org.springframework.beans
Interface BeanWrapper

All Superinterfaces:

ConfigurablePropertyAccessor, PropertyAccessor, PropertyEditorRegistry, TypeConverter

All Known Implementing Classes:

BeanWrapperImpl

public interface BeanWrapper
extends ConfigurablePropertyAccessor

The central interface of Spring's low-level JavaBeans infrastructure.

Typically not used directly but rather implicitly via a BeanFactory or a DataBinder.

Provides operations to analyze and manipulate standard JavaBeans: the ability to get and set property values (individually or in bulk), get property descriptors, and query the readability/writability of properties.

This interface supports nested properties enabling the setting of properties on subproperties to an unlimited depth.

A BeanWrapper's default for the "extractOldValueForEditor" setting is "false", to avoid side effects caused by getter method invocations. Turn this to "true" to expose present property values to custom editors.

Since:

13 April 2001

Author:

Rod Johnson, Juergen Hoeller

See Also:

PropertyAccessor, PropertyEditorRegistry, PropertyAccessorFactory.forBeanPropertyAccess(java.lang.Object), BeanFactory, BeanPropertyBindingResult, DataBinder.initBeanPropertyAccess()

Field Summary

Fields inherited from interface org.springframework.beans.PropertyAccessor

NESTED_PROPERTY_SEPARATOR, NESTED_PROPERTY_SEPARATOR_CHAR, PROPERTY_KEY_PREFIX, PROPERTY_KEY_PREFIX_CHAR, PROPERTY_KEY_SUFFIX, PROPERTY_KEY_SUFFIX_CHAR

Method Summary

PropertyDescriptor	getPropertyDescriptor(String propertyName) Obtain the property descriptor for a specific property of the wrapped object.
PropertyDescriptor[]	getPropertyDescriptors() Obtain the PropertyDescriptors for the wrapped object (as determined by standard JavaBeans introspection).
Class	getWrappedClass() Return the type of the wrapped JavaBean object.
Object	getWrappedInstance() Return the bean instance wrapped by this object, if any.
boolean	isAutoGrowNestedPaths() Return whether "auto-growing" of nested paths has been activated.
void	setAutoGrowNestedPaths(boolean autoGrowNestedPaths) Set whether this BeanWrapper should attempt to "auto-grow" a nested path that contains a null value.

Methods inherited from interface org.springframework.beans.ConfigurablePropertyAccessor

getConversionService, isExtractOldValueForEditor, setConversionService, setExtractOldValueForEditor

Methods inherited from interface org.springframework.beans.PropertyAccessor

getPropertyType, getPropertyTypeDescriptor, getPropertyValue, isReadableProperty, isWritableProperty, setPropertyValue, setPropertyValue, setPropertyValues, setPropertyValues, setPropertyValues, setPropertyValues

Methods inherited from interface org.springframework.beans.PropertyEditorRegistry

findCustomEditor, registerCustomEditor, registerCustomEditor

Methods inherited from interface org.springframework.beans.TypeConverter

convertIfNecessary, convertIfNecessary

Method Detail

getWrappedInstance

Object getWrappedInstance()

Return the bean instance wrapped by this object, if any.

Returns:

the bean instance, or null if none set

getWrappedClass

Class getWrappedClass()

Return the type of the wrapped JavaBean object.

Returns:

the type of the wrapped bean instance, or null if no wrapped object has been set

getPropertyDescriptors

PropertyDescriptor[] getPropertyDescriptors()

Obtain the PropertyDescriptors for the wrapped object (as determined by standard JavaBeans introspection).

Returns:

the PropertyDescriptors for the wrapped object

getPropertyDescriptor

PropertyDescriptor getPropertyDescriptor(String propertyName)
                                         throws InvalidPropertyException

Obtain the property descriptor for a specific property of the wrapped object.

Parameters:

propertyName - the property to obtain the descriptor for (may be a nested path, but no indexed/mapped property)

Returns:

the property descriptor for the specified property

Throws:

InvalidPropertyException - if there is no such property

setAutoGrowNestedPaths

void setAutoGrowNestedPaths(boolean autoGrowNestedPaths)

Set whether this BeanWrapper should attempt to "auto-grow" a nested path that contains a null value.

If "true", a null path location will be populated with a default object value and traversed instead of resulting in a NullValueInNestedPathException. Turning this flag on also enables auto-growth of collection elements when accessing an out-of-bounds index.

Default is "false" on a plain BeanWrapper.

isAutoGrowNestedPaths

boolean isAutoGrowNestedPaths()

Return whether "auto-growing" of nested paths has been activated.