1. SimpleFormController vs @Controller
In XML-based Spring MVC web application, you create a form controller by extending the SimpleFormController class.
In annotation-based, you can use @Controller instead.
SimpleFormController
public class CustomerController extends SimpleFormController{ //... }
Annotation
@Controller @RequestMapping("/customer.htm") public class CustomerController{ //... }
2. formBackingObject() vs RequestMethod.GET
In SimpleFormController, you can initialize the command object for binding in the formBackingObject() method. In annotation-based, you can do the same by annotated the method name with @RequestMapping(method = RequestMethod.GET).
SimpleFormController
@Override protected Object formBackingObject(HttpServletRequest request) throws Exception { Customer cust = new Customer(); //Make "Spring MVC" as default checked value cust.setFavFramework(new String []{"Spring MVC"}); return cust; }
Annotation
@RequestMapping(method = RequestMethod.GET) public String initForm(ModelMap model){ Customer cust = new Customer(); //Make "Spring MVC" as default checked value cust.setFavFramework(new String []{"Spring MVC"}); //command object model.addAttribute("customer", cust); //return form view return "CustomerForm"; }
3. onSubmit() vs RequestMethod.POST
In SimpleFormController, the form submission is handle by the onSubmit() method. In annotation-based, you can do the same by annotated the method name with @RequestMapping(method = RequestMethod.POST).
SimpleFormController
@Override protected ModelAndView onSubmit(HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response, Object command, BindException errors) throws Exception { Customer customer = (Customer)command; return new ModelAndView("CustomerSuccess"); }
Annotation
@RequestMapping(method = RequestMethod.POST) public String processSubmit( @ModelAttribute("customer") Customer customer, BindingResult result, SessionStatus status) { //clear the command object from the session status.setComplete(); //return form success view return "CustomerSuccess"; }
4. referenceData() vs @ModelAttribute
In SimpleFormController, usually you put the reference data in model via referenceData() method, so that the form view can access it. In annotation-based, you can do the same by annotated the method name with @ModelAttribute.
SimpleFormController
@Override protected Map referenceData(HttpServletRequest request) throws Exception { Map referenceData = new HashMap(); //Data referencing for web framework checkboxes List<String> webFrameworkList = new ArrayList<String>(); webFrameworkList.add("Spring MVC"); webFrameworkList.add("Struts 1"); webFrameworkList.add("Struts 2"); webFrameworkList.add("JSF"); webFrameworkList.add("Apache Wicket"); referenceData.put("webFrameworkList", webFrameworkList); return referenceData; }
Spring’s form
<form:checkboxes items="${webFrameworkList}" path="favFramework" />
Annotation
@ModelAttribute("webFrameworkList") public List<String> populateWebFrameworkList() { //Data referencing for web framework checkboxes List<String> webFrameworkList = new ArrayList<String>(); webFrameworkList.add("Spring MVC"); webFrameworkList.add("Struts 1"); webFrameworkList.add("Struts 2"); webFrameworkList.add("JSF"); webFrameworkList.add("Apache Wicket"); return webFrameworkList; }
Spring’s form
<form:checkboxes items="${webFrameworkList}" path="favFramework" />
5. initBinder() vs @InitBinder
In SimpleFormController, you define the binding or register the custom property editor via initBinder() method. In annotation-based, you can do the same by annotated the method name with @InitBinder.
SimpleFormController
protected void initBinder(HttpServletRequest request, ServletRequestDataBinder binder) throws Exception { SimpleDateFormat dateFormat = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd"); binder.registerCustomEditor(Date.class, new CustomDateEditor(dateFormat, true)); }
Annotation
@InitBinder public void initBinder(WebDataBinder binder) { SimpleDateFormat dateFormat = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd"); binder.registerCustomEditor(Date.class, new CustomDateEditor(dateFormat, true)); }
From Validation
In SimpleFormController, you have to register and map the validator class to the controller class via XML bean configuration file, and the validation checking and work flows will be executed automatically.
In annotation-based, you have to explicitly execute the validator and define the validation flow in the @Controller class manually. See the different :
SimpleFormController
<bean class="com.mkyong.customer.controller.CustomerController"> <property name="formView" value="CustomerForm" /> <property name="successView" value="CustomerSuccess" /> <!-- Map a validator --> <property name="validator"> <bean class="com.mkyong.customer.validator.CustomerValidator" /> </property> </bean>
Annotation
@Controller @RequestMapping("/customer.htm") public class CustomerController{ CustomerValidator customerValidator; @Autowired public CustomerController(CustomerValidator customerValidator){ this.customerValidator = customerValidator; } @RequestMapping(method = RequestMethod.POST) public String processSubmit( @ModelAttribute("customer") Customer customer, BindingResult result, SessionStatus status) { customerValidator.validate(customer, result); if (result.hasErrors()) { //if validator failed return "CustomerForm"; } else { status.setComplete(); //form success return "CustomerSuccess"; } } //...
Full Example
See a complete @Controller example.
package com.mkyong.customer.controller; import java.sql.Date; import java.text.SimpleDateFormat; import java.util.ArrayList; import java.util.LinkedHashMap; import java.util.List; import java.util.Map; import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired; import org.springframework.beans.propertyeditors.CustomDateEditor; import org.springframework.stereotype.Controller; import org.springframework.ui.ModelMap; import org.springframework.validation.BindingResult; import org.springframework.web.bind.WebDataBinder; import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.InitBinder; import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.ModelAttribute; import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMapping; import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMethod; import org.springframework.web.bind.support.SessionStatus; import com.mkyong.customer.model.Customer; import com.mkyong.customer.validator.CustomerValidator; @Controller @RequestMapping("/customer.htm") public class CustomerController{ CustomerValidator customerValidator; @Autowired public CustomerController(CustomerValidator customerValidator){ this.customerValidator = customerValidator; } @RequestMapping(method = RequestMethod.POST) public String processSubmit( @ModelAttribute("customer") Customer customer, BindingResult result, SessionStatus status) { customerValidator.validate(customer, result); if (result.hasErrors()) { //if validator failed return "CustomerForm"; } else { status.setComplete(); //form success return "CustomerSuccess"; } } @RequestMapping(method = RequestMethod.GET) public String initForm(ModelMap model){ Customer cust = new Customer(); //Make "Spring MVC" as default checked value cust.setFavFramework(new String []{"Spring MVC"}); //Make "Make" as default radio button selected value cust.setSex("M"); //make "Hibernate" as the default java skills selection cust.setJavaSkills("Hibernate"); //initilize a hidden value cust.setSecretValue("I'm hidden value"); //command object model.addAttribute("customer", cust); //return form view return "CustomerForm"; } @ModelAttribute("webFrameworkList") public List<String> populateWebFrameworkList() { //Data referencing for web framework checkboxes List<String> webFrameworkList = new ArrayList<String>(); webFrameworkList.add("Spring MVC"); webFrameworkList.add("Struts 1"); webFrameworkList.add("Struts 2"); webFrameworkList.add("JSF"); webFrameworkList.add("Apache Wicket"); return webFrameworkList; } @InitBinder public void initBinder(WebDataBinder binder) { SimpleDateFormat dateFormat = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd"); binder.registerCustomEditor(Date.class, new CustomDateEditor(dateFormat, true)); } @ModelAttribute("numberList") public List<String> populateNumberList() { //Data referencing for number radiobuttons List<String> numberList = new ArrayList<String>(); numberList.add("Number 1"); numberList.add("Number 2"); numberList.add("Number 3"); numberList.add("Number 4"); numberList.add("Number 5"); return numberList; } @ModelAttribute("javaSkillsList") public Map<String,String> populateJavaSkillList() { //Data referencing for java skills list box Map<String,String> javaSkill = new LinkedHashMap<String,String>(); javaSkill.put("Hibernate", "Hibernate"); javaSkill.put("Spring", "Spring"); javaSkill.put("Apache Wicket", "Apache Wicket"); javaSkill.put("Struts", "Struts"); return javaSkill; } @ModelAttribute("countryList") public Map<String,String> populateCountryList() { //Data referencing for java skills list box Map<String,String> country = new LinkedHashMap<String,String>(); country.put("US", "United Stated"); country.put("CHINA", "China"); country.put("SG", "Singapore"); country.put("MY", "Malaysia"); return country; } }
To make annotation work, you have to enable the component auto scanning feature in Spring.
<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xmlns:context="http://www.springframework.org/schema/context" xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-2.5.xsd http://www.springframework.org/schema/context http://www.springframework.org/schema/context/spring-context-2.5.xsd"> <context:component-scan base-package="com.mkyong.customer.controller" /> <bean class="com.mkyong.customer.validator.CustomerValidator" /> <!-- Register the Customer.properties --> <bean id="messageSource" class="org.springframework.context.support.ResourceBundleMessageSource"> <property name="basename" value="com/mkyong/customer/properties/Customer" /> </bean> <bean id="viewResolver" class="org.springframework.web.servlet.view.InternalResourceViewResolver" > <property name="prefix"> <value>/WEB-INF/pages/</value> </property> <property name="suffix"> <value>.jsp</value> </property> </bean> </beans>
Download Source Code
Download it – SpringMVC-Form-Handling-Annotation-Example.zip (12KB)
