Autowiring Modes
You have learnt how to declare beans using the <bean> element and inject <bean> with
using <constructor-arg> and <property> elements in XML configuration file. The Spring container can autowire relationships between collaborating beans without using <constructor-arg> and <property> elements which helps cut down on the amount of XML configuration you write for a big Spring based application.
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There are following autowiring modes which can be used to instruct Spring container to use autowiring for dependency injection. You use the autowire attribute of the <bean/> element to specify autowire mode for a bean definition. |
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Mode |
Description |
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This is default setting which means no autowiring and you should use explicit bean reference for wiring. You have nothing to do special for this wiring. This is what you already have seen in Dependency Injection chapter. |
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no |
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Autowiring by property name. Spring container looks at the properties of the beans on which autowire attribute is set to byName in the XML configuration file. It then tries to match and wire its properties with the beans defined by the same names in the configuration file. |
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byName |
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Autowiring by property datatype. Spring container looks at the properties of the beans on which autowire attribute is set to byType in the XML configuration file. It then tries to match and wire a property if |
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byType |
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Similar to byType, but type applies to constructor arguments. If there is |
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constructor |
not exactly one bean of the constructor argument type in the container, a fatal error is raised. |
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Spring first tries to wire using autowire by constructor, if it does not work, Spring tries to autowire by byType. |
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autodetect |
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You can use byType or constructor autowiring mode to wire arrays and other typed-collections. |
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Limitations with autowiring
Autowiring works best when it is used consistently across a project. If autowiring is not used in general, it might be confusing to developers to use it to wire only one or two bean definitions. Though, autowiring can significantly reduce the need to specify properties or constructor arguments but you should consider the limitations and disadvantages of autowiring before using them.
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Limitations |
Description |
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You can still specify dependencies using <constructor-arg> and <property> settings which will always override autowiring. |
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Overriding possibility |
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You cannot autowire so-called simple properties such as primitives, |
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Primitive data types |
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Strings, and Classes. |
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Autowiring is less exact than explicit wiring, so if possible prefer using explict wiring. |
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Confusing nature |
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Spring Autowiring 'byName'
This mode specifies autowiring by property name. Spring container looks at the beans on which auto-wire attribute is set to byName in the XML configuration file. It then tries to match and wire its properties with the beans defined by the same names in the configuration file. If matches are found, it will inject those beans otherwise, it will throw exceptions.
For example, if a bean definition is set to autowire byName in configuration file, and it contains aspellChecker property (that is, it has a setSpellChecker(...) method), Spring looks for a bean definition named spellChecker, and uses it to set the property. Still you can wire remaining properties using <property> tags. Following example will illustrate the concept.
Let us have working Eclipse IDE in place and follow the following steps to create a Spring application:
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Step |
Description |
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Create a project with a name SpringExample and create a |
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1 |
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Add required Spring libraries using Add External JARs option as explained in the Spring Hello World Example chapter. |
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2 |
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Create Java classes TextEditor, SpellChecker and MainApp under the com.tutorialspointpackage. |
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3 |
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Create Beans configuration file Beans.xml under the src folder. |
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The final step is to create the content of all the Java files and Bean Configuration file and run the application as explained below. |
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5 |
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Here is the content of TextEditor.java file: |
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package com.tutorialspoint; public class TextEditor { private SpellChecker spellChecker; private String name; |
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public void setSpellChecker( SpellChecker spellChecker ){ this.spellChecker = spellChecker;
} public SpellChecker getSpellChecker() {
return spellChecker; }
public void setName(String name) { this.name = name;
} public String getName() {
return name; }
public void spellCheck() { spellChecker.checkSpelling();
} }
Following is the content of another dependent class file SpellChecker.java: package com.tutorialspoint;
public class SpellChecker { public SpellChecker() {
System.out.println("Inside SpellChecker constructor." ); }
public void checkSpelling() { System.out.println("Inside checkSpelling." );
} }
Following is the content of the MainApp.java file: package com.tutorialspoint;
import org.springframework.context.ApplicationContext; import org.springframework.context.support.ClassPathXmlApplicationContext;
public class MainApp { public static void main(String[] args) {
ApplicationContext context = new ClassPathXmlApplicationContext("Beans.xml");
TextEditor te = (TextEditor) context.getBean("textEditor"); te.spellCheck();
} }
Following is the configuration file Beans.xml in normal condition: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd">
<!-- Definition for textEditor bean -->
<bean id="textEditor" class="com.tutorialspoint.TextEditor"> <property name="spellChecker" ref="spellChecker" /> <property name="name" value="Generic Text Editor" />
</bean>
<!-- Definition for spellChecker bean -->
<bean id="spellChecker" class="com.tutorialspoint.SpellChecker"> </bean>
</beans>
But if you are going to use autowiring 'byName', then your XML configuration file will become as follows:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd">
<!-- Definition for textEditor bean -->
<bean id="textEditor" class="com.tutorialspoint.TextEditor" autowire="byName"> <property name="name" value="Generic Text Editor" />
</bean>
<!-- Definition for spellChecker bean -->
<bean id="spellChecker" class="com.tutorialspoint.SpellChecker"> </bean>
</beans>
Once you are done with creating source and bean configuration files, let us run the application. If everything is fine with your application, this will print the following message:
Inside SpellChecker constructor.
Inside checkSpelling.
Spring Autowiring 'byType'
This mode specifies autowiring by property type. Spring container looks at the beans on which autowireattribute is set to byType in the XML configuration file. It then tries to match and wire a property if its typematches with exactly one of the beans name in configuration file. If matches are found, it will inject those beans otherwise, it will throw exceptions.
For example, if a bean definition is set to autowire byType in configuration file, and it contains aspellChecker property of SpellChecker type, Spring looks for a bean definition named SpellChecker, and uses it to set the property. Still you can wire remaining properties using <property> tags. Following example will illustrate the concept where you will find no difference with above example except XML configuration file has been changed.
Here is the content of TextEditor.java file:
package com.tutorialspoint;
public class TextEditor { private SpellChecker spellChecker; private String name;
public void setSpellChecker( SpellChecker spellChecker ) { this.spellChecker = spellChecker;
} public SpellChecker getSpellChecker() {
return spellChecker; }
public void setName(String name) { this.name = name;
} public String getName() {
return name; }
public void spellCheck() { spellChecker.checkSpelling();
} }
Following is the content of another dependent class file SpellChecker.java: package com.tutorialspoint;
public class SpellChecker { public SpellChecker(){
System.out.println("Inside SpellChecker constructor." ); }
public void checkSpelling() { System.out.println("Inside checkSpelling." );
}
}
Following is the content of the MainApp.java file: package com.tutorialspoint;
import org.springframework.context.ApplicationContext; import org.springframework.context.support.ClassPathXmlApplicationContext;
public class MainApp { public static void main(String[] args) {
ApplicationContext context = new ClassPathXmlApplicationContext("Beans.xml");
TextEditor te = (TextEditor) context.getBean("textEditor"); te.spellCheck();
} }
Following is the configuration file Beans.xml in normal condition: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd">
<!-- Definition for textEditor bean -->
<bean id="textEditor" class="com.tutorialspoint.TextEditor"> <property name="spellChecker" ref="spellChecker" /> <property name="name" value="Generic Text Editor" />
</bean>
<!-- Definition for spellChecker bean -->
<bean id="spellChecker" class="com.tutorialspoint.SpellChecker"> </bean>
</beans>
But if you are going to use autowiring 'byType', then your XML configuration file will become as follows:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> |
<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd"> <!-- Definition for textEditor bean -->
<bean id="textEditor" class="com.tutorialspoint.TextEditor" autowire="byType"> <property name="name" value="Generic Text Editor" /> </bean> |
<!-- Definition for spellChecker bean -->
<bean id="SpellChecker" class="com.tutorialspoint.SpellChecker"> </bean>
</beans>
Once you are done with creating source and bean configuration files, let us run the application. If everything is fine with your application, this will print the following message:
Inside SpellChecker constructor.
Inside checkSpelling.
Spring Autowiring by Constructor
This mode is very similar to byType, but it applies to constructor arguments. Spring container looks at the beans on which autowire attribute is set to constructor in the XML configuration file. It then tries to match and wire its constructor's argument with exactly one of the beans name in configuration file. If matches are found, it will inject those beans otherwise, it will throw exceptions.
For example, if a bean definition is set to autowire by constructor in configuration file, and it has a constructor with one of the arguments of SpellChecker type, Spring looks for a bean definition namedSpellChecker, and uses it to set the constructor's argument. Still you can wire remaining arguments using <constructor-arg> tags. Following example will illustrate the concept.
Let us have working Eclipse IDE in place and follow the following steps to create a Spring application:
|
Step |
Description |
|
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Create a project with a name SpringExample and create a |
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1 |
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Add required Spring libraries using Add External JARs option as explained in the Spring Hello World Example chapter. |
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2 |
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Create Java classes TextEditor, SpellChecker and MainApp under the com.tutorialspointpackage. |
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3 |
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4 |
Create Beans configuration file Beans.xml under the src folder. |
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The final step is to create the content of all the Java files and Bean Configuration file and run the application as explained below. |
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5 |
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Here is the content of TextEditor.java file: |
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package com.tutorialspoint; public class TextEditor { private SpellChecker spellChecker; private String name; public TextEditor( SpellChecker spellChecker, String name ) { this.spellChecker = spellChecker; this.name = name; } public SpellChecker getSpellChecker() { return spellChecker; |
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} public String getName() {
return name; }
public void spellCheck() { spellChecker.checkSpelling();
} }
Following is the content of another dependent class file SpellChecker.java: package com.tutorialspoint;
public class SpellChecker { public SpellChecker(){
System.out.println("Inside SpellChecker constructor." ); }
public void checkSpelling() {
System.out.println("Inside checkSpelling." ); }
}
Following is the content of the MainApp.java file: package com.tutorialspoint;
import org.springframework.context.ApplicationContext; import org.springframework.context.support.ClassPathXmlApplicationContext;
public class MainApp { public static void main(String[] args) {
ApplicationContext context = new ClassPathXmlApplicationContext("Beans.xml");
TextEditor te = (TextEditor) context.getBean("textEditor"); te.spellCheck();
} }
Following is the configuration file Beans.xml in normal condition: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-
3.0.xsd">
<!-- Definition for textEditor bean -->
TUTORIALS POINT
Simply Easy Learning Page 64
<bean id="textEditor" class="com.tutorialspoint.TextEditor">
<constructor-arg ref="spellChecker" />
<constructor-arg value="Generic Text Editor"/>
</bean>
<!-- Definition for spellChecker bean -->
<bean id="spellChecker" class="com.tutorialspoint.SpellChecker">
</bean>
</beans>
But if you are going to use autowiring 'by constructor', then your XML configuration file will become as follows:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-
3.0.xsd">
<!-- Definition for textEditor bean -->
<bean id="textEditor" class="com.tutorialspoint.TextEditor" autowire="constructor">
<constructor-arg value="Generic Text Editor"/>
</bean>
<!-- Definition for spellChecker bean -->
<bean id="SpellChecker" class="com.tutorialspoint.SpellChecker">
</bean>
</beans>
Once you are done with creating source and bean configuration files, let us run the application. If everything is fine with your application, this will print the following message:
Inside SpellChecker constructor.
Inside checkSpelling.