How to use Annotation attributes that are variables

[jboss-nth-fan]

Hi there,

When using Seam annotations I need to use annotation attributes that are not string constants.

In this code fragment:

@CreateProcess(definition="myProcessDefinition")
@Begin(nested=true, pageflow="myPageFlowDefinition")
public void startProcess() {
...
}

Is it possible to use variables instead of strings like: "myProcessDefinition".
I've tried referencing a private variable but I get a compilation error:

The value for annotation attribute CreateProcess.definition must be a constant expression

I know that this annotation in particular could be implemented using jBPMs api method:
public ProcessInstance newProcessInstance(java.lang.String processDefinitionName)

But I would prefer to use annotations (cleaner, compact code).

Is there an elegant workaround or do I just drop this annotation and call their corresponding api method.

Thanks for all your possible suggestions.

Yeyo

[gavin.king]

In the CVS version of Seam, the right way to do this is to call the built-in Seam component named "businessProcess".

[pmuir]

From http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.5.0/docs/guide/language/annotations.html

Annotations consist of an at-sign (@) followed by an annotation type and a parenthesized list of element-value pairs. The values must be compile-time constants.

[jboss-nth-fan]

Thanks Gaving,
Indeed has businessProcess component has it:
jboss-seam\src\main\org\jboss\seam\core\BusinessProcess.java

I was halfway writing a wrapper like this...seam could have a nickname: "The JBoss Glue"

Thanks again,

Yeyo