Conflict between <mvc:annotation-driven> and DefaultAnnotationHandlerMapping

[rauar]

I'm overriding the "default" instantiated DefaultAnnotationHandlerMapping explicitly for registering additional interceptors like this:

	<bean class="org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.annotation.DefaultAnnotationHandlerMapping">
		<property name="alwaysUseFullPath" value="false"/>
		<property name="interceptors">
			<list>
				<ref local="localeChangeInterceptor"/>
			</list>
		</property>
	</bean>

But strangely and according to the logs I end up with actually *2* instances of DefaultAnnotationHandlerMappings. So the implicit (default) one is obviously not replaced by the explicitly defined one (which it should hoever according to the docs).

I pinned down that the source of this behaviour seems to be in the <mvc:annotation-driven> directive which I have as well in my configuration for using JSR 303 validation with hibernate validator. When I remove this piece of xml the explicit DefaultAnnotationHandlerMapping wins and the default one is gone (plus the interception for the locale works then - it did not before as the implicit DefaultAnnotationHandlerMappings did not have the interceptor registered at all).

Bug ? Or why should the annotation-driven thing have an impact on changing the override-behavior of the handler mappings ?

Best Regards,

Alex

PS: I'm talking about MVC 3.0.0 RC2 here....

[rauar]

Alright - as always self-reply...

I've "unrolled" the annotation-driven directive using the info in this jira ticket here: https://jira.springsource.org/browse/SPR-6306

Afterwards I unified my own DefaultAnnotationHandlerMapping incl. its interceptor and the DefaultAnnotationHandlerMapping from the "unrolled" part.

Works then as it should (no duplicate controller registration anymore, JSR-303 annotation-based validation still working and locales work nicely as well...

So my conclusion here would be that this is more sort of a bug as the annotations-driven directive defines implicitly a third (!) DefaultAnnotationHandlerMapping which already overrides the implicit one and leaves no chance for my custom DefaultAnnotationHandlerMapping with its interceptors.

If someone could confirm or clarify this ? Would open a jira ticket then....

Regards Alex

[SVBridget]

Yeah, I had the same issue - your post helped me out. Spring should consider this to be a bug, and provide a way in the annotation to set your own AnnotationMethodHandlerAdapter. The current Spring documentation is conflicting and misleading.

[rauar]

Yeah. I added a comment to the corresponding ticket (above) which introduced the short-cut.

Regards, Alex

[SVBridget]

Hmm - that looks like a comment to a closed issue (the one in which they implemented annotation-driven), not a new bug report. I think it would be great to file a full bug for this issue...

[rauar]

Absolutely. I have to admit: I was too lazy

I saw that 3.0.0RC3 has been released in jira so I need to first double-check whether that behaviour is still present in that version (I guess it will).

Will post back the new ticket id then.

Regards,
Alex

[rauar]

Ok, same behaviour in RC3. Issue is here: https://jira.springsource.org/browse/SPR-6524

Feel free to comment on this issue. Not sure whether the explanation is clearly understandable.

regards Alex

[mrfekson]

This is definitely a pitfall. I just spent and hour trying to understand why the interceptors are not working. So thanks rauar for self commenting !!

[scottyfred]

Related to the original post:

If the only reason for explicitly declaring a DefaultAnnotationHandlerMapping bean is to apply interceptors, an alternative is to use <mvc:interceptors> along with <mvc:annotation-drive>.

  <mvc:annotation-driven />
  <mvc:interceptors>
    <bean class="org.springframework.web.servlet.i18n.LocaleChangeInterceptor" />
  </mvc:interceptors>

This will register the interceptor beans into the default handler mapping.

[ande]

Had the same issue when defining my own AnnotationMethodHandlerAdapter so I could register custom messageConverters. The

<mvc:annotation-driven />

tag I had used for registering a validator and conversion service created its own AnnotationMethodHandlerAdapter, put it at order #0, and my message converters were never used.

Took me a while to track it down to the same thing; took out the

<mvc:annotation-driven />

tag and defined all my own stuff using this instead:

<bean class="org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.annotation.AnnotationMethodHandlerAdapter">
        <property name="webBindingInitializer">
            <bean class="org.springframework.web.bind.support.ConfigurableWebBindingInitializer">
                <property name="conversionService" ref="customConversionService"/>
                <property name="validator" ref="customValidator"/>
            </bean>
        </property>
        <property name="messageConverters">
                ...
        </property>
    </bean>

Hope that helps someone not spend an hour or two tracking it down...