Class annotation used to assist in the creation of Externalizable classes. The @AutoExternalize annotation instructs the compiler to execute an AST transformation which adds writeExternal() and readExternal() methods to a class and adds Externalizable to the interfaces which the class implements. The writeExternal() method writes each property (or field) for the class while the readExternal() method will read each one back in the same order. Properties or fields marked as transient are ignored.

Example usage:

 import groovy.transform.*
 @AutoExternalize
 class Person {
   String first, last
   List favItems
   Date since
 }
 

 class Person implements Externalizable {
   ...
   public void writeExternal(ObjectOutput out) throws IOException {
     out.writeObject(first)
     out.writeObject(last)
     out.writeObject(favItems)
     out.writeObject(since)
   }

   public void readExternal(ObjectInput oin) {
     first = oin.readObject()
     last = oin.readObject()
     favItems = oin.readObject()
     since = oin.readObject()
   }
   ...
 }
 

The @AutoExternalize transform is implemented as a combination of the @ExternalizeMethods and @ExternalizeVerifier transforms.

Since:

1.8.0