Play! Framework support for Java 8 Optional

Question

I've got a Play! 2 routes file and controller that looks something like this:

GET /books BooksController.getBooks(author: play.libs.F.Option[String])

public class BooksController extends Controller {

  public static Result getBooks(play.libs.F.Option<String> author) {
    ...
  }    
}

I would like to refactor it to use Java 8's Optional, but this causes a compilation error:

GET /books BooksController.getBooks(author: java.util.Optional[String])

public class BooksController extends Controller {

  public static Result getBooks(java.util.Optional<String> author) {
    ...
  }    
}

I've tried creating a custom QueryStringBindable, but that forces me to type the controller's parameters as the bindable's type, not Optional. Any other ways of doing this? Thanks.

Answer 1

It is not possible right now. There is an github issue to replace F.Option with java.util.Optional. It will be delivered in Playframework 2.5.0.