DefaultAnnotationHandlerMapping via ContextLoaderListener instead of DispatcherServlet on Spring 3

Question

When I use DispatcherServlet, I get a java.lang.IllegalStateException: No WebApplicationContext found: no ContextLoaderListener registered? error when I use a DelegatingFilterProxy filter. Therefore I've removed the DispatcherServlet and now I use a ContextLoaderListener instead, and my Spring application loads fine. However, I have a problem with one VERY important bean:

   <context:component-scan base-package="com.mydomain"/>  
   <bean class="org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.annotation.DefaultAnnotationHandlerMapping">
      <property name="interceptors">
         <list>
            <ref bean="openSessionInViewInterceptor" />
         </list>
      </property>
   </bean>

This bean no longer works, none of my @Controller's are URL mapped anymore. If I switch back to using DispatcherServlet, no problem (except that my filter is useless again). How can I get this bean to load correctly from within a ContextLoaderListener?

Cheers

Nik

Answer 1

You need both the ContextLoaderListener and the DispatcherServlet - the error message didn't tell you to remove the servlet.

To clarify what Spring is doing here, the DispatcherServlet creates its own ApplicationContext (typically using xxx-servlet.xml), but any Spring Filters that you configure in web.xml don't have access to the servlet's ApplicationContext.

The ContextLoaderListener creates a second ApplicationContext (associated with the whole webapp), and links itself with the servlet's ApplicationContext, allowing filters and servlets to communicate via Spring.