How can I access the ApplicationContext from within a JAX-WS web service?

Question

Similar to How can I access the ServletContext from within a JAX-WS web service?, is there a way to access applicationContext, easier than this?

import javax.annotation.Resource;
import javax.jws.WebService;
import javax.servlet.ServletContext;
import javax.xml.ws.WebServiceContext;
import javax.xml.ws.handler.MessageContext;

import org.springframework.web.context.WebApplicationContext;
import org.springframework.web.context.support.WebApplicationContextUtils;

@WebService
public class MyWebService {
    // boilerplate code begins :(

    @Resource
    private WebServiceContext context;
    private WebApplicationContext webApplicationContext = null;

    /**
     * @return
     * @throws IllegalStateException
     */
    private WebApplicationContext getWebApplicationContext()
            throws IllegalStateException {
        if (webApplicationContext != null)
            return webApplicationContext;
        ServletContext servletContext =
                (ServletContext) context.getMessageContext().get(
                        MessageContext.SERVLET_CONTEXT);
        webApplicationContext =
                WebApplicationContextUtils.getRequiredWebApplicationContext(servletContext);
        return webApplicationContext;
    }
}

Steatopygia

Answer 1

I don't think that the web service should have to know about web or servlet contexts or its application context. I don't see why it should have to know any of that. Shouldn't it be far more passive? Inject what it needs and let it do its work. The service interactions with a client should be based on a contract defined up front. If it has to get unknown values from a context of some kind, how will clients know what needs to be set or how to set it?

I'd go further and say that a web service should be a wrapper for a Spring service interface. It's just one more choice among all the possible ways to expose it. Your web service should do little more than marshal and unmarshal the XML request/response objects and collaborate with Spring services.

Bufordbug

Well, then how can I collaborate with Spring services, if I cannot say: appContext.getBean('myBean')? – Steatopygia

Inject it in via setter or constructor. Dependency injection means "don't call us; we'll call you." Your objects don't have to have the app context to get what they need. – Bufordbug

You cannot. If I test my web service under glassfish, a new webservice is created, and it is not configured :-o That was a one-day-long debugging to get this knowledge :( – Steatopygia

I'm writing Spring web services that I'm deploying under WebLogic, and I don't have to supply the application context. They're working fine for me - SOAP UI clients have no problems working with them. I think you're doing something else wrong. – Bufordbug

So, you autowired the required beans in your Service class? – Steatopygia

Boy, a simple example of what you mean would be really helpful. – Subroutine

Answer 2

import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired;
import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Qualifier;
import org.springframework.web.context.support.SpringBeanAutowiringSupport;


@WebService( 
    endpointInterface = "Bla", 
    targetNamespace = "http://bla/v001", 
    wsdlLocation = "WEB-INF/wsdl/bla.wsdl",    
    serviceName = "BlaService",
    portName = "BlaPort")
public class BlaWs extends SpringBeanAutowiringSupport implements BlaPort {

  @Autowired
  @Qualifier("dao") 
  private Dao dao;
  ...
}

Grammalogue

+1 Thanks for pointing me in the direction of SpringBeanAutowiringSupport. I had been struggling with getting Glassfish to relinquish its management of JAX-WS and letting Spring to it. This is a much easier solution and lets Spring stay focused on the things that it is good at. – Headdress

I've been trying to get the solution to work but SpringBeanAutowiringSupport just doesn't seem to have an effect on my web service. #12869514 – Majuscule

Answer 3

Make your web service bean extend a spring bean.

like this

Dyeing

Answer 4

I would install a Filter that saves ServletContext before chaining in a ThreadLocal

Appulse

Answer 5

According to the JavaDoc for the SpringBeanAutowiringSupport class, see: http://docs.spring.io/autorepo/docs/spring-framework/3.0.x/api/org/springframework/web/context/support/SpringBeanAutowiringSupport.html

Read the NOTE: at the end of the javadoc.

The original question, may in fact, be the way that this should be implemented.

Ballentine