abstract type Constant >: Null <: Universe.ConstantApi
This "virtual" case class represents the reflection interface for literal expressions which can not be further broken down or evaluated, such as "true", "0", "classOf[List]". Such values become parts of the Scala abstract syntax tree representing the program. The constants correspond to section 6.24 "Constant Expressions" of the Scala Language Specification.
Such constants are used to represent literals in abstract syntax trees (the scala.reflect.api.Trees#Literal node) and literal arguments for Java class file annotations (the scala.reflect.api.Annotations#LiteralArgument class).
Constants can be matched against and can be constructed directly, as if they were case classes:
assert(Constant(true).value == true) Constant(true) match { case Constant(s: String) => println("A string: " + s) case Constant(b: Boolean) => println("A boolean value: " + b) case Constant(x) => println("Something else: " + x) }
Constant
instances can wrap certain kinds of these expressions:
- Literals of primitive value classes (
Byte
,Short
,Int
,Long
,Float
,Double
,Char
,Boolean
andUnit
) - represented directly as the corresponding type - String literals - represented as instances of the
String
. - References to classes, typically constructed with scala.Predef#classOf - represented as types.
- References to enumeration values - represented as symbols.
Class references are represented as instances of scala.reflect.api.Types#Type
(because when the Scala compiler processes a class reference, the underlying runtime class might not yet have
been compiled). To convert such a reference to a runtime class, one should use the runtimeClass
method of a
mirror such as RuntimeMirror
(the simplest way to get such a mirror is using
scala.reflect.runtime.currentMirror
).
Enumeration value references are represented as instances of scala.reflect.api.Symbols#Symbol, which on JVM point to methods that return underlying enum values. To inspect an underlying enumeration or to get runtime value of a reference to an enum, one should use a scala.reflect.api.Mirrors#RuntimeMirror (the simplest way to get such a mirror is again scala.reflect.runtime.package#currentMirror).
Usage example:
enum JavaSimpleEnumeration { FOO, BAR } import java.lang.annotation.*; @Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME) @Target({ElementType.TYPE}) public @interface JavaSimpleAnnotation { Class<?> classRef(); JavaSimpleEnumeration enumRef(); } @JavaSimpleAnnotation( classRef = JavaAnnottee.class, enumRef = JavaSimpleEnumeration.BAR ) public class JavaAnnottee {}
import scala.reflect.runtime.universe._ import scala.reflect.runtime.{currentMirror => cm} object Test extends App { val jann = typeOf[JavaAnnottee].typeSymbol.annotations(0).javaArgs def jarg(name: String) = jann(TermName(name)) match { // Constant is always wrapped into a Literal or LiteralArgument tree node case LiteralArgument(ct: Constant) => value } val classRef = jarg("classRef").value.asInstanceOf[Type] // ideally one should match instead of casting println(showRaw(classRef)) // TypeRef(ThisType(), JavaAnnottee, List()) println(cm.runtimeClass(classRef)) // class JavaAnnottee val enumRef = jarg("enumRef").value.asInstanceOf[Symbol] // ideally one should match instead of casting println(enumRef) // value BAR val siblings = enumRef.owner.info.decls val enumValues = siblings.filter(sym => sym.isVal && sym.isPublic) println(enumValues) // Scope{ // final val FOO: JavaSimpleEnumeration; // final val BAR: JavaSimpleEnumeration // } // doesn't work because of https://github.com/scala/bug/issues/6459 // val enumValue = mirror.reflectField(enumRef.asTerm).get val enumClass = cm.runtimeClass(enumRef.owner.asClass) val enumValue = enumClass.getDeclaredField(enumRef.name.toString).get(null) println(enumValue) // BAR }
- Source
- Constants.scala
- Alphabetic
- By Inheritance
- Constant
- ConstantApi
- AnyRef
- Any
- Hide All
- Show All
- Public
- All
Abstract Value Members
- abstract def tpe: Universe.Type
Scala type that describes the constant.
Scala type that describes the constant. It is generated automatically based on the type of the value.
- Definition Classes
- ConstantApi
- abstract val value: Any
Payload of the constant, that can be accessed directly or pattern matched against.
Payload of the constant, that can be accessed directly or pattern matched against.
- Definition Classes
- ConstantApi
Concrete Value Members
- final def !=(arg0: Any): Boolean
- Definition Classes
- AnyRef → Any
- final def ##(): Int
- Definition Classes
- AnyRef → Any
- final def ==(arg0: Any): Boolean
- Definition Classes
- AnyRef → Any
- final def asInstanceOf[T0]: T0
- Definition Classes
- Any
- def clone(): AnyRef
- Attributes
- protected[java.lang]
- Definition Classes
- AnyRef
- Annotations
- @native() @throws(classOf[java.lang.CloneNotSupportedException])
- final def eq(arg0: AnyRef): Boolean
- Definition Classes
- AnyRef
- def equals(arg0: Any): Boolean
- Definition Classes
- AnyRef → Any
- def finalize(): Unit
- Attributes
- protected[java.lang]
- Definition Classes
- AnyRef
- Annotations
- @throws(classOf[java.lang.Throwable])
- final def getClass(): Class[_]
- Definition Classes
- AnyRef → Any
- Annotations
- @native()
- def hashCode(): Int
- Definition Classes
- AnyRef → Any
- Annotations
- @native()
- final def isInstanceOf[T0]: Boolean
- Definition Classes
- Any
- final def ne(arg0: AnyRef): Boolean
- Definition Classes
- AnyRef
- final def notify(): Unit
- Definition Classes
- AnyRef
- Annotations
- @native()
- final def notifyAll(): Unit
- Definition Classes
- AnyRef
- Annotations
- @native()
- final def synchronized[T0](arg0: ⇒ T0): T0
- Definition Classes
- AnyRef
- def toString(): String
- Definition Classes
- AnyRef → Any
- final def wait(): Unit
- Definition Classes
- AnyRef
- Annotations
- @throws(classOf[java.lang.InterruptedException])
- final def wait(arg0: Long, arg1: Int): Unit
- Definition Classes
- AnyRef
- Annotations
- @throws(classOf[java.lang.InterruptedException])
- final def wait(arg0: Long): Unit
- Definition Classes
- AnyRef
- Annotations
- @native() @throws(classOf[java.lang.InterruptedException])