Common Model Objects

[Johnhup]

Well, essentially I wanted to create what spring calls interceptor which is what you just helped with. Any time a handleRequest method was called on a controller I wanted to intercept the call, add stuff the model, then invoke the method.

Now here's here another question for you, regarding unit testing. How do I get test my RequestHandler in a full test? When I do my normal Spring testing, the dispatcher servlet isnt loaded, hence the interceptors arent listening. I have tried loading it a bunch of ways but none seem to work. Thoughts?

[Steve O]

John,

I'm not sure how you are setting up your tests, but I usually do something like:

public void setUp() {
  String[] paths = 
  { "/WEB-INF/ServletToTest-servlet.xml", };
    ctx = new XmlWebApplicationContext();
    ctx.setConfigLocations( paths );
    ctx.setServletContext( new MockServletContext( "" ) );
    ctx.refresh();
  }
}

Then in the test, do something like:

public void testTheEvilBreakingCode () throws Exception {
  ContToTestController cont = ( ContToTestController ) ctx.getBean( "contToTestController" );
  ... run some tests
}

Then, the fun begins.

Hope that helps... if not, I would be curious to see how you are setting up your tests.

Steve O

[Johnhup]

Steve O,

I did try that but the interceptors are never invoked. Most likely because it is somewhere else in the stack.

[joshk]

Hi John,

The interceptors are used by the DispatcherServlet and thus can not be tested with how you are proposing to as the test requests are not going through a DispatcherServlet but straight to the controller.

I wouldn't worry about testing the interceptor working with the controller, I would test each individually for what they do.

Josh

[Johnhup]

I had a feeling you were gonna say that. I got that to work but I really wanted an integration test in its entirety. That seems odd to me, no? I have become so accustomed to programatic wiring and the ability to test processes as a whole.

Again, thanks for all the help.

[joshk]

Hey John,

But if you think about it, they are two very different things to test. The interceptor is just adding information to the model-and-view based on the view type, while the controller is actually preforming the logic for the page requested.

I am sure you could try to create a DispatcherServlet and run a controller test, but it sounds like more hassel than it would be worth.

Josh

[mackie]

Be warned, if you add common model data and then redirect, the model data will be appended to the query string

Here's another way to prevent model information from being appended to the querystring upon "redirect:". It's a workaround. Don't issue the Spring "redirect:" - use response.sendRedirect() instead.