non-public default constructor as there is no need to create instances of this class.
        }
    }
}