dynclass
Class BeanCreator

java.lang.Object
  |
  +--dynclass.BeanCreator

public class BeanCreator

extends Object

BeanCreator provides methods for representing a Map as a JavaBean. The createBeanFromMap() method performs the entire conversion in a single step. This is the most convenient way to perform conversion; however it is not the fastest, and may constribute to memory retention (i.e. leaks) in some cases - see below.

There is also a two-step Map-to-JavaBean process that is more efficient and eliminates memory concerns, which can be used when the set of properties on the generated bean is known in advance. First, create the JavaBeans Class with createClassForProperties(). Cache this class for the life of the application (e.g. in a static variable). Then, when a JavaBean with this property set is needed, call createBean() with a Map reflecting the property values.

Example:

// Class variable:
private static final Class userBeanClass = BeanCreator.createClassForProperties(new String[] { "userName", "email" });
// ...
Map map = ...; // create map with values for "userName" and "email"
Object bean = BeanCreator.createBean(userBeanClass, map);

Memory issue: BeanCreator will not retain references to Classes it generates, since this would prevent garbage collection of the Class instances. However, many third-party JavaBeans libraries keep static caches of Classes they have analyzed, and do not provide for releasing cached resources. This will not be noticable in short-lived applications, but long-running servers could be affected. If you are concerned about this, use createClassFromPropertySet() to generate a fixed set of Classes, and instantiate them with createBean().

Property names: Any String can be used as a property name, even if it is not a valid Java identifier. If BeanCreator encounters a property name that does not follow the usual JavaBeans casing conventions (or contains non-identifier characters), BeanCreator will generate a BeanInfo class for the bean class. This is transparent to clients and bean inspection tools.

Method Summary

static Object	createBean(Class beanClass, Map propertyMap) Create a JavaBean with the given class.
static Object	createBeanFromMap(Map map) Generate a object with get and set methods for every key in the map that can be translated into a JavaBeans property name.
static Class	createClassForProperties(Set keySet) Create a JavaBeans class from the given property set.
static Class	createClassForProperties(String[] props) Create a JavaBeans class from the given property list.

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait

Method Detail

createBeanFromMap

public static Object createBeanFromMap(Map map)
                                throws Exception

Generate a object with get and set methods for every key in the map that can be translated into a JavaBeans property name. See class documentation for possible memory issues.

createClassForProperties

public static Class createClassForProperties(String[] props)

Create a JavaBeans class from the given property list.

createClassForProperties

public static Class createClassForProperties(Set keySet)

Create a JavaBeans class from the given property set. Instances of the class can be instantiated by createBean.

createBean

public static Object createBean(Class beanClass,
                                Map propertyMap)
                         throws Exception

Create a JavaBean with the given class. Property values are provided by propertyMap.

Parameters:

beanClass - a JavaBeans class generated by BeanCreator.createClassForProperties()