org.springframework.scheduling.annotation
Annotation Type EnableScheduling

@Target(value=TYPE)
@Retention(value=RUNTIME)
@Import(value=SchedulingConfiguration.class)
@Documented
public @interface EnableScheduling

Enables Spring's scheduled task execution capability, similar to functionality found in Spring's <task:*> XML namespace. To be used on @Configuration classes as follows:

 @Configuration
 @EnableScheduling
 public class AppConfig {
     // various @Bean definitions
 }

This enables detection of @Scheduled annotations on any Spring-managed bean in the container. For example, given a class MyTask

 package com.myco.tasks;

 public class MyTask {
     @Scheduled(fixedRate=1000)
     public void work() {
         // task execution logic
     }
 }

the following configuration would ensure that MyTask.work() is called once every 1000 ms:

 @Configuration
 @EnableScheduling
 public class AppConfig {
     @Bean
     public MyTask task() {
         return new MyTask();
     }
 }

Alternatively, if MyTask were annotated with @Component, the following configuration would ensure that its @Scheduled method is invoked at the desired interval:

 @Configuration
 @ComponentScan(basePackages="com.myco.tasks")
 public class AppConfig {
 }

Methods annotated with @Scheduled may even be declared directly within @Configuration classes:

 @Configuration
 @EnableScheduling
 public class AppConfig {
     @Scheduled(fixedRate=1000)
     public void work() {
         // task execution logic
     }
 }

In all of the above scenarios, a default single-threaded task executor is used. When more control is desired, a @Configuration class may implement SchedulingConfigurer. This allows access to the underlying ScheduledTaskRegistrar instance. For example, the following example demonstrates how to customize the Executor used to execute scheduled tasks:

 @Configuration
 @EnableScheduling
 public class AppConfig implements SchedulingConfigurer {
     @Override
     public void configureTasks(ScheduledTaskRegistrar taskRegistrar) {
         taskRegistrar.setScheduler(taskExecutor());
     }

     @Bean(destroyMethod="shutdown")
     public Executor taskExecutor() {
         return Executors.newScheduledThreadPool(100);
     }
 }

Note in the example above the use of @Bean(destroyMethod="shutdown"). This ensures that the task executor is properly shut down when the Spring application context itself is closed. Implementing SchedulingConfigurer also allows for fine-grained control over task registration via the ScheduledTaskRegistrar. For example, the following configures the execution of a particular bean method per a custom Trigger implementation:

 @Configuration
 @EnableScheduling
 public class AppConfig implements SchedulingConfigurer {
     @Override
     public void configureTasks(ScheduledTaskRegistrar taskRegistrar) {
         taskRegistrar.setScheduler(taskScheduler());
         taskRegistrar.addTriggerTask(
             new Runnable() {
                 public void run() {
                     myTask().work();
                 }
             },
             new CustomTrigger()
         );
     }

     @Bean(destroyMethod="shutdown")
     public Executor taskScheduler() {
         return Executors.newScheduledThreadPool(42);
     }

     @Bean
     public MyTask myTask() {
         return new MyTask();
     }
 }

For reference, the example above can be compared to the following Spring XML configuration:

 <beans>
     <task:annotation-config scheduler="taskScheduler"/>
     <task:scheduler id="taskScheduler" pool-size="42"/>
     <task:scheduled ref="myTask" method="work" fixed-rate="1000"/>
     <bean id="myTask" class="com.foo.MyTask"/>
 </beans>
 

the examples are equivalent save that in XML a fixed-rate period is used instead of a custom Trigger implementation; this is because the task: namespace scheduled cannot easily expose such support. This is but one demonstration how the code-based approach allows for maximum configurability through direct access to actual componentry.

Since:

3.1

Author:

Chris Beams

See Also:

Scheduled, SchedulingConfiguration, SchedulingConfigurer, ScheduledTaskRegistrar, Trigger, ScheduledAnnotationBeanPostProcessor