groovy.transform.builder

## Class ExternalStrategy

- java.lang.Object
- - org.codehaus.groovy.transform.BuilderASTTransformation.AbstractBuilderStrategy
  - - groovy.transform.builder.ExternalStrategy

- All Implemented Interfaces:
    BuilderASTTransformation.BuilderStrategy

      public class ExternalStrategy
      extends BuilderASTTransformation.AbstractBuilderStrategy

  This strategy is used with the `Builder` AST transform to populate a builder helper class so that it can be used for the fluent creation of instances of a specified class. The specified class is not modified in any way and may be a Java class. You use it by creating and annotating an explicit builder class which will be filled in by during annotation processing with the appropriate build method and setters. An example is shown here:

       import groovy.transform.builder.*

       class Person {
           String firstName
           String lastName
       }

       @Builder(builderStrategy=ExternalStrategy, forClass=Person)
       class PersonBuilder { }

       def person = new PersonBuilder().firstName("Robert").lastName("Lewandowski").build()
       assert person.firstName == "Robert"
       assert person.lastName == "Lewandowski"

  The `prefix` annotation attribute, which defaults to the empty String for this strategy, can be used to create setters with a different naming convention, e.g. with the `prefix` changed to 'set', you would use your setters as follows:

       def p1 = new PersonBuilder().setFirstName("Robert").setLastName("Lewandowski").setAge(21).build()

  or using a prefix of 'with':

       def p2 = new PersonBuilder().withFirstName("Robert").withLastName("Lewandowski").withAge(21).build()

  The properties to use can be filtered using either the 'includes' or 'excludes' annotation attributes for `@Builder`. The `@Builder` 'buildMethodName' annotation attribute can be used for configuring the build method's name, default "build". The `@Builder` 'builderMethodName' and 'builderClassName' annotation attributes aren't applicable for this strategy. The `@Builder` 'useSetters' annotation attribute is ignored by this strategy which always uses setters.

- - ### Nested Class Summary

    - ### Nested classes/interfaces inherited from class org.codehaus.groovy.transform.BuilderASTTransformation.AbstractBuilderStrategy

      `BuilderASTTransformation.AbstractBuilderStrategy.PropertyInfo`

  - ### Constructor Summary

    Constructors
    Constructor and Description
    `ExternalStrategy()`

  - ### Method Summary

    All Methods Instance Methods Concrete Methods
    Modifier and Type | Method and Description
    --- | ---
    `void` | `build(BuilderASTTransformation transform, AnnotatedNode annotatedNode, AnnotationNode anno)`

    - ### Methods inherited from class org.codehaus.groovy.transform.BuilderASTTransformation.AbstractBuilderStrategy

      `checkKnownField, checkKnownProperty, getFields, getIncludeExclude, getPropertyInfoFromBeanInfo, getPropertyInfoFromClassNode, getPropertyInfoFromClassNode, getPropertyInfoFromClassNode, getPropertyInfos, getSetterName, unsupportedAttribute, unsupportedAttribute`

    - ### Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

      `clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait`

- - ### Constructor Detail

    - #### ExternalStrategy

          public ExternalStrategy()

  - ### Method Detail

    - #### build

          public void build(BuilderASTTransformation transform,
                            AnnotatedNode annotatedNode,
                            AnnotationNode anno)