Package io.fluxcapacitor.javaclient.modeling

Class AnnotatedEntityHolder

java.lang.Object

io.fluxcapacitor.javaclient.modeling.AnnotatedEntityHolder

public class AnnotatedEntityHolder
extends Object

Helper class for Entity instances that manage nested entity relationships annotated with @Member.

The AnnotatedEntityHolder provides a way to access and update a composite object (holder) that contains one or more nested entities. It supports collections, maps, and single-value member fields. It extracts member values using reflection and allows updating them through generated "wither" or "setter" logic, making it possible to reconstruct an updated parent entity when one of its children changes.

The holder is typically tied to a specific AccessibleObject (field or method), which is analyzed and cached to optimize repeated operations.

Responsibilities:

• Extract and cache metadata about a member location (field/method), including its type, ID property, and wither.
• Create ImmutableEntity instances from nested values at this member location.
• Apply updates to these entities and propagate the changes back to the parent object via a wither or clone-and-set.
• Support updating collection and map-based member fields while preserving immutability semantics.

The holder is initialized and cached via getEntityHolder(Class, AccessibleObject, EntityHelper, Serializer), and update logic falls back to serialization-based cloning if a wither method is not explicitly defined.

See Also:

• ImmutableEntity
• Member

Method Summary

Modifier and Type	Method	Description
Stream<? extends ImmutableEntity<?>>	getEntities(Entity<?> parent)	Returns the set of ImmutableEntity instances that are defined at the member location within the specified parent entity.
static AnnotatedEntityHolder	getEntityHolder(Class<?> ownerType, AccessibleObject location, EntityHelper entityHelper, Serializer serializer)	Retrieves or creates a cached AnnotatedEntityHolder at the given member location.
Object	updateOwner(Object owner, Entity<?> before, Entity<?> after)	Updates the parent object with the new state of a child entity.

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait

Method Details

getEntityHolder

public static AnnotatedEntityHolder getEntityHolder(Class<?> ownerType,
 AccessibleObject location,
 EntityHelper entityHelper,
 Serializer serializer)

Retrieves or creates a cached AnnotatedEntityHolder at the given member location.

Parameters:

ownerType - the class that owns the annotated member

location - the accessible field or method annotated with @Member

entityHelper - the helper used to apply/validate/apply logic to nested entities

serializer - the serializer used for cloning values during updates

Returns:

a cached or new instance of AnnotatedEntityHolder

getEntities

public Stream<? extends ImmutableEntity<?>> getEntities(Entity<?> parent)

Returns the set of ImmutableEntity instances that are defined at the member location within the specified parent entity. This includes actual members and an "empty" fallback entity used for creating new entities or assertions to carry out before an entity is created.

Parameters:

parent - the parent entity instance

Returns:

a stream of nested ImmutableEntity instances

updateOwner

public Object updateOwner(Object owner,
 Entity<?> before,
 Entity<?> after)

Updates the parent object with the new state of a child entity. Uses a wither method if available; otherwise attempts a reflective update through cloning and direct field access. If the entity has been removed (value has become null), the entity is removed from the owner object if possible.

Note that this method typically returns a new clone of the owner object containing the updated child entity value.

Parameters:

owner - the parent object containing the member field

before - the old entity (before update)

after - the new entity (after update)

Returns:

a new updated parent object, or the original if mutation fails