001/**
002 * Copyright (c) 2011, The University of Southampton and the individual contributors.
003 * All rights reserved.
004 *
005 * Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or without modification,
006 * are permitted provided that the following conditions are met:
007 *
008 *   *  Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice,
009 *      this list of conditions and the following disclaimer.
010 *
011 *   *  Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above copyright notice,
012 *      this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation
013 *      and/or other materials provided with the distribution.
014 *
015 *   *  Neither the name of the University of Southampton nor the names of its
016 *      contributors may be used to endorse or promote products derived from this
017 *      software without specific prior written permission.
018 *
019 * THIS SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED BY THE COPYRIGHT HOLDERS AND CONTRIBUTORS "AS IS" AND
020 * ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED
021 * WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE ARE
022 * DISCLAIMED. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COPYRIGHT OWNER OR CONTRIBUTORS BE LIABLE FOR
023 * ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES
024 * (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES;
025 * LOSS OF USE, DATA, OR PROFITS; OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) HOWEVER CAUSED AND ON
026 * ANY THEORY OF LIABILITY, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY, OR TORT
027 * (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE OR OTHERWISE) ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE USE OF THIS
028 * SOFTWARE, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.
029 */
030package org.openimaj.experiment.annotations;
031
032import java.lang.annotation.Documented;
033import java.lang.annotation.ElementType;
034import java.lang.annotation.Retention;
035import java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy;
036import java.lang.annotation.Target;
037
038import org.openimaj.experiment.ExperimentContext;
039import org.openimaj.experiment.ExperimentRunner;
040import org.openimaj.experiment.RunnableExperiment;
041
042/**
043 * Annotation for marking independent or controlled variables within a
044 * {@link RunnableExperiment} instance. These variables and their values will be
045 * recorded automatically within an {@link ExperimentContext} when the
046 * {@link RunnableExperiment} is run with the {@link ExperimentRunner}.
047 *
048 * @author Jonathon Hare (jsh2@ecs.soton.ac.uk)
049 */
050@Documented
051@Retention(value = RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
052@Target(value = ElementType.FIELD)
053public @interface IndependentVariable {
054        /**
055         * The identifier of the variable. If not set, then it will be replaced with
056         * the name of the field the annotation is attached to.
057         * 
058         * @return the identifier of the variable
059         */
060        String identifier() default "";
061}