Interface FormatSchema

Simple tag interface used to mark schema objects that are used by some JsonParser and JsonGenerator implementations to further specify structure of expected format. Basic JSON-based parsers and generators do not use schemas, but some data formats (like many binary data formats like Thrift, protobuf) mandate use of schemas. Others like CSV and Java Properties may optionally use schemas (and/or use simple default schema to use if caller does not specify one) which specifies some aspects of structuring content.

Since there is little commonality between schemas for different data formats, this interface does not define much meaningful functionality for accessing schema details; rather, specific parser and generator implementations need to cast to schema implementations they use. This marker interface is mostly used for tagging "some kind of schema" -- instead of passing opaque Object -- for documentation purposes.