Spring IDE Guide

For Spring IDE installation, see: SpringideInstall

To start working with Spring IDE you need a SpringProject. A SpringProject can be created by adding the SpringProjectNature to an existing project or by creating a new Spring project with the SpringProjectWizard.

Add Spring Project Nature

• select project node(s) in Eclipse's resource navigator or JDT package explorer
• activate the context menu item "Add Spring Project Nature" on the selected project(s)

• once the SpringProjectNature is added, these projects are now decorated with a small 'S' in the upper right corner (overwriting other decorators, e.g. Java project decorator 'J')

• to remove the SpringProjectNature, right click the project and select "Remove Spring Project Nature"

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See also: SpringProject, SpringProjectNature

Create New Spring Project

• open the wizard selection dialog via the menu "File / New / Project..."

• select the wizard "Spring / Spring Project"

• enter the project name
• (optionally) modify the comma-separated list of supported BeansConfig file extensions (default is "xml")
• if you don't need a Java project then deselect the checkbox "Create a Java project"

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See also: SpringProject

Add References To Other Spring Projects (Optional)

• open the SpringProjectProperties dialog from a Spring project's context menu in Eclipse's resource navigator or JDT package explorer
• select the properties page "Project References" from the list on the left side
• enable all Spring projects containing Spring BeansConfig files which should be referenced from within this SpringProject via a BeansConfigSet (defined later on)

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See also: SpringProjectProperties, BeansConfig, BeansConfigSet

Add Spring Beans Config Files

• open a Spring project's properties dialog from the context menu in Eclipse resource navigator or JDT package explorer
• select the SpringProjectProperties page "Spring Beans" from the list on the left side

• (optionally) modify the comma-separated list of supported BeansConfig file extensions (default is "xml")
• use the button "Add..." to open a selector dialog providing a list of all BeansConfig files with the specified extensions in your SpringProject and select the corresponding Spring BeansConfig files
• BeansConfig files stored in JAR files can be selected too, but the corresponding JAR file has to be part of the SpringProject, e.g. stored in "WEB-INF/lib/", and not only available on the classpath like the JDK's "rt.jar"!!!

• once the BeansConfig files are selected the corresponding files are decorated with a small 'S' in Eclipse's resource navigator or JDT package explorer

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See also: BeansConfig

Create Spring Beans Config Sets (optional)

• open a Spring project's properties dialog from the context menu in Eclipse resource navigator or JDT package explorer
• select the SpringProjectProperties page "Spring Beans" from the list on the left side
• select the second tab labeled "Config Sets"

• use the button "New..." to open a dialog for creating a new BeansConfigSet with a selection of all BeansConfig files (added in the previous step) belonging to this BeansConfigSet
  • define a unique name for the BeansConfigSet
  • activate the checkbox "Enable bean override" if multiple beans with the same ID should be overidden by the last bean (used by the BeansConfigValidator only -> if activated then bean overriding is not treated as validation error)
  • activate the checkbox "Is incomplete" if this BeansConfigSet t does not contain all beans which are referenced by other beans defined in this BeansConfigSet (used by the BeansConfigValidator only -> if activated then unresolved bean references are not treated as validation errors)
  • externally defined BeansConfig files (as described in section "Add references to other Spring projects") are decorated with a small blue arrow)
  • BeansConfig files which are part of a library are show with their full qualified name "<path to library> - <path to config file>"

• use the buttons "Move Up" and "Move Down" to change the order of the BeansConfig files within the BeansConfigSet (important for bean overriding)

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See also: SpringProjectProperties, BeansConfig, BeansConfigSet, BeansConfigValidator

Open Spring Explorer

• select from within any of the added Spring BeansConfig files opened in an Eclipse editor the menu item "Navigate/Show In/Spring Beans"

• once the menu item is selected the Spring BeansView is opened and the corresponding Spring BeansConfig file is selected in the view's model

• double-clicking on certain entries in the Spring BeansView (bean, property or constructor argument) navigates to the corresponding location in the BeansConfig file
• by selecting the corresponding toolbar actions the BeansView supports alphabetical sorting and syncing with the BeansXmlEditor

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See also: BeansView, BeansConfig, BeansXmlEditor

Validate Spring Beans Config

• after modifying and saving any of the added Spring BeansConfig files from within an open Eclipse editor this config is automatically validated by Spring IDE
• for any error occured during validation a SpringProblemMarker is created and listed in Eclipse's problem view

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See also: BeansConfig, BeansConfigValidator

Open Spring Beans Graph

• right-clicking on certain entries in the Spring BeansView (config, config set or bean) opens a read-only editor showing a graph with all beans referenced by the selected view entry

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See also: BeansView, BeansConfig, BeansConfigSet, BeansGraph

Search Spring Beans

• open the search dialog via the "Search / Search..." menu
• select the tab "Spring Beans Search" to switch to the BeansSearch dialog

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See also: BeansSearch

External Links

Spring IDE Tutorial at VaanNila.com Introduction to Spring IDE 2.0 at JavaBeat.net