Quick Start
Installation
Download MilliContainer and put millicontainer.jar on your classpath.
Configuration
Create an XML configuration file. The schema is included with MilliContainer. Each component is described within a component element.
name - this required element is the key for accessing the componentclass - this required element is the fully qualified path of the component implemention class.registration - this optional element described the strategy for managing your component class:
default - components using this strategy will be instantiated via constructor injection and will be cached. Lifecycle methods will be called only if the class implements the appropriate interfaces (Startable and Disposable).reflect - components using this strategy will be instantiated via constructor injection and will be cached. Lifecycle methods will be called if the class has the appropriate methods (start(), stop() and dispose()).instance - components using this strategy will be instantiated via constructor injection but will not be cached; each time the component is requested, a new instance will be created. Lifecycle methods will be called if the class has the appropriate methods (start(), stop() and dispose()).
Bootstrapping the Component Manager
The first step is load the component configuration file. This can be done with the following snippet:
Configuration config = new XMLConfiguration(path.trim());
Next, set the configuration:
ComponentManager.setConfig(config);
Lastly, start it:
ComponentManager.start();
Components can now be obtained from the component manager:
TestComponent tc = (TestComponent) ComponentManager.getComponent("Test Component");
tc.doSomething("hello world");
See ExampleApplication for code examples.
Components
Almost any class can be used as a component. However, certain qualities make some better components than others.
Constructor Injection
Components should declare all their dependencies via a constructor. This way, the container can inject the proper implementations.
See the PicoContainer site and wiki for more information on components.
name - this required element is the key for accessing the componentclass - this required element is the fully qualified path of the component implemention class.registration - this optional element described the strategy for managing your component class:
default- components using this strategy will be instantiated via constructor injection and will be cached. Lifecycle methods will be called only if the class implements the appropriate interfaces (Startable and Disposable).reflect- components using this strategy will be instantiated via constructor injection and will be cached. Lifecycle methods will be called if the class has the appropriate methods (start(), stop() and dispose()).instance- components using this strategy will be instantiated via constructor injection but will not be cached; each time the component is requested, a new instance will be created. Lifecycle methods will be called if the class has the appropriate methods (start(), stop() and dispose()).
Configuration config = new XMLConfiguration(path.trim());
ComponentManager.setConfig(config);
ComponentManager.start();
TestComponent tc = (TestComponent) ComponentManager.getComponent("Test Component");
tc.doSomething("hello world");