Develop Reference

How should I document a bean that's only supposed to be managed by CDI?

Here is my class:
#Stateless
#Transactional
public class PostService {
#Inject private PostRepository postRepo;
#Inject private UserRepository userRepo;
#Inject private SectionRepository sectionRepo;
#Inject private LoggedInUser loggedInUser;
public PostDto getPost(#PostExists int id){
Post p = postRepo.findById(id);
//create post DTO from p
return post;
}
public void delete(#PostExists int id){
postRepo.remove(postRepo.findById(id));
}
public int newPost(#NotBlank #Max(255) String title,
#Max(2000) String body,
#SectionExists String sectionName){
User user = userRepo.getByName(loggedInUser.getUsername());
Section section = sectionRepo.getByName(sectionName);
Post post = new Post();
post.setTitle(title);
post.setContent(body == null || body.isBlank() ? "" : body);
post.setAuthor(user);
post.setSection(section);
post.setType(TEXT);
return postRepo.insert(post).getId();
}
}
Its annotations (#NotBlank, #Max(255), etc.) are processed by a CDI interceptor (to be precise, BValInterceptor) which throws a unchecked exception if there are violated constraints.
I know that Interceptors are supposed to cover cross-cutting concerns, but this one tightly couples with my business logic since I wanted to apply design by contract methodology for my methods.
With the current setup PostService can't be instantiated using new as its interceptor wouldn't work and it wouldn't check for parameters correctness. This is fine for me since I'm never supposed to manually instantiate my service classes, but is it a good idea to write a JavaDoc for my bean with the assumption that it will always be instantiated through CDI (and so its interceptor will always be executed)?

Can I explicitly call custom validator from service in Spring Boot?

I have a custom validator class that implements Validator, like this:
public class MyCustomValidator implements Validator
I want to be able to call its validate() method from a Service.
This is how this method looks:
#Override
public void validate(Object target, Errors errors) {
// validation goes here
MyClass request = (MyClass) target;
if (request.getId() == null) {
errors.reject("content.id", "Id is missing";
}
}
I don't want to have this validator in my endpoint, because I need to fetch the object to be validated from the database and then call the validation on it, so I need to do it from my service.
Can you please guide me on how to achieve this?

Use validation annotations in class but don't use #Valid on request body, then spring won't validate your class.
public class MyClass{
#NotNull
private Integer id;
#NotBlank
private String data;
}
Autowired Validator first
#Autowired
private final Validator validator;
Then for class validate using the validator conditionally when needed.
if(isValidate) {
Set<ConstraintViolation<MyClass>> violations = validator.validate(myClassObj);
if (!violations.isEmpty()) {
throw new ConstraintViolationException(new HashSet<ConstraintViolation<?>>(violations));
}
}

The Validator interface is, as far as i understand it, called as soon as a matching object (determined by the public boolean Validator.supports(Class clazz) method).
However, your goal seems to be to validate an object of MyClass only at a specific time, coming from your persistence layer to your service layer.
There are multiple ways to achieve this.
The first and most obvious one is to not extend any classes, but to use a custom component with some notion of a validation function:
#Component
public class CustomValidator{
public void validate(MyClass target) throws ValidationException {
// validation goes here
if (target.getId() == null) {
throw new ValidationException("Id is missing");
}
}
}
And inject/autowire it into your service object:
#Component
public class MyClassService{
// will be injected in first instance of this component
#Autowired
private CustomValidator validator
public MyClass get(MyClass target) {
try {
validator.validate(target);
return dao.retrieve(target);
} catch (ValidationException) {
// handle validation error
} catch (DataAccessException) {
// handle dao exception
}
}
}
This has the benefit that you yourself can control the validation, and error handling.
The negative side is the relatively high boilerplate.
However, if you want different Validators for different CRUD-Operations (or Service Methods), you may be interested in the Spring Validation Groups Feature.
First, you create a simple marker interface for each Operation you want to differ:
interface OnCreate {};
interface OnUpdate {};
Then, all you need to do is use the marker interfaces in the fields of your entity class,
using the Bean Validation Annotations:
public class MyClass{
#Null(groups = OnCreate.class)
#NotNull(groups = OnUpdate.class)
String id;
}
In order to use those groups in your Service Class, you will have to use the #Validated annotation.
#Validated
#Service
public class MyService {
#Validated(OnCreate.class)
void validateForCreate(#Valid InputWithGroups input){
// do something
}
#Validated(OnUpdate.class)
void validateForUpdate(#Valid InputWithGroups input){
// do something
}
}
Note that #Validated is applied to the service class as well as the methods. You can also set the group for the whole service, if you plan on using multiple services.
I for once mostly use the built-in Jakarta Bean Validation annotations in combination with marker interfaces, because of their ease of use and almost no boilerplate, while staying somewhat flexible and adjustable.

You could inject Validator and call validate
#Autowired
Validator validator;
And then call validate:
Set<ConstraintViolation<Driver>> violations = validator.validate(yourObjectToValidate);

Spring #Validated in service layer

Hej,
I want to use the #Validated(group=Foo.class) annotation to validate an argument before executing a method like following:
public void doFoo(Foo #Validated(groups=Foo.class) foo){}
When i put this method in the Controller of my Spring application, the #Validated is executed and throws an error when the Foo object is not valid. However if I put the same thing in a method in the Service layer of my application, the validation is not executed and the method just runs even when the Foo object isn't valid.
Can't you use the #Validated annotation in the service layer ? Or do I have to do configure something extra to make it work ?
Update:
I have added the following two beans to my service.xml:
<bean id="validator" class="org.springframework.validation.beanvalidation.LocalValidatorFactoryBean"/>
<bean class="org.springframework.validation.beanvalidation.MethodValidationPostProcessor"/>
and replaced the #Validate with #Null like so:
public void doFoo(Foo #Null(groups=Foo.class) foo){}
I know it is a pretty silly annotation to do but I wanted to check that if I call the method now and passing null it would throw an violation exception which it does. So why does it execute the #Null annotation and not the #Validate annotation ? I know one is from javax.validation and the other is from Spring but I do not think that has anything to do with it ?

In the eyes of a Spring MVC stack, there is no such thing as a service layer. The reason it works for #Controller class handler methods is that Spring uses a special HandlerMethodArgumentResolver called ModelAttributeMethodProcessor which performs validation before resolving the argument to use in your handler method.
The service layer, as we call it, is just a plain bean with no additional behavior added to it from the MVC (DispatcherServlet) stack. As such you cannot expect any validation from Spring. You need to roll your own, probably with AOP.
With MethodValidationPostProcessor, take a look at the javadoc
Applicable methods have JSR-303 constraint annotations on their
parameters and/or on their return value (in the latter case specified
at the method level, typically as inline annotation).
Validation groups can be specified through Spring's Validated
annotation at the type level of the containing target class, applying
to all public service methods of that class. By default, JSR-303 will
validate against its default group only.
The #Validated annotation is only used to specify a validation group, it doesn't itself force any validation. You need to use one of the javax.validation annotations like #Null or #Valid. Remember that you can use as many annotations as you would like on a method parameter.

As a side note on Spring Validation for methods:
Since Spring uses interceptors in its approach, the validation itself is only performed when you're talking to a Bean's method:
When talking to an instance of this bean through the Spring or JSR-303 Validator interfaces, you'll be talking to the default Validator of the underlying ValidatorFactory. This is very convenient in that you don't have to perform yet another call on the factory, assuming that you will almost always use the default Validator anyway.
This is important because if you're trying to implement a validation in such a way for method calls within the class, it won't work. E.g.:
#Autowired
WannaValidate service;
//...
service.callMeOutside(new Form);
#Service
public class WannaValidate {
/* Spring Validation will work fine when executed from outside, as above */
#Validated
public void callMeOutside(#Valid Form form) {
AnotherForm anotherForm = new AnotherForm(form);
callMeInside(anotherForm);
}
/* Spring Validation won't work for AnotherForm if executed from inner method */
#Validated
public void callMeInside(#Valid AnotherForm form) {
// stuff
}
}
Hope someone finds this helpful. Tested with Spring 4.3, so things might be different for other versions.

#pgiecek You don't need to create a new Annotation. You can use:
#Validated
public class MyClass {
#Validated({Group1.class})
public myMethod1(#Valid Foo foo) { ... }
#Validated({Group2.class})
public myMethod2(#Valid Foo foo) { ... }
...
}

Be careful with rubensa's approach.
This only works when you declare #Valid as the only annotation. When you combine it with other annotations like #NotNull everything except the #Valid will be ignored.
The following will not work and the #NotNull will be ignored:
#Validated
public class MyClass {
#Validated(Group1.class)
public void myMethod1(#NotNull #Valid Foo foo) { ... }
#Validated(Group2.class)
public void myMethod2(#NotNull #Valid Foo foo) { ... }
}
In combination with other annotations you need to declare the javax.validation.groups.Default Group as well, like this:
#Validated
public class MyClass {
#Validated({ Default.class, Group1.class })
public void myMethod1(#NotNull #Valid Foo foo) { ... }
#Validated({ Default.class, Group2.class })
public void myMethod2(#NotNull #Valid Foo foo) { ... }
}

As stated above to specify validation groups is possible only through #Validated annotation at class level. However, it is not very convenient since sometimes you have a class containing several methods with the same entity as a parameter but each of which requiring different subset of properties to validate. It was also my case and below you can find several steps to take to solve it.
1) Implement custom annotation that enables to specify validation groups at method level in addition to groups specified through #Validated at class level.
#Target({ElementType.METHOD})
#Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
#Documented
public #interface ValidatedGroups {
Class<?>[] value() default {};
}
2) Extend MethodValidationInterceptor and override determineValidationGroups method as follows.
#Override
protected Class<?>[] determineValidationGroups(MethodInvocation invocation) {
final Class<?>[] classLevelGroups = super.determineValidationGroups(invocation);
final ValidatedGroups validatedGroups = AnnotationUtils.findAnnotation(
invocation.getMethod(), ValidatedGroups.class);
final Class<?>[] methodLevelGroups = validatedGroups != null ? validatedGroups.value() : new Class<?>[0];
if (methodLevelGroups.length == 0) {
return classLevelGroups;
}
final int newLength = classLevelGroups.length + methodLevelGroups.length;
final Class<?>[] mergedGroups = Arrays.copyOf(classLevelGroups, newLength);
System.arraycopy(methodLevelGroups, 0, mergedGroups, classLevelGroups.length, methodLevelGroups.length);
return mergedGroups;
}
3) Implement your own MethodValidationPostProcessor (just copy the Spring one) and in the method afterPropertiesSet use validation interceptor implemented in step 2.
#Override
public void afterPropertiesSet() throws Exception {
Pointcut pointcut = new AnnotationMatchingPointcut(Validated.class, true);
Advice advice = (this.validator != null ? new ValidatedGroupsAwareMethodValidationInterceptor(this.validator) :
new ValidatedGroupsAwareMethodValidationInterceptor());
this.advisor = new DefaultPointcutAdvisor(pointcut, advice);
}
4) Register your validation post processor instead of Spring one.
<bean class="my.package.ValidatedGroupsAwareMethodValidationPostProcessor"/>
That's it. Now you can use it as follows.
#Validated(groups = Group1.class)
public class MyClass {
#ValidatedGroups(Group2.class)
public myMethod1(Foo foo) { ... }
public myMethod2(Foo foo) { ... }
...
}

Spring Cache #Cacheable - not working while calling from another method of the same bean

Spring cache is not working when calling cached method from another method of the same bean.
Here is an example to explain my problem in clear way.
Configuration:
<cache:annotation-driven cache-manager="myCacheManager" />
<bean id="myCacheManager" class="org.springframework.cache.ehcache.EhCacheCacheManager">
<property name="cacheManager" ref="myCache" />
</bean>
<!-- Ehcache library setup -->
<bean id="myCache"
class="org.springframework.cache.ehcache.EhCacheManagerFactoryBean" p:shared="true">
<property name="configLocation" value="classpath:ehcache.xml"></property>
</bean>
<cache name="employeeData" maxElementsInMemory="100"/>
Cached service :
#Named("aService")
public class AService {
#Cacheable("employeeData")
public List<EmployeeData> getEmployeeData(Date date){
..println("Cache is not being used");
...
}
public List<EmployeeEnrichedData> getEmployeeEnrichedData(Date date){
List<EmployeeData> employeeData = getEmployeeData(date);
...
}
}
Result :
aService.getEmployeeData(someDate);
output: Cache is not being used
aService.getEmployeeData(someDate);
output:
aService.getEmployeeEnrichedData(someDate);
output: Cache is not being used
The getEmployeeData method call uses cache employeeData in the second call as expected. But when the getEmployeeData method is called within the AService class (in getEmployeeEnrichedData), Cache is not being used.
Is this how spring cache works or am i missing something ?

I believe this is how it works. From what I remember reading, there is a proxy class generated that intercepts all requests and responds with the cached value, but 'internal' calls within the same class will not get the cached value.
From https://code.google.com/p/ehcache-spring-annotations/wiki/UsingCacheable
Only external method calls coming in through the proxy are
intercepted. This means that self-invocation, in effect, a method
within the target object calling another method of the target object,
will not lead to an actual cache interception at runtime even if the
invoked method is marked with #Cacheable.

Since Spring 4.3 the problem could be solved using self-autowiring over #Resource annotation:
#Component
#CacheConfig(cacheNames = "SphereClientFactoryCache")
public class CacheableSphereClientFactoryImpl implements SphereClientFactory {
/**
* 1. Self-autowired reference to proxified bean of this class.
*/
#Resource
private SphereClientFactory self;
#Override
#Cacheable(sync = true)
public SphereClient createSphereClient(#Nonnull TenantConfig tenantConfig) {
// 2. call cached method using self-bean
return self.createSphereClient(tenantConfig.getSphereClientConfig());
}
#Override
#Cacheable(sync = true)
public SphereClient createSphereClient(#Nonnull SphereClientConfig clientConfig) {
return CtpClientConfigurationUtils.createSphereClient(clientConfig);
}
}

The example below is what I use to hit the proxy from within the same bean, it is similar to #mario-eis' solution, but I find it a bit more readable (maybe it's not:-). Anyway, I like to keep the #Cacheable annotations at the service level:
#Service
#Transactional(readOnly=true)
public class SettingServiceImpl implements SettingService {
#Inject
private SettingRepository settingRepository;
#Inject
private ApplicationContext applicationContext;
#Override
#Cacheable("settingsCache")
public String findValue(String name) {
Setting setting = settingRepository.findOne(name);
if(setting == null){
return null;
}
return setting.getValue();
}
#Override
public Boolean findBoolean(String name) {
String value = getSpringProxy().findValue(name);
if (value == null) {
return null;
}
return Boolean.valueOf(value);
}
/**
* Use proxy to hit cache
*/
private SettingService getSpringProxy() {
return applicationContext.getBean(SettingService.class);
}
...
See also Starting new transaction in Spring bean

Here is what I do for small projects with only marginal usage of method calls within the same class. In-code documentation is strongly advidsed, as it may look strage to colleagues. But its easy to test, simple, quick to achieve and spares me the full blown AspectJ instrumentation. However, for more heavy usage I'd advice the AspectJ solution.
#Service
#Scope(proxyMode = ScopedProxyMode.TARGET_CLASS)
class AService {
private final AService _aService;
#Autowired
public AService(AService aService) {
_aService = aService;
}
#Cacheable("employeeData")
public List<EmployeeData> getEmployeeData(Date date){
..println("Cache is not being used");
...
}
public List<EmployeeEnrichedData> getEmployeeEnrichedData(Date date){
List<EmployeeData> employeeData = _aService.getEmployeeData(date);
...
}
}

If you call a cached method from same bean it will be treated as a private method and annotations will be ignored

Yes, the caching will not happen because of the reasons that were already mentioned in the other posts. However I would solve the problem by putting that method to its own class (service in this case). With that your code will be easier to maintain/test and understand.
#Service // or #Named("aService")
public class AService {
#Autowired //or how you inject your dependencies
private EmployeeService employeeService;
public List<EmployeeData> getEmployeeData(Date date){
employeeService.getEmployeeData(date);
}
public List<EmployeeEnrichedData> getEmployeeEnrichedData(Date date){
List<EmployeeData> employeeData = getEmployeeData(date);
...
}
}
#Service // or #Named("employeeService")
public class EmployeeService {
#Cacheable("employeeData")
public List<EmployeeData> getEmployeeData(Date date){
println("This will be called only once for same date");
...
}
}

In my Case I add variable :
#Autowired
private AService aService;
So I call the getEmployeeData method by using the aService
#Named("aService")
public class AService {
#Cacheable("employeeData")
public List<EmployeeData> getEmployeeData(Date date){
..println("Cache is not being used");
...
}
public List<EmployeeEnrichedData> getEmployeeEnrichedData(Date date){
List<EmployeeData> employeeData = aService.getEmployeeData(date);
...
}
}
It will use the cache in this case.

Better approach should be creating another service like ACachingService and call ACachingService.cachingMethod() instead of self Autowiring ( or any other approach trying to self inject). This way you do not fall into Circular dependency, which may be resulted in warning/error when upgrade to newer Spring ( Spring 2.6.6 in my case ) :
ERROR o.s.boot.SpringApplication - Application run failed
org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCurrentlyInCreationException:
Error creating bean with name 'webSecurityConfig':
Requested bean is currently in creation: Is there an unresolvable circular reference?

We looked at all the solutions here and decided to use a separate class for the cached methods because Spring 5 doesn't like circular dependencies.

Use static weaving to create proxy around your bean. In this case even 'internal' methods would work correctly

I use internal inner bean (FactoryInternalCache) with real cache for this purpose:
#Component
public class CacheableClientFactoryImpl implements ClientFactory {
private final FactoryInternalCache factoryInternalCache;
#Autowired
public CacheableClientFactoryImpl(#Nonnull FactoryInternalCache factoryInternalCache) {
this.factoryInternalCache = factoryInternalCache;
}
/**
* Returns cached client instance from cache.
*/
#Override
public Client createClient(#Nonnull AggregatedConfig aggregateConfig) {
return factoryInternalCache.createClient(aggregateConfig.getClientConfig());
}
/**
* Returns cached client instance from cache.
*/
#Override
public Client createClient(#Nonnull ClientConfig clientConfig) {
return factoryInternalCache.createClient(clientConfig);
}
/**
* Spring caching feature works over AOP proxies, thus internal calls to cached methods don't work. That's why
* this internal bean is created: it "proxifies" overloaded {#code #createClient(...)} methods
* to real AOP proxified cacheable bean method {#link #createClient}.
*
* #see Spring Cache #Cacheable - not working while calling from another method of the same bean
* #see Spring cache #Cacheable method ignored when called from within the same class
*/
#EnableCaching
#CacheConfig(cacheNames = "ClientFactoryCache")
static class FactoryInternalCache {
#Cacheable(sync = true)
public Client createClient(#Nonnull ClientConfig clientConfig) {
return ClientCreationUtils.createClient(clientConfig);
}
}
}

I would like to share what I think is the easiest approach:
Autowire the controller and use to call the method it instead of using the class context this.
The updated code would look like:
#Controller
public class TestController {
#Autowired TestController self;
#RequestMapping("/test")
public String testView(){
self.expensiveMethod();
return "test";
}
#Cacheable("ones")
public void expensiveMethod(){
System.out.println("Cache is not being used");
}
}

The default advice mode for processing caching annotation is “proxy”. At the startup of an application, all the caching annotations like #Caching, #Cacheable, #CacheEvict etc. are scanned and a target proxy class is generated for all of these classes. The proxy allows for intercepting the calls to these cacheable methods, which adds the caching advice/behavior.
So when we invoke the cacheable methods from the same class, as shown below, calls from the clients don’t get intercepted in a way that allows for caching advice to be added to them. Hence, every single time there is an unexpected cache miss.
Solution: Invoke the Cacheable methods from a different bean to use proxy class with caching advice.

Spring MVC #RequestMapping Inheritance

Coming from Struts2 I'm used to declaring #Namespace annotation on super classes (or package-info.java) and inheriting classes would subsequently pick up on the value in the #Namespace annotation of its ancestors and prepend it to the request path for the Action. I am now trying to do something similar in Spring MVC using #RequestMapping annotation as follows (code trimmed for brevity):
package au.test
#RequestMapping(value = "/")
public abstract class AbstractController {
...
}
au.test.user
#RequestMapping(value = "/user")
public abstract class AbstractUserController extends AbstractController {
#RequestMapping(value = "/dashboard")
public String dashboard() {
....
}
}
au.test.user.twitter
#RequestMapping(value = "/twitter")
public abstract class AbstractTwitterController extends AbstractUserController {
...
}
public abstract class TwitterController extends AbstractTwitterController {
#RequestMapping(value = "/updateStatus")
public String updateStatus() {
....
}
}
/ works as expect
/user/dashboard works as expected
However when I would have expected /user/twitter/updateStatus to work it does not and checking the logs I can see a log entry which looks something like:
org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.annotation.DefaultAnnotationHandlerMapping
- Mapped URL path [/tweeter/updateStatus] onto handler
'twitterController'
Is there a setting I can enable that will scan the superclasses for #RequestMapping annotations and construct the correct path?
Also I take it that defining #RequestMapping on a package in package-info.java is illegal?

The following basically becomes /tweeter/updateStatus and not /user/tweeter/updateStatus
public abstract class TwitterController extends AbstractTwitterController {
#RequestMapping(value = "/updateStatus")
public String updateStatus() {
....
}
}
That's the expected behavior since you've overriden the original #RequestMapping you've declared in the AbstractController and AbstractUserController.
In fact when you declared that AbstractUserController it also overriden the #RequestMapping for AbstractController. It just gives you the illusion that the / from the AbstractController has been inherited.
"Is there a setting I can enable that will scan the superclasses for #RequestMapping annotations and construct the correct path?" Not that I know of.

According to the technique explained in Modifying #RequestMappings on startup,
yes, it's possible to construct a URL pattern from superclasses in a way you want.
In essence, you have to subclass RequestMappingHandlerMapping (most likely, it will be your HandlerMapping implementation, but please check first)
and override protected getMappingForMethod method.
Once this renders to be feasible, you are in full control of URL pattern generation.
From the example you gave it's not completely clear the exact merging policy, for example, what path you want to have if
a superclass AbstractTwitterController also implements updateStatus() method with its own #RequestMapping, or how would you like to concatenate the URL patterns across the hierarchy, top-down or bottom-up, (I assumed the former below),
but, hopefully, the following snippet will give you some ideas :
private static class PathTweakingRequestMappingHandlerMapping extends RequestMappingHandlerMapping {
#Override
protected RequestMappingInfo getMappingForMethod(Method method, Class<?> handlerType) {
RequestMappingInfo methodMapping = super.getMappingForMethod(method, handlerType);
if (methodMapping == null)
return null;
List<String> superclassUrlPatterns = new ArrayList<String>();
boolean springPath = false;
for (Class<?> clazz = handlerType; clazz != Object.class; clazz = clazz.getSuperclass())
if (clazz.isAnnotationPresent(RequestMapping.class))
if (springPath)
superclassUrlPatterns.add(clazz.getAnnotation(RequestMapping.class).value()[0]);// TODO handle other elements in the array if necessary
else
springPath = true;
if (!superclassUrlPatterns.isEmpty()) {
RequestMappingInfo superclassRequestMappingInfo = new RequestMappingInfo("",
new PatternsRequestCondition(String.join("", superclassUrlPatterns)), null, null, null, null, null, null);// TODO implement specific method, consumes, produces, etc depending on your merging policies
return superclassRequestMappingInfo.combine(methodMapping);
} else
return methodMapping;
}
}
Another good question is how to intercept the instantiation of RequestMappingHandlerMapping. In the Internet there are quite a number of various examples for various configuration strategies.
With JavaConfig, however, remember that if you provide WebMvcConfigurationSupport in your #Configuration set, then your #EnableWebMvc(explicit or implicit) will stop to work. I ended up with the following:
#Configuration
public class WebConfig extends DelegatingWebMvcConfiguration{
#Configuration
public static class UnconditionalWebMvcAutoConfiguration extends WebMvcAutoConfiguration {//forces #EnableWebMvc
}
#Override
protected RequestMappingHandlerMapping createRequestMappingHandlerMapping() {
return new PathTweakingRequestMappingHandlerMapping();
}
#Bean
#Primary
#Override
public RequestMappingHandlerMapping requestMappingHandlerMapping() {
return super.requestMappingHandlerMapping();
}
}
but would like to learn about better ways.