JavaFX custom controls created with a Builder and binding expressions - spring

Question

I’m using Spring together with JavaFx. To use spring bean as a custom control I need to use BuilderFactory and a Builder to get a bean from the context. Otherwice I don't have an application context
Parent.java
#Component
#Scope(BeanDefinition.SCOPE_PROTOTYPE)
public class ParentControl extends VBox {
#Autowired
ControlFXMLLoader controlFXMLLoader;
#Value("classpath:/parent.fxml")
private Resource fxml;
#PostConstruct
void load() throws IOException {
controlFXMLLoader.load(fxml.getURL(), this);
}
public ParentControl() {
//no application context
}
public LocalDate getDate() {
return LocalDate.now();
}
}
BeanBuilderFactory.java
#Component
public class BeanBuilderFactory implements BuilderFactory {
private Logger logger = LogManager.getLogger(BeanBuilderFactory.class);
#Autowired
private ConfigurableApplicationContext context;
public BeanBuilderFactory() {
}
private JavaFXBuilderFactory defaultBuilderFactory = new JavaFXBuilderFactory();
#Override
public Builder<?> getBuilder(Class<?> type) {
try {
String[] beanNames = context.getBeanNamesForType(type);
if (beanNames.length == 1) {
return new Builder<Object>() {
#Override
public Object build() {
return context.getBean(beanNames[0]);
}
};
} else {
return defaultBuilderFactory.getBuilder(type);
}
} catch (BeansException e) {
return defaultBuilderFactory.getBuilder(type);
}
}
}
And then I user this BuilderFactory to load fxml for a custom control
ControlFXMLLoader.java
#Component
public class ControlFXMLLoader {
private Logger logger = LogManager.getLogger(ControlFXMLLoader.class);
#Autowired
protected ConfigurableApplicationContext context;
#Autowired
protected BeanBuilderFactory beanBuilderFactory;
public Object load(URL fxmlUrl, Parent root, Object controller) throws IOException {
logger.debug("load");
javafx.fxml.FXMLLoader loader = new javafx.fxml.FXMLLoader(fxmlUrl);
loader.setControllerFactory(context::getBean);
loader.setBuilderFactory(beanBuilderFactory);
loader.setRoot(root);
loader.setController(controller);
return loader.load();
}
public Object load(URL fxmlUrl, Parent root) throws IOException {
return load(fxmlUrl, root, root);
}
}
Now I have a child custom control
ChildControl.java
#Component
#Scope(BeanDefinition.SCOPE_PROTOTYPE)
public class ChildControl extends VBox {
public ChildControl() {
}
#Autowired
ControlFXMLLoader controlFXMLLoader;
#Value("classpath:/child.fxml")
private Resource fxml;
#PostConstruct
void load() throws IOException {
controlFXMLLoader.load(fxml.getURL(), this);
}
ObjectProperty<LocalDate> date = new SimpleObjectProperty<LocalDate>();
public LocalDate getDate() {
return date.get();
}
public void setDate(LocalDate date) {
this.date.set(date);
}
public ObjectProperty<LocalDate> dateProperty() {
return date;
}
#FXML
protected void doSomething() {
System.out.println("The button was clicked! " + date.get().toString());
}
}
And want to assign the date to the child from parent fxml
parent.fxml
<fx:root type="com.example.javafx.ParentControl" xmlns:fx="http://javafx.com/fxml">
<ChildControl date="${controller.date}"/>
</fx:root>
child.fxml
<fx:root type="com.example.javafx.ChildControl" xmlns:fx="http://javafx.com/fxml">
<TextField fx:id="textField"/>
<Button text="Click Me" onAction="#doSomething"/>
</fx:root>
The problem is that FXMLLoader doesn’t not allow to use Binding Expression together with a Builder. I got "Cannot bind to builder property." exception.
Below is the part of the code from FXMLLoader.java and the very last if that causes the problem.
Is there some other solution?
FXMLLoader.java
public void processPropertyAttribute(Attribute attribute) throws IOException {
String value = attribute.value;
if (isBindingExpression(value)) {
// Resolve the expression
Expression expression;
if (attribute.sourceType != null) {
throw constructLoadException("Cannot bind to static property.");
}
if (!isTyped()) {
throw constructLoadException("Cannot bind to untyped object.");
}
// TODO We may want to identify binding properties in processAttribute()
// and apply them after build() has been called
if (this.value instanceof Builder) {
throw constructLoadException("Cannot bind to builder property.");
}