Inspect Groovy object properties with Java reflection

Question

I have an Expando class which I need to inspect its properties from Java. In Groovy:

def worker = new Expando()
worker.name = "John"
worker.surname = "Doe"

In Java:

Introspector.getBeanInfo(groovyObject.getClass())

Is it possible to compile at runtime the class from the object in Groovy?

Answer 1

The Expando is completely dynamic. It does not generate any bytecode getters or setters and therefore cannot be used as a JavaBean. What do you need to use the bean introspector for? You may be able to implement that logic using the expando directly if you write it in Groovy.

Answer 2

You might try the JSR 223 / Script engine with Groovy (example here) if you are using Java 6. It allows you to evaluate Groovy code from Java.

Depending on the location/definition of the Expando, you might be able to get its properties by evaluating getProperties() (as of Groovy 1.7).