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Expressions in Bean Definitions
You can use SpEL expressions with XML-based or annotation-based configuration metadata for
defining BeanDefinition
instances. In both cases, the syntax to define the expression is of the
form #{ <expression string> }
.
XML Configuration
A property or constructor argument value can be set by using expressions, as the following example shows:
<bean id="numberGuess" class="org.spring.samples.NumberGuess">
<property name="randomNumber" value="#{ T(java.lang.Math).random() * 100.0 }"/>
<!-- other properties -->
</bean>
All beans in the application context are available as predefined variables with their
common bean name. This includes standard context beans such as environment
(of type
org.springframework.core.env.Environment
) as well as systemProperties
and
systemEnvironment
(of type Map<String, Object>
) for access to the runtime environment.
The following example shows access to the systemProperties
bean as a SpEL variable:
<bean id="taxCalculator" class="org.spring.samples.TaxCalculator">
<property name="defaultLocale" value="#{ systemProperties['user.region'] }"/>
<!-- other properties -->
</bean>
Note that you do not have to prefix the predefined variable with the #
symbol here.
You can also refer to other bean properties by name, as the following example shows:
<bean id="numberGuess" class="org.spring.samples.NumberGuess">
<property name="randomNumber" value="#{ T(java.lang.Math).random() * 100.0 }"/>
<!-- other properties -->
</bean>
<bean id="shapeGuess" class="org.spring.samples.ShapeGuess">
<property name="initialShapeSeed" value="#{ numberGuess.randomNumber }"/>
<!-- other properties -->
</bean>
Annotation Configuration
To specify a default value, you can place the @Value
annotation on fields, methods,
and method or constructor parameters.
The following example sets the default value of a field:
-
Java
-
Kotlin
public class FieldValueTestBean {
@Value("#{ systemProperties['user.region'] }")
private String defaultLocale;
public void setDefaultLocale(String defaultLocale) {
this.defaultLocale = defaultLocale;
}
public String getDefaultLocale() {
return this.defaultLocale;
}
}
class FieldValueTestBean {
@Value("#{ systemProperties['user.region'] }")
var defaultLocale: String? = null
}
The following example shows the equivalent but on a property setter method:
-
Java
-
Kotlin
public class PropertyValueTestBean {
private String defaultLocale;
@Value("#{ systemProperties['user.region'] }")
public void setDefaultLocale(String defaultLocale) {
this.defaultLocale = defaultLocale;
}
public String getDefaultLocale() {
return this.defaultLocale;
}
}
class PropertyValueTestBean {
@Value("#{ systemProperties['user.region'] }")
var defaultLocale: String? = null
}
Autowired methods and constructors can also use the @Value
annotation, as the following
examples show:
-
Java
-
Kotlin
public class SimpleMovieLister {
private MovieFinder movieFinder;
private String defaultLocale;
@Autowired
public void configure(MovieFinder movieFinder,
@Value("#{ systemProperties['user.region'] }") String defaultLocale) {
this.movieFinder = movieFinder;
this.defaultLocale = defaultLocale;
}
// ...
}
class SimpleMovieLister {
private lateinit var movieFinder: MovieFinder
private lateinit var defaultLocale: String
@Autowired
fun configure(movieFinder: MovieFinder,
@Value("#{ systemProperties['user.region'] }") defaultLocale: String) {
this.movieFinder = movieFinder
this.defaultLocale = defaultLocale
}
// ...
}
-
Java
-
Kotlin
public class MovieRecommender {
private String defaultLocale;
private CustomerPreferenceDao customerPreferenceDao;
public MovieRecommender(CustomerPreferenceDao customerPreferenceDao,
@Value("#{systemProperties['user.country']}") String defaultLocale) {
this.customerPreferenceDao = customerPreferenceDao;
this.defaultLocale = defaultLocale;
}
// ...
}
class MovieRecommender(private val customerPreferenceDao: CustomerPreferenceDao,
@Value("#{systemProperties['user.country']}") private val defaultLocale: String) {
// ...
}