Spring MVC instantiate object on request attribute - spring

Question

Assume I am creating a PrinterService class that has a AbstractPrinter object. AbstractPrinter is subclassed by classes such as HPPrinter, FilePrinter etc.
The exact kind of printer object to be used is mentioned in the RequestParam object passed to my Controller (it is a request attribute).
Is there any way I can inject the right kind of concrete printer class using Spring?
All the other dependencies are injected using #Autowired annotation. How to inject this one?

Answer 1

You can create and load a factory of AbstractPrinter objects during container startup as shown below and dynamically call the respective the AbstractPrinter's print() (or your own method) based on the input parameter (comes from controller) to the service.
In the below code for PrinterServiceImpl class, the main point is that all of the List<AbstractPrinter> will be injected by Spring container (depends upon how many implementation classes you provide like HPPrinter, etc..). Then you will load those beans into a Map during container startup with printerType as key.
#Controller
public class YourController {
#Autowired
private PrinterService printerService;
public X myMethod(#RequestParam("input") String input) {
printerService.myServiceMethod(input);
//return X
}
}
PrinterServiceImpl class:
public class PrinterServiceImpl implements PrinterService {
#Autowired
private List<AbstractPrinter> abstractPrinters;
private static final Map<String,AbstractPrinter> myPrinters = new HashMap<>();
#PostConstruct
public void loadPrinters() {
for(AbstractPrinter printer : abstractPrinters) {
myPrinters.put(printer.getPrinterType(), printer);
}
}
//Add your other Autowired dependencies here
#Override
public void myServiceMethod(String input){//get input from controller
AbstractPrinter abstractPrinter= myPrinters.get(input);
abstractPrinter.print();//dynamically calls print() depending on input
}
}
HPPrinter class:
#Component
public class HPPrinter implements AbstractPrinter {
#Override
public String getPrinterType() {
return "HP";
}
#Override
public void print() {
// Your print code
}
}
FilePrinter class:
#Component
public class FilePrinter implements AbstractPrinter {
#Override
public String getPrinterType() {
return "FILE";
}
#Override
public void print() {
// Your print code
}
}

Answer 2

You could create a dedicated PrinterService instance per AbstractPrinter concrete class. For example you could achieve this using Spring configuration which follow the factory pattern:
#Configuration
public class PrinterServiceConfiguration {
#Autowired
private HPPrinter hpPrinter;
#Autowired
private FilePrinter filePrinter;
#Bean
public PrinterService hpPrinterService() {
return new PrinterService(hpPrinter);
}
#Bean
public PrinterService filePrinterService() {
return new PrinterService(filePrinter);
}
public PrinterService findPrinterService(PrinterType type){
if (type == HP)
return hpPrinterService();
....
}
}
Then in your controller, inject PrinterServiceConfiguration then call findPrinterService with the right printer type.
Don't forget to add PrinterServiceConfiguration at your configuration #Import.
If the list of printer is dynamic you could switch to prototype bean :
#Configuration
public class PrinterServiceConfiguration {
#Autowired
private List<AbstractPrinter> printers;
#Bean
#Scope(ConfigurableBeanFactory.SCOPE_PROTOTYPE)
public PrinterService createPrinterService(PrinterType type){
return new PrinterService(findPrinterByType(type));
}
private Printer findPrinterByType(PrinterType type) {
// iterate over printers then return the printer that match type
// throw exception if no printer found
}
}