scala.reflect.api.Constants

Constant

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:

  1. Literals of primitive value classes (Byte, Short, Int, Long, Float, Double, Char, Boolean and Unit) - represented directly as the corresponding type
  2. String literals - represented as instances of the String.
  3. References to classes, typically constructed with scala.Predef#classOf - represented as types.
  4. 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(newTermName(name)) match {
    // Constant is always wrapped into a Literal or LiteralArgument tree node
    case LiteralArgument(ct: Constant) => value
    case _ => sys.error("Not a constant")
  }

  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.typeSignature.declarations
  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://issues.scala-lang.org/browse/SI-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
Linear Supertypes
Universe.ConstantApi, AnyRef, Any
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Abstract Value Members

  1. 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
  2. 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

  1. final def !=(arg0: AnyRef): Boolean

    Definition Classes
    AnyRef
  2. final def !=(arg0: Any): Boolean

    Test two objects for inequality.

    Test two objects for inequality.

    returns

    true if !(this == that), false otherwise.

    Definition Classes
    Any
  3. final def ##(): Int

    Equivalent to x.hashCode except for boxed numeric types and null.

    Equivalent to x.hashCode except for boxed numeric types and null. For numerics, it returns a hash value which is consistent with value equality: if two value type instances compare as true, then ## will produce the same hash value for each of them. For null returns a hashcode where null.hashCode throws a NullPointerException.

    returns

    a hash value consistent with ==

    Definition Classes
    AnyRef → Any
  4. final def ==(arg0: AnyRef): Boolean

    Definition Classes
    AnyRef
  5. final def ==(arg0: Any): Boolean

    Test two objects for equality.

    Test two objects for equality. The expression x == that is equivalent to if (x eq null) that eq null else x.equals(that).

    returns

    true if the receiver object is equivalent to the argument; false otherwise.

    Definition Classes
    Any
  6. final def asInstanceOf[T0]: T0

    Cast the receiver object to be of type T0.

    Cast the receiver object to be of type T0.

    Note that the success of a cast at runtime is modulo Scala's erasure semantics. Therefore the expression 1.asInstanceOf[String] will throw a ClassCastException at runtime, while the expression List(1).asInstanceOf[List[String]] will not. In the latter example, because the type argument is erased as part of compilation it is not possible to check whether the contents of the list are of the requested type.

    returns

    the receiver object.

    Definition Classes
    Any
    Exceptions thrown
    ClassCastException

    if the receiver object is not an instance of the erasure of type T0.

  7. def clone(): AnyRef

    Create a copy of the receiver object.

    Create a copy of the receiver object.

    The default implementation of the clone method is platform dependent.

    returns

    a copy of the receiver object.

    Attributes
    protected[java.lang]
    Definition Classes
    AnyRef
    Annotations
    @throws( ... )
    Note

    not specified by SLS as a member of AnyRef

  8. final def eq(arg0: AnyRef): Boolean

    Tests whether the argument (arg0) is a reference to the receiver object (this).

    Tests whether the argument (arg0) is a reference to the receiver object (this).

    The eq method implements an equivalence relation on non-null instances of AnyRef, and has three additional properties:

    • It is consistent: for any non-null instances x and y of type AnyRef, multiple invocations of x.eq(y) consistently returns true or consistently returns false.
    • For any non-null instance x of type AnyRef, x.eq(null) and null.eq(x) returns false.
    • null.eq(null) returns true.

    When overriding the equals or hashCode methods, it is important to ensure that their behavior is consistent with reference equality. Therefore, if two objects are references to each other (o1 eq o2), they should be equal to each other (o1 == o2) and they should hash to the same value (o1.hashCode == o2.hashCode).

    returns

    true if the argument is a reference to the receiver object; false otherwise.

    Definition Classes
    AnyRef
  9. def equals(arg0: Any): Boolean

    The equality method for reference types.

    The equality method for reference types. Default implementation delegates to eq.

    See also equals in scala.Any.

    returns

    true if the receiver object is equivalent to the argument; false otherwise.

    Definition Classes
    AnyRef → Any
  10. def finalize(): Unit

    Called by the garbage collector on the receiver object when there are no more references to the object.

    Called by the garbage collector on the receiver object when there are no more references to the object.

    The details of when and if the finalize method is invoked, as well as the interaction between finalize and non-local returns and exceptions, are all platform dependent.

    Attributes
    protected[java.lang]
    Definition Classes
    AnyRef
    Annotations
    @throws( classOf[java.lang.Throwable] )
    Note

    not specified by SLS as a member of AnyRef

  11. final def getClass(): Class[_]

    A representation that corresponds to the dynamic class of the receiver object.

    A representation that corresponds to the dynamic class of the receiver object.

    The nature of the representation is platform dependent.

    returns

    a representation that corresponds to the dynamic class of the receiver object.

    Definition Classes
    AnyRef → Any
    Note

    not specified by SLS as a member of AnyRef

  12. def hashCode(): Int

    The hashCode method for reference types.

    The hashCode method for reference types. See hashCode in scala.Any.

    returns

    the hash code value for this object.

    Definition Classes
    AnyRef → Any
  13. final def isInstanceOf[T0]: Boolean

    Test whether the dynamic type of the receiver object is T0.

    Test whether the dynamic type of the receiver object is T0.

    Note that the result of the test is modulo Scala's erasure semantics. Therefore the expression 1.isInstanceOf[String] will return false, while the expression List(1).isInstanceOf[List[String]] will return true. In the latter example, because the type argument is erased as part of compilation it is not possible to check whether the contents of the list are of the specified type.

    returns

    true if the receiver object is an instance of erasure of type T0; false otherwise.

    Definition Classes
    Any
  14. final def ne(arg0: AnyRef): Boolean

    Equivalent to !(this eq that).

    Equivalent to !(this eq that).

    returns

    true if the argument is not a reference to the receiver object; false otherwise.

    Definition Classes
    AnyRef
  15. final def notify(): Unit

    Wakes up a single thread that is waiting on the receiver object's monitor.

    Wakes up a single thread that is waiting on the receiver object's monitor.

    Definition Classes
    AnyRef
    Note

    not specified by SLS as a member of AnyRef

  16. final def notifyAll(): Unit

    Wakes up all threads that are waiting on the receiver object's monitor.

    Wakes up all threads that are waiting on the receiver object's monitor.

    Definition Classes
    AnyRef
    Note

    not specified by SLS as a member of AnyRef

  17. final def synchronized[T0](arg0: ⇒ T0): T0

    Definition Classes
    AnyRef
  18. def toString(): String

    Creates a String representation of this object.

    Creates a String representation of this object. The default representation is platform dependent. On the java platform it is the concatenation of the class name, "@", and the object's hashcode in hexadecimal.

    returns

    a String representation of the object.

    Definition Classes
    AnyRef → Any
  19. final def wait(): Unit

    Definition Classes
    AnyRef
    Annotations
    @throws( ... )
  20. final def wait(arg0: Long, arg1: Int): Unit

    Definition Classes
    AnyRef
    Annotations
    @throws( ... )
  21. final def wait(arg0: Long): Unit

    Definition Classes
    AnyRef
    Annotations
    @throws( ... )

Inherited from Universe.ConstantApi

Inherited from AnyRef

Inherited from Any

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