Multiple Context Config files not working in Tomcat

I'm trying to get Spring 1.2 configured with Tomcat 5.0.27 and I cannot seem to get mulitple context files working. I have 3 context files:
dataAccessContext.xml
applicationContext.xml
controller-servlet.xml

I define these in my web.xml file as:

Code:

<context-param> <param-name>contextConfigLocation</param-name> <param-value>/WEB-INF/dataAccessContext.xml /WEB-INF/applicationContext.xml /WEB-INF/controller-servlet.xml </param-value> </context-param>

I also have defined the ContextLoaderListener in my web.xml as

Code:

<servlet> <servlet-name>context</servlet-name> <servlet-class>org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoaderListener</servlet-class> <load-on-startup>1</load-on-startup> </servlet>

While trying to access my MVC application I get errors saying that some of the objects should appear in the document

"nested exception is org.xml.sax.SAXParseException: An element with the identifier "userDAO" must appear in the document."

I have my userDAO defined in my dataAccessContext.xml file and referenced in my applicationContext.xml file

I can get everything working if I mash it all into the controller-servlet.xml file but that is a huge mess. Does anyone have clues on what I'm doing wrong?

Can you post the relevant parts of the context files and the stack trace.

NB: Your controller context will be loaded automatically with the configuration below:

Code:

<servlet> <servlet-name>controller</servlet-name> <servlet-class>org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet</servlet-class> <load-on-startup>2</load-on-startup> </servlet>

See the ref. doc. for DispatcherServlet

web.xml snippet

Code:

<servlet> <servlet-name>context</servlet-name> <servlet-class>org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoaderListener</servlet-class> <load-on-startup>1</load-on-startup> </servlet> <servlet> <servlet-name>controller</servlet-name> <servlet-class>org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet</servlet-class> <load-on-startup>2</load-on-startup> </servlet>

dataAccessContext.xml

Code:

<bean id="transactionManager" class="org.springframework.orm.hibernate3.HibernateTransactionManager"> <property name="sessionFactory"><ref local="sessionFactory"/></property> </bean> <bean id="userDAO" class="com.thoughtequity.refinery.integration.dao.hibernate.UserDAOHibernate"> <property name="sessionFactory"> <ref local="sessionFactory"/> </property> </bean>

applicationContext.xml

Code:

<bean id="baseTransactionProxy" class="org.springframework.transaction.interceptor.TransactionProxyFactoryBean" abstract="true"> <property name="transactionManager"><ref bean="transactionManager"/></property> <property name="transactionAttributes"> <props> <prop key="insert*">PROPAGATION_REQUIRED</prop> <prop key="update*">PROPAGATION_REQUIRED</prop> <prop key="*">PROPAGATION_REQUIRED,readOnly</prop> </props> </property> </bean>  <bean id="userService" class="org.springframework.transaction.interceptor.TransactionProxyFactoryBean" parent="baseTransactionProxy"> <property name="target"> <bean id="userServiceTarget" class="com.thoughtequity.refinery.service.impl.UserServiceImpl"> <property name="userDAO"><ref local="userDAO"/></property> </bean> </property> </bean>

controller-servlet.xml

Code:

<bean id="viewResolver" class="org.springframework.web.servlet.view.InternalResourceViewResolver"> <property name="viewClass"><value>org.springframework.web.servlet.view.JstlView</value></property> <property name="prefix"><value>/WEB-INF/jsp/spring/</value></property> <property name="suffix"><value>.jsp</value></property> </bean> <bean id="defaultHandlerMapping" class="org.springframework.web.servlet.handler.BeanNameUrlHandlerMapping"/> <bean name="/signon.do" class="com.thoughtequity.refinery.web.spring.SignonController"> <property name="userService"><ref bean="userService"/></property> </bean>

StackTrace (during Tomcat Startup)

Code:

08:25:07,145 ERROR DispatcherServlet:227 - Context initialization failed org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name '/signon.do' defined in ServletContext resource /WEB-INF/controller-servlet.xml]: Can't resolve reference to bean 'userService' while setting property 'userService'; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.factory.NoSuchBeanDe finitionException: No bean named 'userService' is defined: org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultListableBeanFactory defining beans [viewResolver,defaultHandlerMapping,/signon.do,/signonForm.do]; root of BeanFactory hierarchy org.springframework.beans.factory.NoSuchBeanDefinitionException: No bean named ' userService' is defined: org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultListableBeanFactory defining beans viewResolver,defaultHandlerMapping,/signon.do,/signonForm.do]; root of BeanFactory hierarchy

I have the UserService defined in my applicationContext.xml file and the reference to that in the contorller-servlet.xml file. Same error happens at a lower lever when the UserService Bean tries to access the UserDAO when the UserDAO is defined in the dataAccessContext.xml file. I have all my files in the WEB-INF directory and can't seem to figure out what is going wrong. Everything works file if I stick everything in the controller-servlet.xml file

I also have this defined in my web.xml. I forgot to add it on my last post

Code:

<context-param> <param-name>contextConfigLocation</param-name> <param-value>/WEB-INF/dataAccessContext.xml, /WEB-INF/applicationContext.xml, /WEB-INF/controller-servlet.xml</param-value> </context-param>

The docs define you should use "...(using a comma as a delimiter) to support multiple contexts" but some of the examples don't use commas, instead they are just whitespace delimited. I've tried numerous variations and still had no luck.

In your applicationContext.xml you are referencing the userDAO bean as local which will fail since it's defined in dataAccessContext.xml. Use <ref bean="userDAO" /> instead.

EDIT: Also noticed in your web.xml your ContextLoaderListener is defined as a servlet. If you are using an old container that doesn't support listeners then you need to use the ContextLoaderServlet. Otherwise use <listener> around your ContextLoaderListener. I.e:

For Servlet 2.3+ use:

<listener>
<listener-class>
org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoaderListe ner
</listener-class>
</listener>

For Servlet 2.2 use

<servlet>
<servlet-name>context</servlet-name>
<servlet-class>org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoade rServlet</servlet-class>
<load-on-startup>1</load-on-startup>
</servlet>

Thanks! That is a huge help and I'd have never recognized the local vs bean difference in the <ref> tag. Stupid cut/paste error :(

Is there any benefit to using local over bean when referencing beans?

Quote:

Is there any benefit to using local over bean when referencing beans?

It also allows the XML parser to validate the bean name earlier - at XML document parse time - to alert you to errors ASAP.

I got a similar problem

Quote:

Originally Posted by katentim

It also allows the XML parser to validate the bean name earlier - at XML document parse time - to alert you to errors ASAP.

Hi all,

I got a quite strange problem,the same exception "An element
with the identifier..." when I deployed the web project to resin 3 (in-place), but when I deployed this project to resin 3, it was working fine!, could any people can help me on this? Thx a lot!
P.S. since the "<ref local='xxx'>" is working fine in resin 3, and there are a lot of <re local> in my project, so I don't want to change them to <ref bean>.

workFlowContext.xml

<bean id="workFlowContext" class="com.yan.workflow.WorkFlowContext">
<property name="workFlowDbSessionFactory" ref="workFlowDbSessionFactory" />
</bean>

SpringContext.xml
<bean id="subscrServiceTarget" class="com.yan.serviceimp.flow.archive.Subscrition ServiceImp">
<property name="subscrDao">
<ref local="subscrDao"/>
</property>
<property name="workFlowContext">
<ref local="workFlowContext"/>
</property>
</bean>