org.springframework.context
Interface ApplicationContext

All Superinterfaces:

ApplicationEventPublisher, BeanFactory, HierarchicalBeanFactory, ListableBeanFactory, MessageSource, ResourceLoader, ResourcePatternResolver

All Known Subinterfaces:

ConfigurableApplicationContext, ConfigurablePortletApplicationContext, ConfigurableWebApplicationContext, WebApplicationContext

All Known Implementing Classes:

AbstractApplicationContext, AbstractRefreshableApplicationContext, AbstractRefreshablePortletApplicationContext, AbstractRefreshableWebApplicationContext, AbstractXmlApplicationContext, ClassPathXmlApplicationContext, FileSystemXmlApplicationContext, GenericApplicationContext, GenericWebApplicationContext, StaticApplicationContext, StaticPortletApplicationContext, StaticWebApplicationContext, XmlPortletApplicationContext, XmlWebApplicationContext

public interface ApplicationContext
extends ListableBeanFactory, HierarchicalBeanFactory, MessageSource, ApplicationEventPublisher, ResourcePatternResolver

Central interface to provide configuration for an application. This is read-only while the application is running, but may be reloaded if the implementation supports this.

An ApplicationContext provides:

• Bean factory methods, inherited from ListableBeanFactory. This avoids the need for applications to use singletons.
• The ability to resolve messages, supporting internationalization. Inherited from the MessageSource interface.
• The ability to load file resources in a generic fashion. Inherited from the ResourceLoader interface.
• The ability to publish events. Implementations must provide a means of registering event listeners.
• Inheritance from a parent context. Definitions in a descendant context will always take priority. This means, for example, that a single parent context can be used by an entire web application, while each servlet has its own child context that is independent of that of any other servlet.

In addition to standard bean factory lifecycle capabilities, ApplicationContext implementations need to detect ApplicationContextAware beans and invoke the setApplicationContext method accordingly.

Author:

Rod Johnson, Juergen Hoeller

See Also:

ApplicationContextAware.setApplicationContext(org.springframework.context.ApplicationContext), ConfigurableApplicationContext

Field Summary

Fields inherited from interface org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanFactory

FACTORY_BEAN_PREFIX

Fields inherited from interface org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanFactory

FACTORY_BEAN_PREFIX

Fields inherited from interface org.springframework.core.io.support.ResourcePatternResolver

CLASSPATH_ALL_URL_PREFIX

Fields inherited from interface org.springframework.core.io.ResourceLoader

CLASSPATH_URL_PREFIX

Method Summary

AutowireCapableBeanFactory	getAutowireCapableBeanFactory() Expose AutowireCapableBeanFactory functionality for this context.
String	getDisplayName() Return a friendly name for this context.
ApplicationContext	getParent() Return the parent context, or null if there is no parent, and this is the root of the context hierarchy.
long	getStartupDate() Return the timestamp when this context was first loaded.

Methods inherited from interface org.springframework.beans.factory.ListableBeanFactory

containsBeanDefinition, getBeanDefinitionCount, getBeanDefinitionNames, getBeanNamesForType, getBeanNamesForType, getBeansOfType, getBeansOfType

Methods inherited from interface org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanFactory

containsBean, getAliases, getBean, getBean, getType, isSingleton, isTypeMatch

Methods inherited from interface org.springframework.beans.factory.HierarchicalBeanFactory

containsLocalBean, getParentBeanFactory

Methods inherited from interface org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanFactory

containsBean, getAliases, getBean, getBean, getType, isSingleton, isTypeMatch

Methods inherited from interface org.springframework.context.MessageSource

getMessage, getMessage, getMessage

Methods inherited from interface org.springframework.context.ApplicationEventPublisher

publishEvent

Methods inherited from interface org.springframework.core.io.support.ResourcePatternResolver

getResources

Methods inherited from interface org.springframework.core.io.ResourceLoader

getClassLoader, getResource

Method Detail

getParent

ApplicationContext getParent()

Return the parent context, or null if there is no parent, and this is the root of the context hierarchy.

Returns:

the parent context, or null if there is no parent

getAutowireCapableBeanFactory

AutowireCapableBeanFactory getAutowireCapableBeanFactory()
                                                         throws IllegalStateException

Expose AutowireCapableBeanFactory functionality for this context.

This is not typically used by application code, except for the purpose of initializing bean instances that live outside the application context, applying the Spring bean lifecycle (fully or partly) to them.

Alternatively, the internal BeanFactory exposed by the ConfigurableApplicationContext interface offers access to the AutowireCapableBeanFactory interface too. The present method mainly serves as convenient, specific facility on the ApplicationContext interface itself.

Throws:

IllegalStateException - if the context does not support the AutowireCapableBeanFactory interface or does not hold an autowire-capable bean factory yet (usually if refresh() has never been called)

See Also:

ConfigurableApplicationContext.refresh(), ConfigurableApplicationContext.getBeanFactory()

getDisplayName

String getDisplayName()

Return a friendly name for this context.

Returns:

a display name for this context

getStartupDate

long getStartupDate()

Return the timestamp when this context was first loaded.

Returns:

the timestamp (ms) when this context was first loaded