jaxp object caching for MessageFactory

Question

Can the javax.xml.soap.MessageFactory be reused?
I.e.

msgFactory = MessageFactory.newInstance(); 

Can I cache msgFactory and reuse it to create new SOAPMessages as needed?
Also should the msgFactory.createMessage(); be synchronized if it is ok to reuse msgFactory in the code?

UPDATE:
Also in single threaded-code, could I store msgFactory to create SOAPMessages over and over, so as not to create a new instance of MessageFactory each time Thanks

Coralyn

The javadoc don't say one way or another, which is unfortunate. I suspect a MessageFactory is thread-safe, since that's the convention, but it's hard to be 100% sure. – Gentlefolk

@scaffman:But in single threaded-code, could I store msgFactory to create SOAPMessages over and over, so as not to create a new instance of MessageFactory each time? – Coralyn

Answer 1

There's nothing in the javadoc to say that instances of MessageFactory are thread-safe, so I wouldn't make that assumption.

However, within a single thread, there's nothing to stop you re-using a MessageFactory instance over and over again.

Gentlefolk

Could I also synchronize access to msgFactory to get a SOAPMessage per thread? – Coralyn

@user384706: I suppose so, yes, but you'd have to synchronize it manually – Gentlefolk