Spring Annotation

Core Spring Annotation

SR	Annotation	Use	Explanation
1	@Autowired	Constructor, Field, Method	Declares a constructor, field, setter method, or configuration method to be autowired by type. Items annotated with @Autowired do not have to be public.
2	@Configurable	Type	Used with <context:springconfigured> to declare types whose properties should be injected, even if they are not instantiated by Spring. Typically used to inject the properties of domain objects.
3	@Order	Type, Method, Field	Defines ordering, as an alternative to implementing the org. springframework.core.Ordered interface.
4	@Qualifier	Field, Parameter, Type, Annotation Type	Guides autowiring to be performed by means other than by type.
5	@Required	Method (setters)	Specifies that a particular property must be injected or else the configuration will fail.
6	@Scope	Type	Specifies the scope of a bean, either singleton, prototype, request, session, or some custom scope.

Stereotyping Annotations

These annotations are used to stereotype classes with regard to the application tier that they belong to. Classes that are annotated with one of these annotations will automatically be registered in the Spring application context if <context:component-scan> is in the Spring XML configuration. In addition, if a  PersistenceExceptionTranslationPostProcessor is configured in Spring, any bean annotated with @Repository will have SQLExceptions thrown from its methods translated into one of Spring’s unchecked  DataAccessExceptions.

SR	Annotaion	Use	Explanation
1	@Component	Type	Generic stereotype annotation for any Spring-managed component.
2	@Controller	Type	Stereotypes a component as a Spring MVC controller.
3	@Repository	Type	Stereotypes a component as a repository. Also indicates that SQLExceptions thrown from the component’s methods should be translated into Spring DataAccessExceptions.
4	@Service	Type	Stereotypes a component as a service.

Spring MVC Annotations

These annotations were introduced in Spring 2.5 to make it easier to create Spring MVC applications with minimal XML configuration and without extending one of the many implementations of the Controller interface.

SR	Annotaion	Use	Explanation
1	@Controller	Type	Stereotypes a component as a Spring MVC controller.
2	@InitBinder	Method	Annotates a method that customizes data binding.
3	@ModelAttribute	Parameter, Method	When applied to a method, used to preload the model with the value returned from the method. When applied to a parameter, binds a model attribute to the parameter .
4	@RequestMapping	Method, Type	Maps a URL pattern and/or HTTP method to a method or controller type.
5	@RequestParam	Parameter	Binds a request parameter to a method  parameter.
6	@SessionAttributes	Type	Specifies that a model attribute should be  stored in the session.

Transaction Annotations

The @Transactional annotation is used along with the <tx:annotation-driven> element to declare transactional  boundaries and rules as class and method metadata in Java.

SR	Annotaion	Use	Explanation
1	@Transactional	Method,Type	Declares transactional boundaries and rules on a bean and/or its methods.

The <tx:annotation-driven> element tells Spring to keep an eye out for beans that are annotated with @Transactional. In addition,you’ll also need a platform transaction manager bean declared in the Spring context. For example, if your application uses Hibernate, you’ll want to include the HibernateTransactionManager:

<bean id=”transactionManager”

class=”org.springframework.orm.hibernate3.

HibernateTransactionManager”>

<property name=”sessionFactory” ref=”sessionFactory”

/> </bean>

With the basic plumbing in place, you’re ready to start annotating the transactional boundaries:

@Transactional(propagation=Propagation.SUPPORTS,

readOnly=true)

public class TreasureRepositoryImpl implements

TreasureRepository {

…

@Transactional(propagation=Propagation.REQUIRED,

readOnly=false)

public void storeTreasure(Treasure treasure) { …}

…

}

At the class level, @Transactional is declaring that all methods should support transactions and be read-only. But, at the method-level, @Transactional declares that the storeTreasure() method requires a transaction and is not read-only.

Note that for transactions to be applied to @Transactionalannotated

classes, those classes must be wired as beans in Spring.

JMX Annotations

These annotations, used with the <context:mbean-export> element, declare bean methods and properties as MBe operations and attributes.

SR	Annotaion	Use	Explanation
1	@ManagedAttribute	Method	Used on a setter or getter method to indicate that the bean’s property should be exposed as a MBean attribute.
2	@ManagedNotification	Type	Indicates a JMX notification emitted by a bean.
3	@ManagedNotifications	Type	Indicates the JMX notifications emitted by a bean.
4	@ManagedOperation	Method	Specifies that a method should be exposed as a MBean operation.
5	@ManagedOperationParameter	Method	Used to provide a description for an operation parameter.
6	@ManagedOperationParameters	Method	Provides descriptions for one or more operation parameters.
7	@ManagedResource	Type	Specifies that all instances of a class should be exposed a MBeans.

Exposing a Spring Bean as a MBean To get started with Spring-annotated MBeans, you’ll need to include <context:mbean-export> in the Spring XML configuration:

<context:mbean-export/>

Then, you can annotate any of your Spring-managed beans to be exported as MBeans:

@ManagedResource(objectName="pirates:name=PirateService")

public interface PirateService {

@ManagedOperation(

description="Get the pirate list")

public List<Pirate> getPirateList();

}

Here, the PirateService has been annotated to be exported as a

MBean and its getPirateList() method is a managed operation.

Aspectj Annotations

SR	Annotaion	Use	Explanation
1	@Aspect	Type	Declares a class to be an aspect.
2	@After	Method	Declares a method to be called after a pointcut completes.
3	@AfterReturning	Method	Declares a method to be called after a pointcut returns successfully.
4	@AfterThrowing	Method	Declares a method to be called after a pointcut throws an exception.
5	@Around	Method	Declares a method that will wrap the pointcut.
6	@Before	Method	Declares a method to be called before proceeding to the pointcut.
7	@DeclareParents	Static Field	Declares that matching types should be given new parents—that is, it introduces new functionality into matching types.
8	@Pointcut	Method	Declares an empty method as a pointcut  placeholder method.

What’s important to note, however, is that while you can use AspectJ annotations to define Spring aspects, those aspects will be defined in the context of Spring AOP and will not be handled by the AspectJ runtime. This is significant because Spring AOP is limited to proxying method invocations and does not provide for the more exotic pointcuts (constructor interception, fieldinterception, etc.) offered by AspectJ.

Annotating Aspects

To use AspectJ annotations to create Spring aspects, you’ll first need to provide a bit of Spring XML plumbing:

<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/

beans"

xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"

xmlns:aop="http://www.springframework.org/schema/aop"

xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/

schema/beans

http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/

spring-beans-2.5.xsd

http://www.springframework.org/schema/aop

http://www.springframework.org/schema/aop/springaop-

2.5.xsd">

…

<aop:aspectj-autoproxy/>

…

</beans>

The <aop:aspectj-autoproxy> element tells Spring to watch for

beans annotated with AspectJ annotations and, if it finds any, to

use them to create aspects. Then you can annotate bean classes

to be aspects:

@Aspect

public class ChantySinger {

@Pointcut(“execution(* Pirate.plunder(..))”)

public void plunderPC() {}

@Before(“plunderPC()”)

public void singYoHo() {

…

}

@AfterReturning(“plunderPC()”)

public void singAPiratesLifeForMe() {

…

}

}

This simple annotation-based aspect has a pointcut that is triggered by the execution of a plunder() method on the Pirate class. Before the Pirate.plunder() method is executed, the singYoHo() method is called. Then, after the Pirate.plunder() method returns successfully, the singAPiratesLifeForMe()

JSR -250 Annotation

SR	Annotation	Use	Explanation
1	@PostConstruct	Method	Indicates a method to be invoked after a bean has been created and dependency injection is complete. Used to perform any initialization work necessary.
2	@PreDestroy	Method	Indicates a method to be invoked just before a bean is removed from the Spring context. Used to perform any cleanup work necessary.
3	@Resource	@Resource	Indicates that a method or field should be injected with a named resource (by default, another bean).

Wiring Bean Properties with @Resource Using @Resource, you can wire a bean property by name:

public class Pirate {

@Resource

private TreasureMap treasureMap;

}

In this case, Spring will attempt to wire the “treasureMap” property with a reference to a bean whose ID is “treasureMap”. If you’d rather explicitly choose another bean to wire into the property, specify it to the name attribute:

public class Pirate {

@Resource(name=”mapToSkullIsland”)

private TreasureMap treasureMap;

}

Initialization and Destruction Methods Using JSR-250’s @PostConstruct and @PreDestroy methods,

you can declare methods that hook into a bean’s lifecycle. For  example, consider the following methods added to the Pirate

class:

public class Pirate {

…

@PostConstruct

public void wakeUp() {

System.out.println(“Yo ho!”);

}

@PreDestroy

public void goAway() {

System.out.println(“Yar!”);

}

}

As annotated, the wakeUp() method will be invoked just after Spring instantiates the bean and goAway() will be invoked just before the bean is removed from the Spring container.

Testing Annotations

These annotations are useful for creating unit tests in the JUnit 4 style that depend on Spring beans and/or require a transactional context.

SR	Annotation	Use	Explanation
1	@AfterTransaction	Method	IUsed to identify a method to be invoked after a transaction has completed.
2	@BeforeTransaction	Method	Used to identify a method to be invoked before a transaction starts.
3	@ContextConfiguration	Type	Configures a Spring application context for a test.
4	@DirtiesContext	Method	Indicates that a method dirties the Spring container and thus it must be rebuilt after the test completes.
5	@IfProfileValue	Type, Method	Indicates that the test class or method is enabled for a specific profile configuration.
6	@NotTransactional	Method	Indicates that a test method must not execute in a transactional context.
7	@ProfileValueSourceConfiguration	Type	Identifies an implementation of a profile value source. The absence of this annotation will cause profile values to be loaded from system properties.
8	@Repeat	Method	Indicates that the test method must be repeated a specific number of times.
9	@Rollback	Method	Specifies whether or not the transaction for the annotated method should be rolled back or not.
10	@TestExecutionListeners	Type	Identifies zero or more test execution listeners for a test class.
11	@Timed	Method	Specifies a time limit for the test method. If the test does not complete before the time has expired, the test will fail.
12	@TransactionConfiguration	Type	Configures test classes for transactions, specifying the transaction manager and/or the default rollback rule for all test methods in a test class.

Writing a Spring-Aware Test

The key to writing a Spring-aware test is to annotate the test class with @RunWith, specifying SpringJUnit4ClassRunner as the class runner behind the test:

@RunWith(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.class)

public class PirateTest {

…

}

In this case, the Spring test runner will try to load a Spring application context from a file named PirateTest-context.xml. If you’d rather specify one or more XML files to load the application context from, you can do that with @ContextConfiguration:

@RunWith(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.class)

@ContextConfiguration(locations = { "pirates.xml" })

public class PirateTest {

…

}

With test configured to load a Spring application context, you now may request that Spring autowire properties of the test class with beans from the Spring context:

Writing a Spring-Aware Test, continued

@RunWith(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.class)

@ContextConfiguration(locations = { "pirates.xml" })

public class PirateTest {

@Autowired

private Pirate pirate;

@Autowired

private TreasureMap treasureMap;

@Test

public void annotatedPropertyShouldBeAutowired() {

assertNotNull(pirate.getTreasureMap());

assertEquals(treasureMap, pirate.getTreasureMap());

}

}

In this case, the pirate and treasureMap properties will be wired with the beans whose ID are “pirate” and  “treasureMap”, respectively. Accessing the Spring Context in a Test If you need the Spring application context itself in a test, you can autowire it into the test the same as if it were a bean in the context:

@RunWith(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.class)

@ContextConfiguration(locations = { "pirates.xml" })

public class PirateTest {

@Autowired

private Pirate pirate;

@Autowired

private ApplicationContext applicationContext;

@Test

public void annotatedPropertyShouldBeAutowired() {

assertNotNull(pirate.getTreasureMap());

assertEquals(applicationContext.

getBean("treasureMap"), pirate

.getTreasureMap());

}

}