Introduce @Role

As a mechanism for setting the 'role' hint on BeanDefinitions created
via component-scanning or @Bean methods.

org.springframework.context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/annotation/AnnotationConfigUtils.java

@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.AutowiredAnnotationBeanPostP
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.RequiredAnnotationBeanPostProcessor;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.config.BeanDefinition;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.config.BeanDefinitionHolder;
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanDefinition;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.support.BeanDefinitionRegistry;
 import org.springframework.beans.factory.support.RootBeanDefinition;
 import org.springframework.util.ClassUtils;
@@ -215,6 +216,12 @@ public class AnnotationConfigUtils {
 			String[] value = (String[]) abd.getMetadata().getAnnotationAttributes(DependsOn.class.getName()).get("value");
 			abd.setDependsOn(value);
 		}
+		if (abd instanceof AbstractBeanDefinition) {
+			if (abd.getMetadata().isAnnotated(Role.class.getName())) {
+				int value = (Integer) abd.getMetadata().getAnnotationAttributes(Role.class.getName()).get("value");
+				((AbstractBeanDefinition)abd).setRole(value);
+			}
+		}
 	}
 
 	static BeanDefinitionHolder applyScopedProxyMode(

org.springframework.context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/annotation/ConfigurationClassBeanDefinitionReader.java

@@ -191,6 +191,13 @@ public class ConfigurationClassBeanDefinitionReader {
 		beanDef.setAutowireMode(RootBeanDefinition.AUTOWIRE_CONSTRUCTOR);
 		beanDef.setAttribute(RequiredAnnotationBeanPostProcessor.SKIP_REQUIRED_CHECK_ATTRIBUTE, Boolean.TRUE);
 
+		// consider role
+		Map<String, Object> roleAttributes = metadata.getAnnotationAttributes(Role.class.getName());
+		if (roleAttributes != null) {
+			int role = (Integer) roleAttributes.get("value");
+			beanDef.setRole(role);
+		}
+
 		// consider name and any aliases
 		Map<String, Object> beanAttributes = metadata.getAnnotationAttributes(Bean.class.getName());
 		List<String> names = new ArrayList<String>(Arrays.asList((String[]) beanAttributes.get("name")));

org.springframework.context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/annotation/Role.java

@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2002-2011 the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package org.springframework.context.annotation;
+
+import java.lang.annotation.Documented;
+import java.lang.annotation.ElementType;
+import java.lang.annotation.Retention;
+import java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy;
+import java.lang.annotation.Target;
+
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.config.BeanDefinition;
+
+/**
+ * Indicates the 'role' hint for a given bean.
+ *
+ * <p>May be used on any class directly or indirectly annotated with
+ * {@link org.springframework.stereotype.Component} or on methods annotated with
+ * {@link Bean}.
+ *
+ * <p>If this annotation is not present on a Component or Bean definition, the
+ * default value of {@link BeanDefinition#ROLE_APPLICATION} will apply.
+ *
+ * <p>If Role is present on a {@link Configuration @Configuration} class, this
+ * indicates the role of the configuration class bean definition and does not
+ * cascade to all @{@code Bean} methods defined within.  This behavior is
+ * different than that of the @{@link Lazy} annotation, for example.
+ *
+ * @author Chris Beams
+ * @since 3.1
+ * @see BeanDefinition#ROLE_APPLICATION
+ * @see BeanDefinition#ROLE_INFRASTRUCTURE
+ * @see BeanDefinition#ROLE_SUPPORT
+ * @see Bean
+ */
+@Target({ElementType.TYPE, ElementType.METHOD})
+@Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
+@Documented
+public @interface Role {
+
+	/**
+	 * Set the role hint for the associated bean.
+	 * @see BeanDefinition#ROLE_APPLICATION
+	 * @see BeanDefinition#ROLE_INFRASTRUCTURE
+	 * @see BeanDefinition#ROLE_SUPPORT
+	 */
+	int value();
+
+}