README.MD

#The Mod-Spring-AppContext module

This module creates a Spring ApplicationContext so that you can use the Spring Framework in your Vert.x applications.

*note
This module does not instantiate any Vert.x objects and making them beans. If you want your Vert.x objects to be
Spring beans, then I recommend Pidster's Spring modules, or the architectural route of using
Embedded Vert.x Platform into your Spring application.

In order to use this module, the module's classes will also need to be in the classpath of any module you want to use this in. That way you will have access to the SpringApplicationContextHolder class in your code to retrieve the ApplicationContext within your module.

you should create your ApplicationContext first before deploying any Verticles or modules in order for the ApplicationContext to complete instantiation of its beans before other modules can use them.

This is a requirement in order to run the code that creates the ApplicationContext done first.

This is mostly a library module to "includes" and not a module or Verticle to deploy.

Here is an example of how to run this "module" correctly. Please note, this is code from the integration test included with this module. Typically, you will have the configFiles information in a json config file of your own module that is using this module. Or you can instantiate a JsonObject and add the information to it using the api.

Here are the properties for the config.json file

"configType":"xml"|"class"

configType is mandatory, it tells this module what type of ApplicationContext to create. If it is set to "xml" then it will use a ClassPathXmlApplicationContext. So it will expect a "configFiles" attribute also in your config.json. If it is set to "class" then it will use an AnnotationConfigApplicationContext. So it will expect a "configClasses" attribute also in your config.json. With configType you specify one or the other, and require one of "configFiles" or "configClasses" but never both.

"configFiles" : {"config1.xml", "config2.xml", ...}

configFiles is required if configType (above) is set to "xml". This is an array of Spring xml configuration file(s) as Strings that will be passed to the constructor of the ClassPathXmlApplicationContext that gets created

"configClasses" : {"com.company.configuration.MyConfigClass", "com.company.configuration.OtherConfigClass"}

configClasses is required if configType (above) is set to "class". This is an array of Spring Java @Configuration fully qualified classes as Strings (no ".class") that will be passed to the constructor of the AnnotationConfigApplicationContext that gets created.

JsonObject configFile = new JsonObject();
JsonArray xmlFilesArray = new JsonArray();
xmlFilesArray.add("spring/test-application-config.xml");
xmlFilesArray.add("spring/another-config.xml");
configFile.putArray("configFiles", xmlFilesArray);
configFile.putString("configType", ConfigType.XML.getValue());

SpringApplicationContextHolder.createApplicationContext(configFile)

// Now anywhere in your code to retreive the ApplicationContext just call
ApplicationContext context = SpringApplicationContextHolder.getApplicationContext();

Make sure you also "includes" this module in your module's mod.json like

I am still not sure this is necessary. If you see some Spring exceptions about the xml namespace. Try removing the includes.
I had to do this in the Integration tests in a module of ours in another application.

{
  "includes":"io.vertx~mod-spring-appcontext~1.0.0-CR3"
}

And if you need more Spring jars than Core Spring then you must create another module that only contains those other Spring Jars and use includes in your module to load these jars into a parent classloader, so that the Spring jars are available to all modules, Verticles in your module.

Yes, it is a bit convoluted to add jar files with classes that need to be available through your Vert.x application but that is how Vert.x works. Please see the Vert.x Modules documentation that better explains how this all works. Because, it confuses me too. But it does work.

also add "includes" for those modules that have the Spring jar

For you convenience, I have put in the gradle.properties versions of Spring Data and Spring Integration as recommendations of versions of those projects to use with the version of Spring this module currently uses.