As you know Java inner classes are defined within the scope of other classes, similarly, inner beans are beans that are defined within the scope of another bean. Thus, a <bean/> element inside the <property/> or <constructor-arg/> elements is called inner bean and it is shown below.

<?xml version = "1.0" encoding = "UTF-8"?>

<beans xmlns = "http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
xmlns:xsi = "http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xsi:schemaLocation = "http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans
http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd">

<bean id = "outerBean" class = "...">
<property name = "target">
<bean id = "innerBean" class = "..."/>
</property>
</bean>

</beans>

Table of Contents

Example

Let us have working Eclipse IDE in place and follow the following steps to create a Spring application −

Steps	Description
1	Create a project with a name SpringExample and create a package com.tecklearn under the src folder in the created project.
2	Add required Spring libraries using Add External JARs option as explained in the Spring Hello World Example chapter.
3	Create Java classes TextEditor, SpellChecker and MainApp under the com.tecklearn package.
4	Create Beans configuration file Beans.xml under the src folder.
5	The final step is to create the content of all the Java files and Bean Configuration file and run the application as explained below.

Here is the content of TextEditor.java file −
package com.tecklearn;

public class TextEditor {
private SpellChecker spellChecker;

// a setter method to inject the dependency.
public void setSpellChecker(SpellChecker spellChecker) {
System.out.println("Inside setSpellChecker." );
this.spellChecker = spellChecker;
}

// a getter method to return spellChecker
public SpellChecker getSpellChecker() {
return spellChecker;
}
public void spellCheck() {
spellChecker.checkSpelling();
}
}

Following is the content of another dependent class file SpellChecker.java −
package com.tecklearn;

public class SpellChecker {
public SpellChecker(){
System.out.println("Inside SpellChecker constructor." );
}
public void checkSpelling(){
System.out.println("Inside checkSpelling." );
}
}

Following is the content of the MainApp.java file −
package com.tecklearn;

import org.springframework.context.ApplicationContext;
import org.springframework.context.support.ClassPathXmlApplicationContext;

public class MainApp {
public static void main(String[] args) {
ApplicationContext context = new ClassPathXmlApplicationContext("Beans.xml");
TextEditor te = (TextEditor) context.getBean("textEditor");
te.spellCheck();
}
}

Following is the configuration file Beans.xml which has configuration for the setter-based injection but using inner beans −

<?xml version = "1.0" encoding = "UTF-8"?>

<beans xmlns = "http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
xmlns:xsi = "http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xsi:schemaLocation = "http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans
http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd">

<!-- Definition for textEditor bean using inner bean -->
<bean id = "textEditor" class = "com.tecklearn.TextEditor">
<property name = "spellChecker">
<bean id = "spellChecker" class = "com.tecklearn.SpellChecker"/>
</property>
</bean>

</beans>

Once you are done creating the source and bean configuration files, let us run the application. If everything is fine with your application, it will print the following message −
Inside SpellChecker constructor.
Inside setSpellChecker.
Inside checkSpelling.

Spring – Injecting Collection

You have seen how to configure primitive data type using value attribute and object references using ref attribute of the <property> tag in your Bean configuration file. Both the cases deal with passing singular value to a bean.

Now what if you want to pass plural values like Java Collection types such as List, Set, Map, and Properties. To handle the situation, Spring offers four types of collection configuration elements which are as follows −

Sr.No	Element & Description
1	<list> This helps in wiring ie injecting a list of values, allowing duplicates.
2	<set> This helps in wiring a set of values but without any duplicates.
3	<map> This can be used to inject a collection of name-value pairs where name and value can be of any type.
4	<props> This can be used to inject a collection of name-value pairs where the name and value are both Strings.

You can use either <list> or <set> to wire any implementation of java.util.Collection or an array.
You will come across two situations (a) Passing direct values of the collection and (b) Passing a reference of a bean as one of the collection elements.

Example

Let us have a working Eclipse IDE in place and take the following steps to create a Spring application −

Steps	Description
1	Create a project with a name SpringExample and create a package com.tecklearn under the src folder in the created project.
2	Add required Spring libraries using Add External JARs option as explained in the Spring Hello World Example chapter.
3	Create Java classes JavaCollection, and MainApp under the com.tecklearn package.
4	Create Beans configuration file Beans.xml under the src folder.
5	The final step is to create the content of all the Java files and Bean Configuration file and run the application as explained below.

Here is the content of JavaCollection.java file −
package com.tecklearn;
import java.util.*;

public class JavaCollection {
List addressList;
Set addressSet;
Map addressMap;
Properties addressProp;

// a setter method to set List
public void setAddressList(List addressList) {
this.addressList = addressList;
}

// prints and returns all the elements of the list.
public List getAddressList() {
System.out.println("List Elements :" + addressList);
return addressList;
}

// a setter method to set Set
public void setAddressSet(Set addressSet) {
this.addressSet = addressSet;
}

// prints and returns all the elements of the Set.
public Set getAddressSet() {
System.out.println("Set Elements :" + addressSet);
return addressSet;
}

// a setter method to set Map
public void setAddressMap(Map addressMap) {
this.addressMap = addressMap;
}

// prints and returns all the elements of the Map.
public Map getAddressMap() {
System.out.println("Map Elements :" + addressMap);
return addressMap;
}

// a setter method to set Property
public void setAddressProp(Properties addressProp) {
this.addressProp = addressProp;
}

// prints and returns all the elements of the Property.
public Properties getAddressProp() {
System.out.println("Property Elements :" + addressProp);
return addressProp;
}
}

Following is the content of the MainApp.java file −
package com.tecklearn;

import org.springframework.context.ApplicationContext;
import org.springframework.context.support.ClassPathXmlApplicationContext;

public class MainApp {
public static void main(String[] args) {
ApplicationContext context = new ClassPathXmlApplicationContext("Beans.xml");
JavaCollection jc=(JavaCollection)context.getBean("javaCollection");

jc.getAddressList();
jc.getAddressSet();
jc.getAddressMap();
jc.getAddressProp();
}
}

Following is the configuration file Beans.xml which has configuration for all the type of collections −

<?xml version = "1.0" encoding = "UTF-8"?>

<beans xmlns = "http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
xmlns:xsi = "http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xsi:schemaLocation = "http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans
http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd">

<!-- Definition for javaCollection -->
<bean id = "javaCollection" class = "com.tecklearn.JavaCollection">

<!-- results in a setAddressList(java.util.List) call -->
<property name = "addressList">
<list>
<value>INDIA</value>
<value>Pakistan</value>
<value>USA</value>
<value>USA</value>
</list>
</property>

<!-- results in a setAddressSet(java.util.Set) call -->
<property name = "addressSet">
<set>
<value>INDIA</value>
<value>Pakistan</value>
<value>USA</value>
<value>USA</value>
</set>
</property>

<!-- results in a setAddressMap(java.util.Map) call -->
<property name = "addressMap">
<map>
<entry key = "1" value = "INDIA"/>
<entry key = "2" value = "Pakistan"/>
<entry key = "3" value = "USA"/>
<entry key = "4" value = "USA"/>
</map>
</property>

<!-- results in a setAddressProp(java.util.Properties) call -->
<property name = "addressProp">
<props>
<prop key = "one">INDIA</prop>
<prop key = "one">INDIA</prop>
<prop key = "two">Pakistan</prop>
<prop key = "three">USA</prop>
<prop key = "four">USA</prop>
</props>
</property>
</bean>

</beans>

Once you are done creating the source and bean configuration files, let us run the application. If everything is fine with your application, it will print the following message −
List Elements :[INDIA, Pakistan, USA, USA]
Set Elements :[INDIA, Pakistan, USA]
ap Elements :{1 = INDIA, 2 = Pakistan, 3 = USA, 4 = USA}
Property Elements :{two = Pakistan, one = INDIA, three = USA, four = USA}

Injecting Bean References

The following Bean definition will help you understand how to inject bean references as one of the collection’s element. Even you can mix references and values all together as shown in the following code snippet −

<?xml version = "1.0" encoding = "UTF-8"?>

<beans xmlns = "http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
xmlns:xsi = "http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xsi:schemaLocation = "http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans
http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd">

<!-- Bean Definition to handle references and values -->
<bean id = "..." class = "...">

<!-- Passing bean reference for java.util.List -->
<property name = "addressList">
<list>
<ref bean = "address1"/>
<ref bean = "address2"/>
<value>Pakistan</value>
</list>
</property>

<!-- Passing bean reference for java.util.Set -->
<property name = "addressSet">
<set>
<ref bean = "address1"/>
<ref bean = "address2"/>
<value>Pakistan</value>
</set>
</property>

<!-- Passing bean reference for java.util.Map -->
<property name = "addressMap">
<map>
<entry key = "one" value = "INDIA"/>
<entry key = "two" value-ref = "address1"/>
<entry key = "three" value-ref = "address2"/>
</map>
</property>
</bean>

</beans>

To use the above bean definition, you need to define your setter methods in such a way that they should be able to handle references as well.
Injecting null and empty string values
If you need to pass an empty string as a value, then you can pass it as follows −

<bean id = "..." class = "exampleBean">
<property name = "email" value = ""/>
</bean>

The preceding example is equivalent to the Java code: exampleBean.setEmail(“”)
If you need to pass a NULL value, then you can pass it as follows −

<bean id = "..." class = "exampleBean">
<property name = "email"><null/></property>
</bean>

The preceding example is equivalent to the Java code: exampleBean.setEmail(null)

So, this brings us to the end of blog. This Tecklearn ‘Injecting Inner Beans and Collections in Spring’ blog helps you with commonly asked questions if you are looking out for a job in Java Programming. If you wish to learn Spring and build a career Java Programming domain, then check out our interactive, Java and JEE Training, that comes with 24*7 support to guide you throughout your learning period. Please find the link for course details:

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