linneo

@DefaultCategory

io.github.devbpm.linneo.annotation.DefaultCategory — @Documented @Retention(RUNTIME) @Target(TYPE), @since 0.1.0

Declares the data category of every field of a class that has no annotation of its own: a positive statement that those fields hold no personal data, with the reason. Personal data is always declared field by field with @Category.

Elements

Element	Type	Default	Meaning
value	String	required	Key of a non-personal data category, preferably a constant of Categories.
reason	String	required	Why the class holds no personal data, for the people who review the classification. Must not be blank.

Scope

• It applies to the unannotated fields the annotated class declares.
• When the annotated class is the class being classified, it also applies to unannotated fields inherited from superclasses that declare no default of their own.
• It is not inherited: a subclass without its own @DefaultCategory does not use its superclass’s default for the fields the subclass declares.
• Field annotations (@Category, @CategoryByRow, @Exempt) always take precedence.

See the resolution order.

Rules enforced by the Classifier

The classifier checks the @DefaultCategory of the classified class and of each of its superclasses. These violations have no field (Violation.field() is null) and their message starts with @DefaultCategory of <SimpleName>.

Rule	Violation	Severity
reason must not be blank	MISSING_REASON (@DefaultCategory of <Class> needs a reason)	error
value must be a key of the taxonomy	UNKNOWN_CATEGORY (unknown data category '<key>')	error
A deprecated value is replaced by its current replacement	DEPRECATED_CATEGORY	warning
The (resolved) category must not be personal	PERSONAL_DEFAULT (@DefaultCategory of <Class> names '<key>', which is personal data: declare personal fields one by one with @Category)	error

When the default is unknown or personal, the fields it would cover are left out of ClassClassification.fields(); the class-level violation is the only report (no extra UNCLASSIFIED_FIELD). A blank reason alone does not stop the fields from being classified.

Resulting FieldClassification

Component	Value
declaringClass	the class that declares the field
category	the resolved default category
basis	CLASS_DEFAULT
reason	the annotation’s reason
confidentiality / integrity	the category’s levels
identifiability	null

Examples

import io.github.devbpm.linneo.annotation.Category;
import io.github.devbpm.linneo.annotation.DefaultCategory;
import static io.github.devbpm.linneo.Categories.*;

public abstract class Audited {
    @Category(USER_UNIQUE_ID)
    private Long createdBy;                 // DECLARED
    private java.time.Instant createdAt;    // covered by the default of the classified subclass
}

@DefaultCategory(value = SYSTEM_CONFIGURATION, reason = "menu configuration")
public class MenuGroup extends Audited {
    private String code;                    // CLASS_DEFAULT: system.configuration
}

Classifying MenuGroup gives the fields createdBy, createdAt and code. Classifying another subclass of Audited without a default reports UNCLASSIFIED_FIELD for createdAt.

@DefaultCategory(value = USER_CONTACT, reason = "")    // PERSONAL_DEFAULT and MISSING_REASON
public class WrongDefault {
    private String value;
}

See also: Annotations overview · @Category · Violations · Standard taxonomy · course: Annotating models

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