Refer spring context file from another project: JUnit & Spring - spring

Question

I have a Spring MVC project(contains Controller & jsp files) and DAO project(Contains DB operation related files) & both the project are configured using annotations. MVC project depends on DAO project. Now, I am writing JUnit test for MVC and DAO projects. Hence I have created a separate 'Test project' in which I have added MVC project as dependency(Java Build Path -> Projects tab -> Add -> MVC Project & ok) and included all needed jar files (JUnit & spring-test.jar).
My project structure:
MVCProject (Depends on DAOProject --> Web App project)
|
WebContent
|
WEB-INF
|
spring-context.xml
DAOProject (Java project)
|
src
TestProject(Depends on MVCProject --> Java project)
|
src (packages)
|
JunitTestClass.java
Here is my test project code,
#RunWith(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.class)
#ContextConfiguration(locations = {"file:MVCProjectName/WebContent/WEB-INF/spring-context.xml"})
public class DAOImplTest {
#Autowired
private DAO dao;
String id = null;
/**
* Test method for {#link com.xyz.core.dao.DAOImpl#getById(java.lang.String)}.
*/
#Test
public void testGetById() {
id = "12345";
try {
dao.getById(id);
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}
I am getting 'File not found exception' as below.
java.lang.IllegalStateException: Failed to load ApplicationContext
at org.springframework.test.context.TestContext.getApplicationContext(TestContext.java:308)
at org.springframework.test.context.support.DependencyInjectionTestExecutionListener.injectDependencies(DependencyInjectionTestExecutionListener.java:109)
at org.springframework.test.context.support.DependencyInjectionTestExecutionListener.prepareTestInstance(DependencyInjectionTestExecutionListener.java:75)
at org.springframework.test.context.TestContextManager.prepareTestInstance(TestContextManager.java:321)
at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.createTest(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.java:220)
at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringJUnit4ClassRunner$1.runReflectiveCall(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.java:301)
at org.junit.internal.runners.model.ReflectiveCallable.run(ReflectiveCallable.java:15)
at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.methodBlock(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.java:303)
at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.runChild(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.java:240)
at org.junit.runners.BlockJUnit4ClassRunner.runChild(BlockJUnit4ClassRunner.java:50)
at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner$3.run(ParentRunner.java:193)
at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner$1.schedule(ParentRunner.java:52)
at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner.runChildren(ParentRunner.java:191)
at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner.access$000(ParentRunner.java:42)
at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner$2.evaluate(ParentRunner.java:184)
at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.statements.RunBeforeTestClassCallbacks.evaluate(RunBeforeTestClassCallbacks.java:61)
at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.statements.RunAfterTestClassCallbacks.evaluate(RunAfterTestClassCallbacks.java:70)
at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner.run(ParentRunner.java:236)
at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.run(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.java:180)
at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit4.runner.JUnit4TestReference.run(JUnit4TestReference.java:49)
at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit.runner.TestExecution.run(TestExecution.java:38)
at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit.runner.RemoteTestRunner.runTests(RemoteTestRunner.java:467)
at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit.runner.RemoteTestRunner.runTests(RemoteTestRunner.java:683)
at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit.runner.RemoteTestRunner.run(RemoteTestRunner.java:390)
at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit.runner.RemoteTestRunner.main(RemoteTestRunner.java:197)
Caused by: org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanDefinitionStoreException: IOException parsing XML document from URL [file:../../../../../../../RSPWebAPP/WebContent/WEB-INF/RoadSmartPro-servlet.xml]; nested exception is java.io.FileNotFoundException: MVCProjectName/WebContent/WEB-INF/spring-context.xml (The system cannot find the path specified.)
at org.springframework.beans.factory.xml.XmlBeanDefinitionReader.loadBeanDefinitions(XmlBeanDefinitionReader.java:341)
at org.springframework.beans.factory.xml.XmlBeanDefinitionReader.loadBeanDefinitions(XmlBeanDefinitionReader.java:302)
at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanDefinitionReader.loadBeanDefinitions(AbstractBeanDefinitionReader.java:143)
at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanDefinitionReader.loadBeanDefinitions(AbstractBeanDefinitionReader.java:178)
at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanDefinitionReader.loadBeanDefinitions(AbstractBeanDefinitionReader.java:149)
at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanDefinitionReader.loadBeanDefinitions(AbstractBeanDefinitionReader.java:212)
at org.springframework.test.context.support.AbstractGenericContextLoader.loadContext(AbstractGenericContextLoader.java:81)
at org.springframework.test.context.support.AbstractGenericContextLoader.loadContext(AbstractGenericContextLoader.java:1)
at org.springframework.test.context.TestContext.loadApplicationContext(TestContext.java:280)
at org.springframework.test.context.TestContext.getApplicationContext(TestContext.java:304)
... 24 more
Caused by: java.io.FileNotFoundException: MVCProjectName/WebContent/WEB-INF/spring-context.xml (The system cannot find the path specified.)
at java.io.FileInputStream.<init>(FileInputStream.java:149)
at java.io.FileInputStream.<init>(FileInputStream.java:108)
at sun.net.www.protocol.file.FileURLConnection.connect(FileURLConnection.java:103)
at sun.net.www.protocol.file.FileURLConnection.getInputStream(FileURLConnection.java:201)
at org.springframework.core.io.UrlResource.getInputStream(UrlResource.java:124)
at org.springframework.beans.factory.xml.XmlBeanDefinitionReader.loadBeanDefinitions(XmlBeanDefinitionReader.java:328)
... 33 more
But, When I copy the spring-context.xml file from 'MVC project' into 'Test project' everything works fine. I copied the context file to following location in the test project and its working fine.
TestProject
|_
config(packageName)
|_
test-spring-context.xml
and its corresponding annotation
#RunWith(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.class)
#ContextConfiguration(locations = {"classpath:config/test-spring-context.xml"})
public class DAOImplTest {
.....
.....
}
But I don't want this approach since any change in the original context file(spring-context.xml) will not reflect in the copied file(test-spring-context.xml).
Is there a way to configure original context file in 'Test project'? Kindly suggest something.
Thanks in Advance.

Answer 1

Why dont you use the Maven Inheritence model? This is a good usecase for that since, you would want your tests to go along with your code. Also, any changes to the dependencies of the project would be handled using the Maven dependency management for you. I am assuming the two modules MVC Project and the DAOProject are packaged together.
Reference :
http://maven.apache.org/guides/introduction/introduction-to-the-pom.html#Project_Inheritance