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How to Inject all subclasses of a specific class with no common interface?

Question:
In order to Inject all subclasses of a superclass with no common interface, I created an interface tightly-coupled to said superclass, that every "properly" written subclass is supposed to implement.
This works, but seems insane. Was there a better way?
A simple cast do not work, as the Instance holds only a proxy that do not resolves to any real subclass of the interface when called. This results in a ClassCastException.
Some context:
I was recently tasked to provide framework code for an application. In this application, several data transfer objects are mapping from and to service level POJOs, but their mappings are not always trivial. Dozer is used to do most of the work and to avoid boilerplate code.
In the specific cases requiring explicit mapping instructions, the current recommendation with Dozer is to use the API driven mapping. All the BeanMappingBuilder subclasses, defining the mappings, should be added to the Dozer mapper upon initialisation.
In order to keep all the work needed to add a new BeanMappingBuilder in one place, I came with a convoluted use of dependancy injection that will automatically add it to the Dozer mapper, despite it having no common interface, only a common superclass with the others.
Some code:
The interface:
#Local
public interface DtoBeanMappingBuilder {
BeanMappingBuilder get();
}
Subclass example:
#Stateless
public class SomeDtoMappingBuilder extends BeanMappingBuilder implements DtoBeanMappingBuilder {
#Override
public BeanMappingBuilder get() {
return this;
}
#Override
protected void configure() {
mapping(
// Some mapping...
);
}
}
Mapper with injection point:
#Singleton
#Startup
public class DtoBeanMapper {
private DozerBeanMapper innerMapper;
#Inject
#Any
private Instance<DtoBeanMappingBuilder> mappingBuilders;
public <D> D map(Object source, Class<D> destinationClass) {
return innerMapper.map(source, destinationClass);
}
#PostConstruct
private void init() {
innerMapper = new DozerBeanMapper();
mappingBuilders.forEach(mb -> innerMapper.addMapping(mb.get()));
}
}

Dynamically injecting generic objects with guice

My current situation:
I want to inject the following class into my application:
public interface IConfigAccessor<T extends IConfig> {
...
}
ConfigAccessors are a proxy-objects, created dynamically at runtime. The creation of these object works as follows:
public class ConfigFactory implements IConfigFactory {
private final IConfigUpdater updater;
#Inject
public ConfigFactory(IConfigUpdater updater) {
this.updater = updater;
}
#Override
public <T extends IConfig> IConfigAccessor<T> register(final String configKey, final Class<T> configClass) {
ConfigCache<T> configCache = new ConfigCache<>(new SomeOtherThings(), configKey, configClass);
updater.register(configCache);
return new ConfigAccessor<>(configCache, configKey, configClass);
}
}
As you can see, to create these objects, I need to inject the ConfigUpdater and other depdencies. This means, that guice needs to be fully configured already.
To get the instance out of Guice, I use the following code:
IConfigFactory configClient = injector.getInstance(IConfigFactory.class);
IConfigAccessor<ConcreteConfig> accessor = configClient.register("key", ConcreteConfig.class)
How I want to inject them via Guice:
Currently, I can get the requried objects, but I have to manually pass them around in my application.
Instead, what I want to have is the following:
public class SomeClass {
#Inject
public SomeClass(#Config(configKey="key") IConfigAccessor<ConcreteConfig> accessor) {
// hurray!
}
}
What's the correct approach/technology to get this working?
After a lot of research, I'm feeling a bit lost on how to approach this topic. There are a lot of different things Guice offers, including simple Providers, custom Listeners which scan classes and identify custom annotations, FactoryModuleBuilders and more.
My problem is quite specific, and I'm not sure which of these things to use and how to get it working. I'm not even sure if this is even possible with Guice?
Edit: What I have so far
I have the following annotation which I want to use inside constructor paramters:
#Target({ ElementType.FIELD, ElementType.PARAMETER })
#Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
public #interface InjectConfig {
String configKey();
}
Inside the module, I can bind a provider to IConfigAccessor (with the above annotation) as such:
bind(IConfigAccessor.class).annotatedWith(InjectConfig.class)
.toProvider(new ConfigProvider<>());
However, there are two problems whith this:
The provider cannot provide IConfigAccessor. To create such an instance, the provider would need an IConfigUpdater, but since I use 'new' for the provider, I can't inject it.
Inside the provider, there is no way to find out about the configKey used in the Annotation.
Second approach:
Let's assume that I already know all configurations and configKeys I want to inject during startup. In this case, I could loop over all possible configKeys and have the following binding:
String configKey = "some key";
final Class<? extends IConfig> configClass =...;
bind(IConfigAccessor.class).annotatedWith(Names.named(configKey))
.toProvider(new ConfigProvider<>(configKey, configClass));
However, problem (1) still resides: The provider cannot get an IConfigUpdater instance.

The main problem here is that you cannot use the value of the annotation in the injection. There is another question which covers this part:
Guice inject based on annotation value
Instead of binding a provider instance, you should bind the provider class, and get the class by injecting a typeliteral.
That way, your config factory can look like that:
public class ConfigFactory<T extends IConfig> implements IConfigFactory {
#Inject private final IConfigUpdater updater;
#Inject private TypeLiteral<T> type;
#Override
public IConfigAccessor<T> register(final String configKey) {
Class<T> configClass = (Class<T>)type.getRawType();
ConfigCache<T> configCache = new ConfigCache<>(new SomeOtherThings(), configKey, configClass);
updater.register(configCache);
return new ConfigAccessor<>(configCache, configKey, configClass);
}
}
And then SomeClass:
public class SomeClass {
#Inject
public SomeClass(ConfigFactory<ConcreteConfig> accessor) {
ConcreteConfig config = accessor.register("key");
}
}
Since SomeClass needs to know "key" anyway, this is not too much a change information-wise. The downside is that the SomeClass API now gets a factory instead of the concrete config.
[EDIT]
And here is someone who actually did inject annotated values using custom injection.

How to access configuration in a Lagom service at startup?

I am migrating my current app in Spring/J2EE to Lagom. I am working in Java. I need to read variables from the configuration (application.conf in resources folder). In the implementation module, I try to inject configuration as a class variable like this
#Inject
private Configuration config
but when I access this config object in the constructor, it gives null pointer exception.
The whole code is like this
import play.Configuration;
public class SomeServiceImpl implements SomeService {
#Inject
private Configuration config;
public SomeServiceImpl() {
//getting configuration from application.conf
// gives exception as config is null.
String key = config.getString(“key”);
}
#Override
public ServiceCall<Request, Response> send() {
//works here, does not give exception
String key = config.getString(“key”);
}
}
Sorry, I should have been clear from the beginning. I have edited the original question. I get null pointer exception when I try to read from configuration object in constructor but I am able to use it in service call implementation. I want some way in which I can access the configuration in application.conf at startup and possibly store in some config class which can be accessed anywhere later.

In Java, when an object is instantiated, the first thing that happens (before anything else can possibly happen) is the constructor is invoked. After that, frameworks like Guice (which Lagom uses) are free to inject things, but they can't do it until the constructor has been invoked. So, all your #Inject annotated fields will be null when the constructor is invoked, there is nothing you can do to work around that.
So, don't use field injection, use constructor injection, eg:
import play.Configuration;
public class SomeServiceImpl implements SomeService {
private final Configuration config;
#Inject
public SomeServiceImpl(Configuration config) {
this.config = config;
String key = config.getString("key");
}
#Override
public ServiceCall<Request, Response> send() {
String key = config.getString("key");
}
}
Constructor injection is not just recommended for this use case, you should be using it everywhere, it avoids all these potential issues.

Inheritance (Late Binding) via Dependency Injection in Java

I am using Spring DI to wire my components and I came across this issue.
I have a BaseService class which has multiple implementations. And the layer above it, has a builder which calls the service to get data to populate POJOs. Service implementation I need to call (ServiceA,ServiceB) changes according to the type of POJO I need to build.
In such case, how can I autowire the service, as it requires late binding the service. How can I tackle this kind of scenario? (Example in Spring DI would really help)
I read similar questions but could not find the answer. And I read that SOA patterns such as Service Host provide different solutions to exact use case.
Please help.
Thanks

How about using a FactoryBean:
public class BuilderFactory implements FactoryBean<Builder> {
#Autowired
private ApplicationContext appContext;
...
#Override
public Builder getObject() {
Builder builder = new Builder();
switch(something()) {
case "foo":
builder.service = new ServiceA();
break;
case "bar":
builder.service= new ServiceB();
break;
...
default:
//handle cases where it's unclear which type to create
}
return builder;
}
}
where Builder instances have a public/package-private field BaseService service that gets called in their getData(), buildPojos() and wherever other methods.
(you could also use static factory methods to instantiate Builder if you want this field to be private)

You can use ServiceLocatorFactoryBean. In your case you would do something like this:
public interface BaseServiceLocator {
BaseService lookup(String qualifier); //use whatever qualifier type makes sense here
}
<bean id="serviceLocatorFactoryBean"
class="org.springframework.beans.factory.config.ServiceLocatorFactoryBean">
<property name="serviceLocatorInterface"
value="your.package.BaseServiceLocator" />
</bean>
Then your builder would look something like this:
public class Builder {
#Autowired
private BaseServiceLocator baseServiceLocator;
#Override
public YourReturnType businessMethod() {
SomeData data = getData();
BaseService baseService = baseServiceLocator(data.getType()); //here I am assuming that getType() is a String
//whatever
}

I had the same requirement in one of my projects. I used reflection to get the services according to the pojo requirement. This way there will be no static values even if you define new pojo and service in future you wont have to change any implementation.
I had named my pojos and Services similarly. ie
POJO Name:Pond5DownloadStrategy and ServiceName: Pond5DownloadStrategyService.
I defined all the services in spring. I had a DownloadStrategyFactory which had a single method
getService(Object obj). which is also instantiated as spring bean.
what getService method did is.
I get the POJO name as string using obj.getClass().getSimpleName() and then I append Service at the end. ex.
If I pass Pond5DownloadStrategy then I do AppContext.getBean("Pond5DownloadStrategyService");

Please look at my answer here.
Although is under spring batch topic it’s actually related to your question and the Strategy Design pattern.
StrategyA StrategyB are your ServiceA,ServiceB etc.
You need to use the StrategyLocator in your Builder class (in the original answer it’s equivalent is MyTaskelt). The look-up will be based on your pojo type.
strategy = strategyLocator.lookup(POJOs.class);
In the answer I suggested a PlugableStrategyMapper, but if you predefine all Servcies you can place them in a Map in the application-context.xml

For example, for manual binding:
public class Builder {
#Autowired
private Map<String, Service> services;
// Bind pojo classes to bean names.
private Map<Class<?>, String> binding;
public Service getService(Object object) {
return services.get(binding.get(object.getClass()));
}
public Map<Class<?>, String> getBinding() {
return binding;
}
public void setBinding(Map<Class<?>, String> binding) {
this.binding = binding;
}
}
However, manual binding could be repetitive so if you don't really need his flexibility, you could use a naming convention (#AmitChotaliya answer) or enforce the binding via Service method.
public interface Service {
Class<?> getTargetType();
}
public class Builder {
#Autowired
private Set<Service> services;
// Bind pojo classes to Services.
private Map<Class<?>, Service> binding = new ConcurrentHashMap<Class<?>, Service>();
#PostConstruct
public void init() {
for (Service service : services) {
binding.put(service.getTargetType(), service);
}
}
public Service getService(Object object) {
return binding.get(object.getClass());
}
}

Changing Guice bindings at runtime

I would like to be able to change the Guice injections at runtime to support multiple injections based on user input. This is what I would like to achieve:
public interface IDao {
public int someMethod();
}
public class DaoEarth implements IDao {
#Override
public int someMethod(){ ... }
}
public class DaoMars implements IDao {
#Override
public int someMethod(){ ... }
}
public class MyClass {
#Inject
private IDao myDao;
public int myMethod(String domain) {
//If Domain == Earth, myDao should be of the type DaoEarth
//If Domain == DaoMars, myDao should be of the type DaoMars
}
}
I was thinking of writing my own Provider, but I don't know how to use that provider to change my bindings at runtime. Any input is welcome and appreciated :)!
Update
Here's what I currently came up with, it's not as pretty as I'd like, so I'm still looking for feedback
public class DomainProvider {
#Inject #Earth
private IDaoProvider earthDaoProvider;
#Inject #Mars
private IDaoProvider marsDaoProvider;
public IDaoProvider get(Domain domain){
switch (domain){
case EARTH:
return earthDaoProvider;
case MARS:
return marsDaoProvider;
}
}
public IDaoProvider get(String domain){
Domain parsedDomain = Domain.valueOf(domain.toUpperCase());
return get(parsedDomain);
}
}
//MarsDaoProvider would be equivalent
public class EarthDaoProvider implements IDaoProvider {
#Inject #Earth
private IDao earthDao;
public IDao getDao() {
return earthDao;
}
}
// This means that in "MyClass", I can do:
public class MyClass {
#Inject
private DomainProvider domainProvider;
public int myMethod(String domain) {
IDaoProvider daoProvider = domainProvider.get(domain);
IDao dao = daoProvider.getDao();
//Now "dao" will be of the correct type based on the domain
}
}
//Of course elsewhere I have the bindings set like
bind(IDao.class).annotatedWith(Earth.class).to(EarthDao.class);

Your version is almost perfect as it is: You're going to need to inject some kind of object that returns one or the other based on code you write, and don't need assisted injection or anything like that. That said, you can skip some of the boilerplate:
public class DomainProvider {
// Just inject Providers directly without binding them explicitly.
#Inject #Earth Provider<IDao> earthDaoProvider;
#Inject #Mars Provider<IDao> marsDaoProvider;
public Provider<IDao> get(Domain domain){
switch (domain){
case EARTH:
return earthDaoProvider;
case MARS:
return marsDaoProvider;
}
}
public Provider<IDao> get(String domain){
Domain parsedDomain = Domain.valueOf(domain.toUpperCase());
return get(parsedDomain);
}
}
Your MyClass in that case would be exactly identical. Here, Provider is either the one-method generic interface com.google.inject.Provider, or the equivalent builtin javax.inject.Provider that it extends. Read more about Guice Providers on the relevant Guice wiki topic.
bind(IDao.class).annotatedWith(Earth.class).to(EarthDao.class);
// You can now inject "#Earth IDao" and also "#Earth Provider<IDao>".
Basically, if you bind a key Foo (to a class, provider, #Provides method, or instance), you automatically get to inject either a Foo or Provider<Foo> with no additional work. Providers are also a great way to ensure that you get a new instance with every call to get, if that's what you want; with your original, you'll always get the same instance of EarthDao or MarsDao for any given DomainProvider you inject. (If you have a scoped binding like #Singleton, Guice will respect that too; Provider just lets Guice get involved, rather than reusing a plain old Java reference.)
This means you can skip your custom EarthDaoProvider and MarsDaoProvider, unless you really need to perform any external initialization on them—at which point you'd probably be better off calling bind(EarthDao.class).toProvider(EarthDaoProvider.class) so the preparation also happens when injecting EarthDao directly. You could also just have DomainProvider return an IDao instance directly by calling get on the appropriate Provider, and be assured that it'll be a new instance every time.