/interpreter/tags/at2dist220411/src/edu/vub/at/exceptions/XReflectionFailure.java

 1/**
 2 * AmbientTalk/2 Project
 3 * XReflectionFailure.java created on Jul 13, 2006 at 8:32:03 PM
 4 * (c) Programming Technology Lab, 2006 - 2007
 5 * Authors: Tom Van Cutsem & Stijn Mostinckx
 6 * 
 7 * Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person
 8 * obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation
 9 * files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without
10 * restriction, including without limitation the rights to use,
11 * copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or
12 * sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the
13 * Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following
14 * conditions:
15 *
16 * The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be
17 * included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
18 *
19 * THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,
20 * EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES
21 * OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND
22 * NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT
23 * HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY,
24 * WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING
25 * FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR
26 * OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
27 */
28package edu.vub.at.exceptions;
29
30import edu.vub.at.objects.ATTypeTag;
31import edu.vub.at.objects.coercion.NativeTypeTags;
32
33/**
34 * An instance of the class XReflectionFailure is thrown when something goes wrong when reflectively
35 * invoking natively implemented methods from AmbientTalk. This mechanism is used to call base-level
36 * methods on native types such as tables and numbers. The default mirror architecture relies on 
37 * this feature as well to call the meta_operations on these values. Finally, the invocation of Java
38 * methods also uses this mechanism in part. The circumstances in which an XReflectionFailure 
39 * exception can be raised are the following:  
40 * 
41 * <ul>
42 *   <li>when attempting to access a Java method (both natively implemented AmbientTalk methods 
43 *   and symbiotic Java methods) which is not accessible due to visibility constraints</li>
44 *   <li>when calling a natively implemented AmbientTalk method which throws an exception which
45 *   is not either an InterpreterException or a Signal.</li>
46 *   <li>when a natively implemented AmbientTalk method returns an object which is not a subtype
47 *   of ATObject, and it is not a Java native type (detected in primitiveJavaToATObject)</li>
48 *   <li>when reading a field from a Java object which is not present or visible</li>
49 * </ul>
50 * 
51 * @author smostinc
52 */
53public class XReflectionFailure extends InterpreterException {
54
55	private static final long serialVersionUID = 4082945147643295718L;
56
57	/**
58	 * Constructor used to report failed reflective invocations which are due to underlying 
59	 * Java exceptions reporting e.g. the lack of sufficient access rights to invoke a method.
60	 * @param message details the error and the selector being invoked or selected
61	 * @param cause underlying exception (IllegalAccessException or InvocationTargetException)
62	 */
63	public XReflectionFailure(String message, Throwable cause) {
64		super(message, cause);
65	}
66
67	/**
68	 * Constructor used to report failed reflective invocations which are not directly cause by
69	 * Java exceptions.
70	 * @param message details the precise error. 
71	 */
72	public XReflectionFailure(String message) {
73		super(message);
74	}
75	
76	public ATTypeTag getType() {
77		return NativeTypeTags._REFLECTIONFAILURE_;
78	}
79
80}