public class

ServletContextAttributeFactoryBean

extends Object
implements FactoryBean<T> ServletContextAware
java.lang.Object
   ↳ org.springframework.web.context.support.ServletContextAttributeFactoryBean

Class Overview

FactoryBean that fetches a specific, existing ServletContext attribute. Exposes that ServletContext attribute when used as bean reference, effectively making it available as named Spring bean instance.

Intended to link in ServletContext attributes that exist before the startup of the Spring application context. Typically, such attributes will have been put there by third-party web frameworks. In a purely Spring-based web application, no such linking in of ServletContext attributes will be necessary.

NOTE: As of Spring 3.0, you may also use the "contextAttributes" default bean which is of type Map, and dereference it using an "#{contextAttributes.myKey}" expression to access a specific attribute by name.

See Also

Summary

Public Constructors
ServletContextAttributeFactoryBean()
Public Methods
Object getObject()
Return an instance (possibly shared or independent) of the object managed by this factory.
Class<?> getObjectType()
Return the type of object that this FactoryBean creates, or null if not known in advance.
boolean isSingleton()
Is the object managed by this factory a singleton? That is, will getObject() always return the same object (a reference that can be cached)?

NOTE: If a FactoryBean indicates to hold a singleton object, the object returned from getObject() might get cached by the owning BeanFactory.

void setAttributeName(String attributeName)
Set the name of the ServletContext attribute to expose.
void setServletContext(ServletContext servletContext)
Set the ServletContext that this object runs in.
[Expand]
Inherited Methods
From class java.lang.Object
From interface org.springframework.beans.factory.FactoryBean
From interface org.springframework.web.context.ServletContextAware

Public Constructors

public ServletContextAttributeFactoryBean ()

Public Methods

public Object getObject ()

Return an instance (possibly shared or independent) of the object managed by this factory.

As with a BeanFactory, this allows support for both the Singleton and Prototype design pattern.

If this FactoryBean is not fully initialized yet at the time of the call (for example because it is involved in a circular reference), throw a corresponding FactoryBeanNotInitializedException.

As of Spring 2.0, FactoryBeans are allowed to return null objects. The factory will consider this as normal value to be used; it will not throw a FactoryBeanNotInitializedException in this case anymore. FactoryBean implementations are encouraged to throw FactoryBeanNotInitializedException themselves now, as appropriate.

Returns
  • an instance of the bean (can be null)
Throws
Exception

public Class<?> getObjectType ()

Return the type of object that this FactoryBean creates, or null if not known in advance.

This allows one to check for specific types of beans without instantiating objects, for example on autowiring.

In the case of implementations that are creating a singleton object, this method should try to avoid singleton creation as far as possible; it should rather estimate the type in advance. For prototypes, returning a meaningful type here is advisable too.

This method can be called before this FactoryBean has been fully initialized. It must not rely on state created during initialization; of course, it can still use such state if available.

NOTE: Autowiring will simply ignore FactoryBeans that return null here. Therefore it is highly recommended to implement this method properly, using the current state of the FactoryBean.

Returns
  • the type of object that this FactoryBean creates, or null if not known at the time of the call

public boolean isSingleton ()

Is the object managed by this factory a singleton? That is, will getObject() always return the same object (a reference that can be cached)?

NOTE: If a FactoryBean indicates to hold a singleton object, the object returned from getObject() might get cached by the owning BeanFactory. Hence, do not return true unless the FactoryBean always exposes the same reference.

The singleton status of the FactoryBean itself will generally be provided by the owning BeanFactory; usually, it has to be defined as singleton there.

NOTE: This method returning false does not necessarily indicate that returned objects are independent instances. An implementation of the extended SmartFactoryBean interface may explicitly indicate independent instances through its isPrototype() method. Plain FactoryBean implementations which do not implement this extended interface are simply assumed to always return independent instances if the isSingleton() implementation returns false.

Returns
  • whether the exposed object is a singleton

public void setAttributeName (String attributeName)

Set the name of the ServletContext attribute to expose.

public void setServletContext (ServletContext servletContext)

Set the ServletContext that this object runs in.

Invoked after population of normal bean properties but before an init callback like InitializingBean's afterPropertiesSet or a custom init-method. Invoked after ApplicationContextAware's setApplicationContext.

Parameters
servletContext ServletContext object to be used by this object