How to inject a Spring 3 Bean into a JSF 2 Converter

Question

I am trying to @javax.naming.Inject a Spring 3 Bean called WtvrBean into a JSF 2 @FacesConverter.

Both the Bean and the Converter are on the same package. And, in my spring's applicationContext.xml, I am scanning this package:

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<context:component-scan base-package="my-package" />

But this is not working. For sure, the JSF 2 internal class that uses the converter is definitely not in my-package.

For instance, if I remove the @ManagedBean from a JSF 2 ManagedBean, and replace it to @org.springframework.stereotype.Component or @Controller, the WtvrBean can be @Injected on this ManagedBean, by using Spring WebFlow.

Well, as far as I know, there is no such thing as a @Converter stereotype in Spring.

I know I can use

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FacesContextUtils.getWebApplicationContext(context).getBean("WtvrBean")

But, with that approach, the coupling between the web app and the spring is getting more tight. (annotations are metadata, and are not even considered dependency by some authors).

I am using FacesContextUtils so far, if there is no better solution.

Any ideas?

Answer 1

If you want to inject beans into instances of a class, these instances have to be spring-managed. I.e. spring has to instantiate them. And this is not happening, so - no, you can't inject there.

But this is because you register the converter within jsf. You can skip that:

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@Component("myConverter")
public class MyConverter implements Converter { .. }

And then, if you are using the spring <el-resolver>:

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converter="#{myConverter}"

So that will do it. It has worked for me.

(A workaround worth mentioning is that you can do it by using aspectj weaving and @Configurable, but I'd prefer your FacesContextUtils approach. The weaving modifies classes so that they become spring managed even if they are not instantiated by spring.)

Answer 2

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@FacesConverter(value = "examTypeConverter")
@Named

Simple answer.