SpEL does not parse simple ${spring.profiles.active} expression

Question

I am trying to learn SpEL, but it is showing behaviours that are not what is shown in the tutorials.

I have a method that calls a simple expression below, trying to get the value of ${spring.profiles.active}, but somehow the code keeps failing.

public void testSpel() {
    ExpressionParser parser = new SpelExpressionParser();
    Expression exp = parser.parseExpression("${spring.profiles.active}");
    String result = exp.getValue(String.class);
    log.info(result);
}

I have tried many variations, such as #{${spring.profiles.active}}, #{'${spring.profiles.active}'}, etc. However it always return an SpEL error:

For case of ${spring.profiles.active}:

Caused by: org.springframework.expression.spel.SpelParseException: EL1041E: After parsing a valid expression, there is still more data in the expression: 'lcurly({)'
at org.springframework.expression.spel.standard.InternalSpelExpressionParser.doParseExpression(InternalSpelExpressionParser.java:135) ~[spring-expression-5.1.5.RELEASE.jar:5.1.5.RELEASE]
at org.springframework.expression.spel.standard.SpelExpressionParser.doParseExpression(SpelExpressionParser.java:61) ~[spring-expression-5.1.5.RELEASE.jar:5.1.5.RELEASE]
at org.springframework.expression.spel.standard.SpelExpressionParser.doParseExpression(SpelExpressionParser.java:33) ~[spring-expression-5.1.5.RELEASE.jar:5.1.5.RELEASE]
at org.springframework.expression.common.TemplateAwareExpressionParser.parseExpression(TemplateAwareExpressionParser.java:52) ~[spring-expression-5.1.5.RELEASE.jar:5.1.5.RELEASE]
at org.springframework.expression.common.TemplateAwareExpressionParser.parseExpression(TemplateAwareExpressionParser.java:43) ~[spring-expression-5.1.5.RELEASE.jar:5.1.5.RELEASE]

For cases of #{${spring.profiles.active}}, #{'${spring.profiles.active}'}

Caused by: org.springframework.expression.spel.SpelParseException: Expression [#{'${spring.profiles.active}'}] @1: EL1043E: Unexpected token. Expected 'identifier' but was 'lcurly({)'
at org.springframework.expression.spel.standard.InternalSpelExpressionParser.internalException(InternalSpelExpressionParser.java:1044) ~[spring-expression-5.1.5.RELEASE.jar:5.1.5.RELEASE]
at org.springframework.expression.spel.standard.InternalSpelExpressionParser.eatToken(InternalSpelExpressionParser.java:926) ~[spring-expression-5.1.5.RELEASE.jar:5.1.5.RELEASE]
at org.springframework.expression.spel.standard.InternalSpelExpressionParser.maybeEatFunctionOrVar(InternalSpelExpressionParser.java:423) ~[spring-expression-5.1.5.RELEASE.jar:5.1.5.RELEASE]
at org.springframework.expression.spel.standard.InternalSpelExpressionParser.eatStartNode(InternalSpelExpressionParser.java:512) ~[spring-expression-5.1.5.RELEASE.jar:5.1.5.RELEASE]
at org.springframework.expression.spel.standard.InternalSpelExpressionParser.eatPrimaryExpression(InternalSpelExpressionParser.java:351) ~[spring-expression-5.1.5.RELEASE.jar:5.1.5.RELEASE]
at org.springframework.expression.spel.standard.InternalSpelExpressionParser.eatUnaryExpression(InternalSpelExpressionParser.java:345) ~[spring-expression-5.1.5.RELEASE.jar:5.1.5.RELEASE]
at org.springframework.expression.spel.standard.InternalSpelExpressionParser.eatPowerIncDecExpression(InternalSpelExpressionParser.java:304) ~[spring-expression-5.1.5.RELEASE.jar:5.1.5.RELEASE]
at org.springframework.expression.spel.standard.InternalSpelExpressionParser.eatProductExpression(InternalSpelExpressionParser.java:282) ~[spring-expression-5.1.5.RELEASE.jar:5.1.5.RELEASE]
at org.springframework.expression.spel.standard.InternalSpelExpressionParser.eatSumExpression(InternalSpelExpressionParser.java:264) ~[spring-expression-5.1.5.RELEASE.jar:5.1.5.RELEASE]
at org.springframework.expression.spel.standard.InternalSpelExpressionParser.eatRelationalExpression(InternalSpelExpressionParser.java:218) ~[spring-expression-5.1.5.RELEASE.jar:5.1.5.RELEASE]
at org.springframework.expression.spel.standard.InternalSpelExpressionParser.eatLogicalAndExpression(InternalSpelExpressionParser.java:205) ~[spring-expression-5.1.5.RELEASE.jar:5.1.5.RELEASE]
at org.springframework.expression.spel.standard.InternalSpelExpressionParser.eatLogicalOrExpression(InternalSpelExpressionParser.java:192) ~[spring-expression-5.1.5.RELEASE.jar:5.1.5.RELEASE]
at org.springframework.expression.spel.standard.InternalSpelExpressionParser.eatExpression(InternalSpelExpressionParser.java:153) ~[spring-expression-5.1.5.RELEASE.jar:5.1.5.RELEASE]
at org.springframework.expression.spel.standard.InternalSpelExpressionParser.doParseExpression(InternalSpelExpressionParser.java:131) ~[spring-expression-5.1.5.RELEASE.jar:5.1.5.RELEASE]
at org.springframework.expression.spel.standard.SpelExpressionParser.doParseExpression(SpelExpressionParser.java:61) ~[spring-expression-5.1.5.RELEASE.jar:5.1.5.RELEASE]
at org.springframework.expression.spel.standard.SpelExpressionParser.doParseExpression(SpelExpressionParser.java:33) ~[spring-expression-5.1.5.RELEASE.jar:5.1.5.RELEASE]
at org.springframework.expression.common.TemplateAwareExpressionParser.parseExpression(TemplateAwareExpressionParser.java:52) ~[spring-expression-5.1.5.RELEASE.jar:5.1.5.RELEASE]
at org.springframework.expression.common.TemplateAwareExpressionParser.parseExpression(TemplateAwareExpressionParser.java:43) ~[spring-expression-5.1.5.RELEASE.jar:5.1.5.RELEASE]

Answer 1

You are mixing concerns.

SpEL doesn't resolve property placeholders, a ConfigurableBeanFactory resolves placeholders, SpEL evaluates Spel Expressions.

If you have a SpEL expression that contains a property placeholder, you need to resolve it first.

See here for an example.

private Object resolveExpression(String value) {
    return this.resolver.evaluate(resolve(value), this.expressionContext);
}

private String resolve(String value) {
    if (this.beanFactory != null && this.beanFactory instanceof ConfigurableBeanFactory) {
        return ((ConfigurableBeanFactory) this.beanFactory).resolveEmbeddedValue(value);
    }
    return value;
}

and you will need to quote '...' the property placeholder so SpEL treats it as a literal.