Spring and JiBX

When I first heard about JiBX I could not have know that this would be one of the greatest tools for processing XML files that I would use.

It all started when we had a project where a speed and flexibility of XML processing was required and we started of with using XMLBeans as this was already packed with Weblogic server. A little did we know that JiBX will beat XMLBeans in almost every aspect. We had about 100 schemas to process with average of 100 tags and tons of imports. XMLBeans compiled 1 schema for almost a minute and created file that was more that 1MB. JiBX compiled all schemas in a little more than a minute. One jar file was packed at 10 times less space than XMLBeans. When thinking about loading all those files into memory, you will end up using quite a bit of PermGen space. Don't get me wrong, I still use XMLBeans today for some tasks, but I believe that if you can choose a tool for XML processing, choose JiBX and you will not be sorry.

To start off, you would create an XML file (do not forget namespace as this will be used as a package in the jar file) as this is easier than creating XSD from scratch. After that, you can use XMLBeans inst2xsd to convert it to XSD.

..\inst2xsd -design rd -enumerations never -outPrefix test test.xml

When choosing design, you might want to experiment with options. Russian Doll Design is simplest one, so you might want to start with that until you understand how types and elements are used not just in regards to XSD but also how is this going to be reflected in your classes. Turn off enumerations as this will mess up the file. You can add them later manually.

At this point you can copy this to your JiBX directory and create a custom XML (using <custom> - optional) if you have to specifically process some elements and leave others out (cool feature if you need to keep the size of your jar file down, especially if a lot of types and imports are used). One of the advantages of the JiBX is it's high speed and adaptability. For example, if you wanted to pass some custom date in XML, you would need to use string type. But not with JiBX. You can specify how you want to serialize/deserialize the elements when binding them. This is generated by either using predefined classes or creating your own  (you can do that by extending org.jibx.runtime.JodaConvert and then creating your Utility class). A very handy thing to use to adapt to different environments and clients.

JiBX comes with both ANT and MAVEN support and it is very easy to setup. You can find a lot of examples on JiBX site.

When integrating with Spring, it is extremely simple and you can use it to custom build your beans, web services or anything that deals with XML. Spring comes with a lot of support for different Object/XML Mapping and you can read about it here.

Spring and Hibernate

Creating configuration for Spring to use Hibernate is not difficult. Basic configuration can look like this, providing that you put in your variables. Just remember that you want annotation based configuration and then you can use @Transactional annotation for your classes/methods. Working with transactions has never been easier.

Spring and IBM MQ Series

Working with IBM MQ Series server can be at some times complicated, but if you follow a few basic steps, you will be able to connect and read/post messages from the MQ server. Posted is the configuration that will enable you to connect to your desired server.

Be careful what you set to transportType property as communication between client to server has to use same type as which is set on server.

Spring configuration: web.xml

When dealing with web.xml there are only few basic step that you can implement and have your application running Spring in no time.

This is initialization:


This is configuration if you have web services:


This is configuration if you have regular servlets:


Please be mindful about who loads which configuration file and at what time. For example, main context file is loaded in the beginning (when you deploy the application), but ws or servlet configuration might be initialized once you access them by the container and not by the Spring (depending on your configuration).

Spring configuration: applicationContext

When I started working with Spring framework, I immediately recognized the value and simplicity of using such framework to develop and maintain J2EE applications. It is collection of best practices for coding, great design patterns implementation (some of them), and fantastic guideline for putting enterprise level applications together. However, starting with Spring can sometime be overwhelming experience, so I would like to create a few posts that would make this job easier. This is just one of the templates that works for me, but with Spring you have infinite number of possibilities on how to integrate and develop you code.

More about Spring framework can be found at Spring documentation. Of course, Springsource (and community) have created many other additions and standalone products that fit well with Spring. Please feel free to explore this product.

File included in this post would be the first applicationContext.xml file that will be loaded from the web.xml.