001/*
002 *  Copyright 2001-2013 Stephen Colebourne
003 *
004 *  Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
005 *  you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
006 *  You may obtain a copy of the License at
007 *
008 *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
009 *
010 *  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
011 *  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
012 *  WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
013 *  See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
014 *  limitations under the License.
015 */
016package org.joda.beans;
017
018/**
019 * A dynamic bean that allows properties to be added and removed.
020 * <p>
021 * A JavaBean is defined at compile-time and cannot have additional properties added.
022 * Instances of this interface allow additional properties to be added and removed
023 * probably by wrapping a map
024 * 
025 * @author Stephen Colebourne
026 */
027public interface DynamicBean extends Bean {
028
029    /**
030     * Adds a property to those allowed to be stored in the bean.
031     * <p>
032     * Some implementations will automatically add properties, in which case this
033     * method will have no effect.
034     * 
035     * @param propertyName  the property name to check, not empty, not null
036     * @param propertyType  the property type, not null
037     */
038    void propertyDefine(String propertyName, Class<?> propertyType);
039
040    /**
041     * Removes a property by name.
042     * 
043     * @param propertyName  the property name to remove, null ignored
044     */
045    void propertyRemove(String propertyName);
046
047}