Store Custom properties in aplicationContext.xml Spring file

Question

Hello,

I need to store some configuration parameters for a web application that uses spring framework.

Typically I'll use a configurationfile.properties file but i wonder if i can store that values in the applicationContext.xml file.

One workaround could be to create a JavaBean class to store the values, and build that class using spring, something like this:

<bean id="configurationBean" class="mypackage.someClass">
 <property name="confValue1">
   <value>myValue1</value>
 </property>
 ....
</bean>

But i would like to know if is there a way to store those parameters without the needing to create that class.

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Spring has builtin support for specifying properties within the application context XML. See section 3.3.2.4 of the Spring Reference docs.

Answer 2

I think you'll get the best results using Spring's PropertyPlaceholderConfigurer which allows you to map values from a regular .properties file against properties defined on your beans.

http://static.springframework.org/spring/docs/2.5.x/reference/beans.html#beans-factory-placeholderconfigurer

The example shows how to set the JDBC connection properties directly on an instance of javax.sql.DataSource, eliminating the need for an intermediate "configuration bean."

Answer 3

This should work with the following syntax.

<bean id="props" class="java.util.Properties" >
    <constructor-arg>
        <props>
            <prop key="myKey">myValue</prop>
            <prop ...>
        </props>
    </constructor-arg>
</bean>

You are taking advantage of the fact that java.util.Properties has a copy constructor that takes a Properties object.

I do this for a HashSet which also has a copy constructor (as do HashMaps and ArrayLists) and it works perfectly.

Answer 4

I think that the best solution that fits my requirements is to use a java.util.Properties instance as a Spring Bean.

Thank you all.