/*
 * @(#)ThrowsTag.java	1.9 03/12/19
 *
 * Copyright 2004 Sun Microsystems, Inc. All rights reserved.
 * SUN PROPRIETARY/CONFIDENTIAL. Use is subject to license terms.
 */

package com.sun.javadoc;

/**
 * Represents a @throws or @exception documentation tag.
 * Parses and holds the exception name and exception comment.
 * Note: @exception is a backwards compatible synonymy for @throws.
 *
 * @author Robert Field
 * @author Atul M Dambalkar
 * @see ExecutableMemberDoc#throwsTags()
 *
 */
public interface ThrowsTag extends Tag {

    /**
     * Return the name of the exception
     * associated with this <code>ThrowsTag</code>.
     *
     * @return name of the exception.
     */
    String exceptionName();

    /**
     * Return the exception comment
     * associated with this <code>ThrowsTag</code>.
     *
     * @return exception comment.
     */
    String exceptionComment();

    /**
     * Return a <code>ClassDoc</code> that represents the exception.
     * If the type of the exception is a type variable, return the
     * <code>ClassDoc</code> of its erasure.
     *
     * <p> <i>This method cannot accommodate certain generic type
     * constructs.  The <code>exceptionType</code> method
     * should be used instead.</i>
     *
     * @return <code>ClassDoc</code> that represents the exception.
     * @see #exceptionType
     */
    ClassDoc exception();

    /**
     * Return the type of the exception
     * associated with this <code>ThrowsTag</code>.
     * This may be a <code>ClassDoc</code> or a <code>TypeVariable</code>.
     *
     * @return the type of the exception.
     * @since 1.5
     */
    Type exceptionType();
}