java.lang.Object
- java.lang.Enum<ElementType>
- - java.lang.annotation.ElementType

All Implemented Interfaces:

Serializable, Comparable<ElementType>
```
public enum ElementType
extends Enum<ElementType>
```
The constants of this enumerated type provide a simple classification of the syntactic locations where annotations may appear in a Java program. These constants are used in Target meta-annotations to specify where it is legal to write annotations of a given type.
The syntactic locations where annotations may appear are split into declaration contexts , where annotations apply to declarations, and type contexts , where annotations apply to types used in declarations and expressions.
The constants ANNOTATION_TYPE, CONSTRUCTOR, FIELD, LOCAL_VARIABLE, METHOD, PACKAGE, MODULE, PARAMETER, TYPE, and TYPE_PARAMETER correspond to the declaration contexts in JLS 9.6.4.1.
For example, an annotation whose type is meta-annotated with @Target(ElementType.FIELD) may only be written as a modifier for a field declaration.
The constant TYPE_USE corresponds to the type contexts in JLS 4.11, as well as to two declaration contexts: type declarations (including annotation type declarations) and type parameter declarations.
For example, an annotation whose type is meta-annotated with @Target(ElementType.TYPE_USE) may be written on the type of a field (or within the type of the field, if it is a nested, parameterized, or array type), and may also appear as a modifier for, say, a class declaration.
The TYPE_USE constant includes type declarations and type parameter declarations as a convenience for designers of type checkers which give semantics to annotation types. For example, if the annotation type NonNull is meta-annotated with @Target(ElementType.TYPE_USE), then @NonNull class C {...} could be treated by a type checker as indicating that all variables of class C are non-null, while still allowing variables of other classes to be non-null or not non-null based on whether @NonNull appears at the variable's declaration.

Since:

1.5

See The Java™ Language Specification:

9.6.4.1 @Target, 4.1 The Kinds of Types and Values

Enum Constant Summary

Enum Constants
Enum Constant	Description
`ANNOTATION_TYPE`	Annotation type declaration
`CONSTRUCTOR`	Constructor declaration
`FIELD`	Field declaration (includes enum constants)
`LOCAL_VARIABLE`	Local variable declaration
`METHOD`	Method declaration
`MODULE`	Module declaration.
`PACKAGE`	Package declaration
`PARAMETER`	Formal parameter declaration
`TYPE`	Class, interface (including annotation type), or enum declaration
`TYPE_PARAMETER`	Type parameter declaration
`TYPE_USE`	Use of a type

Method Summary

All Methods Static Methods Concrete Methods
Modifier and Type	Method	Description
`static ElementType`	`valueOf(String name)`	Returns the enum constant of this type with the specified name.
`static ElementType[]`	`values()`	Returns an array containing the constants of this enum type, in the order they are declared.

Methods declared in class java.lang.Enum
clone, compareTo, equals, finalize, getDeclaringClass, hashCode, name, ordinal, toString, valueOf

Methods declared in class java.lang.Object
getClass, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait

- Enum Constant Detail
  - TYPE
```
public static final ElementType TYPE
```
    Class, interface (including annotation type), or enum declaration
  - FIELD
```
public static final ElementType FIELD
```
    Field declaration (includes enum constants)
  - METHOD
```
public static final ElementType METHOD
```
    Method declaration
  - PARAMETER
```
public static final ElementType PARAMETER
```
    Formal parameter declaration
  - CONSTRUCTOR
```
public static final ElementType CONSTRUCTOR
```
    Constructor declaration
  - LOCAL_VARIABLE
```
public static final ElementType LOCAL_VARIABLE
```
    Local variable declaration
  - ANNOTATION_TYPE
```
public static final ElementType ANNOTATION_TYPE
```
    Annotation type declaration
  - PACKAGE
```
public static final ElementType PACKAGE
```
    Package declaration
  - TYPE_PARAMETER
```
public static final ElementType TYPE_PARAMETER
```
    Type parameter declaration
    
    Since:
    
    1.8
  - TYPE_USE
```
public static final ElementType TYPE_USE
```
    Use of a type
    
    Since:
    
    1.8
  - MODULE
```
public static final ElementType MODULE
```
    Module declaration.
    
    Since:
    
    9
- Method Detail
  - values
```
public static ElementType[] values()
```
    Returns an array containing the constants of this enum type, in the order they are declared. This method may be used to iterate over the constants as follows:
    for (ElementType c : ElementType.values()) System.out.println(c);
    Returns:
    
    an array containing the constants of this enum type, in the order they are declared
  - valueOf
```
public static ElementType valueOf(String name)
```
    Returns the enum constant of this type with the specified name. The string must match exactly an identifier used to declare an enum constant in this type. (Extraneous whitespace characters are not permitted.)
    
    Parameters:
    
    name - the name of the enum constant to be returned.
    
    Returns:
    
    the enum constant with the specified name
    
    Throws:
    
    IllegalArgumentException - if this enum type has no constant with the specified name
    
    NullPointerException - if the argument is null

Enum ElementType

Enum Constant Summary

Method Summary

Methods declared in class java.lang.Enum

Methods declared in class java.lang.Object

Enum Constant Detail

TYPE

FIELD

METHOD

PARAMETER

CONSTRUCTOR

LOCAL_VARIABLE

ANNOTATION_TYPE

PACKAGE

TYPE_PARAMETER

TYPE_USE

MODULE

Method Detail

values

valueOf