Spring MVC « CodeThatAint

What is the difference between applicationcontext and webapplicationcontext in Spring?

The WebApplicationContext is an extension of the plain ApplicationContext that has some extra features necessary for web applications. It differs from a normal ApplicationContext in that it is capable of resolving themes (see Using themes), and that it knows which Servlet it is associated with (by having a link to the ServletContext). The WebApplicationContext is bound in the ServletContext, and by using static methods on the RequestContextUtils class you can always look up the WebApplicationContext if you need access to it.
ApplicationContext (Root Application Context) : Every Spring MVC web application has an applicationContext.xml file which is configured as the root of context configuration. Spring loads this file and creates an applicationContext for the entire application. This file is loaded by the ContextLoaderListener which is configured as a context param in web.xml file. And there will be only one applicationContext per web application.

WebApplicationContext : WebApplicationContext is a web aware application context i.e. it has servlet context information. A single web application can have multiple WebApplicationContext and each Dispatcher servlet (which is the front controller of Spring MVC architecture) is associated with a WebApplicationContext. The webApplicationContext configuration file *-servlet.xml is specific to a DispatcherServlet. And since a web application can have more than one dispatcher servlet configured to serve multiple requests, there can be more than one webApplicationContext file per web application.
Spring allows you to build multilevel application context hierarchies, so the required bean will be fetched from the parent context if it’s not present in the current application context. In web apps as default there are two hierarchy levels, root and servlet
Web Application context extended Application Context which is designed to work with the standard javax.servlet.ServletContext so it’s able to communicate with the container.
```
public interface WebApplicationContext extends ApplicationContext {
    ServletContext getServletContext();
}
```

Beans, instantiated in WebApplicationContext will also be able to use ServletContext if they implement ServletContextAware interface

package org.springframework.web.context;
public interface ServletContextAware extends Aware 
{ 
     void setServletContext(ServletContext servletContext);
}

How to define RootApplicationContext?
This two level separation comes out of the box when you use the spring servlet classes: to configure the root application context you should use context-param tag in your web.xml

<context-param>
    <param-name>contextConfigLocation</param-name>
    <param-value>
        /WEB-INF/root-context.xml
            /WEB-INF/applicationContext-security.xml
    </param-value>
</context-param>

The rootapplicationcontext is created by ContextLoaderListener which is declared in web.xml and servletApplicationContexts using servlet tag as below

<!-- rootapplicationcontext-->
<listener>
   <listener-class>org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoaderListener</listener-class>
</listener> 

<!-- servletApplicationContext-->
<servlet>
   <servlet-name>myservlet</servlet-name>
   <servlet-class>org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet</servlet-class>
   <init-param>
      <param-name>contextConfigLocation</param-name>
      <param-value>app-servlet.xml</param-value>
   </init-param>
</servlet>

Filters

A filter as the name suggests is a Java class executed by the servlet container for each incoming http request and for each http response. This way, is possible to manage HTTP incoming requests before them reach the resource, such as a JSP page, a servlet or a simple static page; in the same way is possible to manage HTTP outbound response after resource execution.
The filter runs in the web container so its definition will also be contained in the web.xml file
filer include three main methods:
- init: executed to initialize filter using init-param element in filter definition
- doFilter: executed for all HTTP incoming request that satisfy “url-pattern”
- release resources used by the filter

web.xml

<filter>
    <filter-name>CORSFilter</filter-name>
    <filter-class>com.listfeeds.components.CORSFilter</filter-class>
    <init-param>
        <param-name>fake-param</param-name>
        <param-value>fake-param-value</param-value>
    </init-param>
</filter>
<filter-mapping>
    <filter-name>CORSFilter</filter-name>
    <url-pattern>/*</url-pattern>
</filter-mapping>

TestFilter.java

package com.listfeeds.filters;

import java.io.IOException;
import javax.servlet.Filter;
import javax.servlet.FilterChain;
import javax.servlet.FilterConfig;
import javax.servlet.ServletException;
import javax.servlet.ServletRequest;
import javax.servlet.ServletResponse;
import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletResponse;
import org.springframework.stereotype.Component;

public class TestFilter implements Filter {

    public void doFilter(ServletRequest req, ServletResponse res, FilterChain chain) throws IOException, ServletException {

        HttpServletResponse response = (HttpServletResponse) res;
        response.setHeader("Access-Control-Allow-Origin", "*");
        response.setHeader("Access-Control-Allow-Methods", "POST, GET, OPTIONS, DELETE");
        response.setHeader("Access-Control-Max-Age", "3600");
        response.setHeader("Access-Control-Allow-Headers", "x-requested-with");
        chain.doFilter(req, res);
    }

    public void init(FilterConfig filterConfig) {}

    public void destroy() {}

}

Filters can perform many different types of functions.

Authentication-Blocking requests based on user identity.
Logging and auditing-Tracking users of a web application.
Image conversion-Scaling maps
Data compression-Making downloads smaller
Localization-Targeting the request and response to a particular locale

Request Filters can:

perform security checks
reformat request headers or bodies
audit or log requests

Response Filters can:

Compress the response stream
Append or alter the response stream
Create a different response altogether

Interceptors

Spring Interceptors are similar to Servlet Filters but they acts in Spring Context so are many powerful to manage HTTP Request and Response but they can implement more sophisticated behavior because can access to all Spring context.
Developers can invoke interceptor methods in conjunction with method invocations or lifecycle events on an associated target class. Common uses of interceptors are logging, auditing, or profiling.
Spring interceptor execute in Spring context so they have be defined in rest-servlet.xml file:
The interceptor include three main methods:
- preHandle: executed before the execution of the target resource
- afterCompletion: executed after the execution of the target resource (after rendering the view)
- posttHandle: Intercept the execution of a handler

rest-servlet.xml

<mvc:interceptors>
    <bean class="com.listfeeds.interceptors.LogContextInterceptor" />
    <bean class="com.listfeeds.interceptors.TimedInterceptor" />
</mvc:interceptors>

LogContextInterceptor.java

public class LogContextInterceptor extends HandlerInterceptorAdapter 
{
 private static final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(LogContextInterceptor.class);

 @Override
 public void afterCompletion(
  HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response, Object handler, Exception ex)
 throws Exception 
 {
  HandlerMethod methodHandler = (HandlerMethod) handler;
  log.debug("END EXECUTION method {} request: {}", methodHandler.getMethod().getName(), request.getRequestURI());
  }
 

 @Override
 public boolean preHandle(HttpServletRequest request,
  HttpServletResponse response, Object handler) throws Exception 
  {

  } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) 
  {
   log.warn("Prehandle", e);
   return true;
  } finally 
  {
   HandlerMethod methodHandler = (HandlerMethod) handler;
   log.debug("START EXECUTION method {} request: {}", methodHandler.getMethod().getName(), request.getRequestURI());
  }
  return true;
}

For authentication of web pages you would use a servlet filter which acts at weblayer. For security stuff in your business layer or logging/bugtracing (a.k.a. independent of the web layer) you would use an Interceptor.

Q1.What is the Difference between Filters and Interceptors?
Filter: – A filter as the name suggests is a Java class executed by the servlet container for each incoming HTTP request and for each http response. This way, is possible to manage HTTP incoming requests before they reach the resource, such as a JSP page, a servlet or a simple static page; in the same way, it’s possible to manage HTTP outbound response after resource execution.

A filter dynamically intercepts requests and responses to transform or use the information contained in the requests or responses.
Filters typically do not themselves create a response, but instead provide universal functions that can be “attached” to any type of servlet or JSP page.
They provide the ability to encapsulate recurring tasks in reusable units. Organized developers are constantly on the lookout for ways to modularize their code.
Modular code is more manageable and documentable, is easier to debug, and if done well, can be reused in another setting.

Interceptor: – Spring Interceptors are similar to Servlet Filters but they act in Spring Context so are many powerful to manage HTTP Request and Response but they can implement more sophisticated behavior because can access to all Spring context. Interceptors are used in conjunction with Java EE managed classes to allow developers to invoke interceptor methods in conjunction with method invocations or lifecycle events on an associated target class. Common uses of interceptors are logging, auditing, or profiling.

Interceptor can be defined within a target class as an interceptor method, or in an associated class called an interceptor class.
Interceptor classes contain methods that are invoked in conjunction with the methods or lifecycle events of the target class.
Interceptor classes and methods are defined using metadata annotations, or in the deployment descriptor of the application containing the interceptors and target classes.
Interceptor classes may be targets of dependency injection. Dependency injection occurs when the interceptor class instance is created, using the naming context of the associated target class, and before any @PostConstruct callbacks are invoked.

Refer Here

Q2.Spring interceptor vs servlet filter?

Using Interceptor we can inject other beans in the interceptor
Can use more advanced mapping patterns (ant-style)
You have the target handler object (controller) available, as well as the result ModelAndView
It is a bean, so you can use AOP with it (althoug that would be rare)

Q3.How to avoid multiple submission of Form to Server?

Use JavaScript to disable the button a few ms after click. This will avoid multiple submits being caused by impatient users clicking multiple times on the button.
Send a redirect after submit, this is known as Post-Redirect-Get (PRG) pattern. This will avoid multiple submits being caused by users pressing F5 on the result page and ignoring the browser warning that the data will be resend, or navigating back and forth by browser back/forward buttons and ignoring the same warning.
Generate an unique token when the page is requested and put in both the session scope and as hidden field of the form. During processing, check if the token is there and then remove it immediately from the session and continue processing. If the token is not there, then block processing. This will avoid the aforementioned kinds of problems.

Q4.What is POST-REDIRECT-GET Pattern?
The client gets a page with a form.The form POSTs to the server.The server performs the action, and then redirects to another page.The client follows the redirect.
For example, say we have this structure of the website as below

/posts (shows a list of posts and a link to “add post”) and / (view a particular post)
/create (if requested with the GET method, returns a form posting to itself; if it’s a POST request, creates the post and redirects to the / endpoint)

For retrieving posts /posts/ might be implemented like this:

Find the post with that ID in the database.
Render a template with the content of that post.

For creating posts /posts/create might be implemented like this:

If the request is a GET request for the Insert posts page Show an empty form with the target set to itself and the method set to POST.
If the request is a POST request
- Validate the fields.
- If there are invalid fields, show the form again with errors indicated.
Otherwise, if all fields are valid
- Add the post to the database.
- Redirect to /posts/ (where is returned from the call to the database)

null

To customize request parameter data binding, we can use @InitBinder annotated methods within our controller.

The @InitBinder annotated methods will get called on each HTTP request if we don’t specify the ‘value’ element of this annotation.
Each time this method is called a new instance of WebDataBinder is passed to it.
To be more specific about which objects our InitBinder method applies to, we can supply ‘value’ element of the annotation @InitBinder. The ‘value’ element is a single or multiple names of command/form attributes and/or request parameters that this init-binder method is supposed to apply to.

    @InitBinder("User")
    public void customizeBinding (WebDataBinder binder) 
    {
      .
      .
      .
    }


@Controller
@RequestMapping("/register")
public class UserRegistrationController 
{
    @InitBinder("user")
    public void customizeBinding (WebDataBinder binder) 
    {
        SimpleDateFormat dateFormatter = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyy-MM-dd");
        dateFormatter.setLenient(false);
        binder.registerCustomEditor(Date.class, "dateOfBirth", new CustomDateEditor(dateFormatter, true));
    }
    
    .
    . 
}

simpleDateFormat.setLenient(false); — Will check for out of range Date. For Example, If lenient is set to true, Aug 32 will be converted to Sep 1 .

Spring MVC uses 2 design Patterns Internally

Front Controller
MVC

How Spring MVC Handles Request

Receive the request from client
Consult Handle Mapper to decide which controller processes the request
Dispatch the request to the controller
Controller processes the request and returns the logical view name and model back to DispatcherServlet
Consult View Resolver for appropriate View for the logical view name from Controller
Pass the model to View implementation for rendering
View renders the model and returns the result to DispatcherServlet
Return the rendered result from view to the client

MappingHandler
DispatcherServlet uses MappingHandler to find out which controller is right one for this request.There are many MappingHandler implementations which uses different strategies to map the request to Controller. By default DispatcherServlet will use BeanNameUrlHandlerMapping and DefaultAnnotationHandlerMapping.

public interface HandlerMapping 
{
      HandlerExecutionChain getHandler(HttpServletRequest request) throws Exception;
}

ViewResolver
With the help of ViewResolver strategy object DispatcherServlet can find out physical view from the logical view name. Similar to MappingHandler there are also many different strategies for resolving the view based on the different view technologies. Most commonly used implementation of ViewResolver is InternalResourceViewResolver.

public interface ViewResolver 
{
      View resolveViewName(String viewName, Locale locale) throws Exception;
}

Creating a Preconfigured MVC Project
web.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<web-app version="2.5" xmlns="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee"
	xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
	xsi:schemaLocation="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/javaee/web-app_2_5.xsd">

	<!-- The definition of the Root Spring Container shared by all Servlets and Filters -->
	<context-param>
		<param-name>contextConfigLocation</param-name>
		<param-value>/WEB-INF/spring/root-context.xml</param-value>
	</context-param>
	
	<!-- Creates the Spring Container shared by all Servlets and Filters -->
	<listener>
		<listener-class>org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoaderListener</listener-class>
	</listener>

	<!-- Processes application requests -->
	<servlet>
		<servlet-name>appServlet</servlet-name>
		<servlet-class>org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet</servlet-class>
		<init-param>
			<param-name>contextConfigLocation</param-name>
			<param-value>/WEB-INF/spring/appServlet/servlet-context.xml</param-value>
		</init-param>
		<load-on-startup>1</load-on-startup>
	</servlet>
		
	<servlet-mapping>
		<servlet-name>appServlet</servlet-name>
		<url-pattern>/</url-pattern>
	</servlet-mapping>

</web-app>

DispatcherServlet is the first servlet which gets called when you run Preconfigured MVC Project
servlet-context.xml in init param of DispatcherServlet get run for other initialization of internal beans
Apart from servlet-context.xml the other xml file that gets called is root-context.xml in a separate context

Test.java

package com.mugil.spring;

import java.util.Locale;
import org.springframework.stereotype.Controller;
import org.springframework.ui.Model;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMapping;
import org.springframework.web.bind.annotation.RequestMethod;

@Controller
public class Test
{	
	@RequestMapping(value = "/", method = RequestMethod.GET)
	public String testMethod(Locale locale, Model model) 
	{	
		model.addAttribute("testMsg", "Hi There" );		
		return "home";
	}
}

home.jsp

<%@ taglib uri="http://java.sun.com/jsp/jstl/core" prefix="c" %>
<%@ page session="false" %>
<html>
<head>
	<title>Home</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>
	${testMsg}  
</h1>
</body>
</html>

Output(http://localhost:8089/spring/)

Hi There

servlet-context.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<beans:beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/mvc"
	xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
	xmlns:beans="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
	xmlns:context="http://www.springframework.org/schema/context"
	xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/mvc http://www.springframework.org/schema/mvc/spring-mvc.xsd
		http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans.xsd
		http://www.springframework.org/schema/context http://www.springframework.org/schema/context/spring-context.xsd">
	<annotation-driven />
	<resources mapping="/resources/**" location="/resources/" />
	<beans:bean class="org.springframework.web.servlet.view.InternalResourceViewResolver">
		<beans:property name="prefix" value="/WEB-INF/views/" />
		<beans:property name="suffix" value=".jsp" />
	</beans:bean>

	<context:component-scan base-package="com.mugil.spring" />
</beans:beans>

context:component-scan base-package defines the base location in which the controller to be found
beans:property name=”prefix” defines the folder in which jsp should be found
beans:property name=”suffix” defines the valid prefix
Based on the return type of testMethod method the jsp page name is recognized. In our case it is home.jsp

TestController.java

@RequestMapping(value="/Control2", method=RequestMethod.POST)
public String TestMe2(Model model)
{
  Person objPerson = new Person();
  objPerson.setName("Mugil");
  objPerson.setAddress("Sample Address");
  objPerson.setAge("27");

  model.addAttribute("objPerson", objPerson);
  return "display";
}

display.jsp

Person Name : ${objPerson.name}
Person Location : ${objPerson.location}
Person Age : ${objPerson.age}
Person Address : ${objPerson.address}

public class Person 
{
 private String Name;
 private String Location;
 private String Age;
 private String Address;

 public String getName() {
	return Name;
 }
 public void setName(String name) {
	Name = name;
 }
 public String getLocation() {
	return Location;
 }
 public void setLocation(String location) {
	Location = location;
 }

 .
 .
 .
}

How to Design Spring MVC for View Page

Have a isSuccess attribute in the bean
Use when and choose to decide whether to form element or form value based on the value set in the isSuccess
When isSuccess is set to true the show the form Value or show the form element else display the form element
When adding a new values in through the form the bean would be set to isSuccess true
Next time when the page gets loaded the form values filled before the click of the submit will be displayed a s form values.

How to access the bean values where the bean has sub bean

class Student
{
 String Name;
 Address houseAddress;
 .
 .
}

For accessing values in Student bean the form elements should be

path=Name value="${student.Name}"

For accessing values in Student Address bean the form elements should be

path=Address.houseAddress value="${Student.Address.StreetName}"

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CodeThatAint

Category Archives: Spring MVC

Difference between applicationcontext and webapplicationcontext

Filters vs Interceptors

Spring MVC interview Questions

Spring MVC – init() binder

How Spring MVC Works

Spring Project Setup – XML Configuration

Accessing Bean Values