Spring MVC REST Controller test won't autowire WebApplicationContext - unit-testing

Question

Spring 3.2.3.Release and Junit4 4.11
I created a web-application Spring MVC REST project. This is the project which has the controllers which wrap around the Service and the Domain entities. The DAO and Services from the other project are all unit tested and working fine, so that is not the problem. The DAO's and Services have come in from a compiled jar file.
I am using maven, so I do have Spring-web, Spring-webmvc, Spring Core, Spring-Beans, Spring-test ... Spring-test is the 3.2.3.Release version, not the separate GitHub version.
I have spent 2 days looking at the Internet, Google, and StackOverflow, and the Spring Forums for a definitive answer, and yet I can't get the exact answer that I need, so I need another set of eyes to look at my files to see if something is basically wrong.
The problem is my unit test does not work, it's very minimal, but comes up with a huge error, and I can't even execute any tests at all. So, let me start my listing my code and xml files.
If anyone can look at the error and look at the code, if something is off, can you please let me know. And in the meantime I will continue to do more research on my own.
I'll start with the error from the console:
(main)2013-07-30 13:33:56,336 INFO [org.hibernate.impl.SessionFactoryImpl] - <closing>
(main)2013-07-30 13:33:56,336 ERROR [org.springframework.test.context.TestContextManager] - <Caught exception while allowing TestExecutionListener [org.springframework.test.context.support.DependencyInjectionTestExecutionListener#6c07588c] to prepare test instance [com.tom.rest.controller.invoice.InvoiceControllerTests#564686bc]>
(main)java.lang.IllegalStateException: Failed to load ApplicationContext
at org.springframework.test.context.TestContext.getApplicationContext(TestContext.java:157)
at org.springframework.test.context.support.DependencyInjectionTestExecutionListener.injectDependencies(DependencyInjectionTestExecutionListener.java:109)
at org.springframework.test.context.support.DependencyInjectionTestExecutionListener.prepareTestInstance(DependencyInjectionTestExecutionListener.java:75)
at org.springframework.test.context.TestContextManager.prepareTestInstance(TestContextManager.java:321)
at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.createTest(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.java:211)
at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringJUnit4ClassRunner$1.runReflectiveCall(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.java:288)
at org.junit.internal.runners.model.ReflectiveCallable.run(ReflectiveCallable.java:15)
at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.methodBlock(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.java:290)
at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.runChild(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.java:231)
at org.junit.runners.BlockJUnit4ClassRunner.runChild(BlockJUnit4ClassRunner.java:49)
at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner$3.run(ParentRunner.java:193)
at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner$1.schedule(ParentRunner.java:52)
at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner.runChildren(ParentRunner.java:191)
at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner.access$000(ParentRunner.java:42)
at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner$2.evaluate(ParentRunner.java:184)
at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.statements.RunBeforeTestClassCallbacks.evaluate(RunBeforeTestClassCallbacks.java:61)
at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.statements.RunAfterTestClassCallbacks.evaluate(RunAfterTestClassCallbacks.java:71)
at org.junit.runners.ParentRunner.run(ParentRunner.java:236)
at org.springframework.test.context.junit4.SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.run(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.java:174)
at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit4.runner.JUnit4TestReference.run(JUnit4TestReference.java:50)
at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit.runner.TestExecution.run(TestExecution.java:38)
at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit.runner.RemoteTestRunner.runTests(RemoteTestRunner.java:467)
at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit.runner.RemoteTestRunner.runTests(RemoteTestRunner.java:683)
at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit.runner.RemoteTestRunner.run(RemoteTestRunner.java:390)
at org.eclipse.jdt.internal.junit.runner.RemoteTestRunner.main(RemoteTestRunner.java:197)
Caused by: org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'invoiceControllerTests': Injection of autowired dependencies failed; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Could not autowire field: private org.springframework.web.context.WebApplicationContext com.tom.rest.controller.invoice.InvoiceControllerTests.wac; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.factory.NoSuchBeanDefinitionException: No matching bean of type [org.springframework.web.context.WebApplicationContext] found for dependency: expected at least 1 bean which qualifies as autowire candidate for this dependency. Dependency annotations: {#org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired(required=true)}
at org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.AutowiredAnnotationBeanPostProcessor.postProcessPropertyValues(AutowiredAnnotationBeanPostProcessor.java:288)
at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.populateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1120)
at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.doCreateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:522)
at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:461)
at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory$1.getObject(AbstractBeanFactory.java:295)
at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.getSingleton(DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.java:223)
at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.doGetBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:292)
at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:194)
at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultListableBeanFactory.preInstantiateSingletons(DefaultListableBeanFactory.java:607)
at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.finishBeanFactoryInitialization(AbstractApplicationContext.java:932)
at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.refresh(AbstractApplicationContext.java:479)
at org.springframework.test.context.support.AbstractGenericContextLoader.loadContext(AbstractGenericContextLoader.java:103)
at org.springframework.test.context.support.AbstractGenericContextLoader.loadContext(AbstractGenericContextLoader.java:1)
at org.springframework.test.context.support.DelegatingSmartContextLoader.loadContext(DelegatingSmartContextLoader.java:228)
at org.springframework.test.context.TestContext.loadApplicationContext(TestContext.java:124)
at org.springframework.test.context.TestContext.getApplicationContext(TestContext.java:148)
... 24 more
Caused by: org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Could not autowire field: private org.springframework.web.context.WebApplicationContext com.tom.rest.controller.invoice.InvoiceControllerTests.wac; nested exception is org.springframework.beans.factory.NoSuchBeanDefinitionException: No matching bean of type [org.springframework.web.context.WebApplicationContext] found for dependency: expected at least 1 bean which qualifies as autowire candidate for this dependency. Dependency annotations: {#org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired(required=true)}
at org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.AutowiredAnnotationBeanPostProcessor$AutowiredFieldElement.inject(AutowiredAnnotationBeanPostProcessor.java:514)
at org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.InjectionMetadata.inject(InjectionMetadata.java:87)
at org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.AutowiredAnnotationBeanPostProcessor.postProcessPropertyValues(AutowiredAnnotationBeanPostProcessor.java:285)
... 39 more
Caused by: org.springframework.beans.factory.NoSuchBeanDefinitionException: No matching bean of type [org.springframework.web.context.WebApplicationContext] found for dependency: expected at least 1 bean which qualifies as autowire candidate for this dependency. Dependency annotations: {#org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Autowired(required=true)}
at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultListableBeanFactory.raiseNoSuchBeanDefinitionException(DefaultListableBeanFactory.java:949)
at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultListableBeanFactory.doResolveDependency(DefaultListableBeanFactory.java:818)
at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultListableBeanFactory.resolveDependency(DefaultListableBeanFactory.java:730)
at org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.AutowiredAnnotationBeanPostProcessor$AutowiredFieldElement.inject(AutowiredAnnotationBeanPostProcessor.java:486)
... 41 more
applicationContext.xml because of the dependency on the dao and service jar, these imports come from that project.
<import resource="classpath:project-dao.xml"/>
<import resource="classpath:project-engines.xml"/>
<import resource="classpath:project-infrastructure.xml"/>
<import resource="classpath:project-interface.xml"/>
<import resource="classpath:project-service.xml"/>
<import resource="classpath:project-transactions.xml"/>
<import resource="classpath:project-ui.xml"/>
<import resource="classpath:project-webservices.xml" />
<context:component-scan base-package="com.tom.viper" />
<context:annotation-config />
<bean class="org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.RequiredAnnotationBeanPostProcessor"/>
<bean id="invoiceControllerTests" class="com.tom.rest.controller.invoice.InvoiceControllerTests" />
springmvc-servlet.xml
<beans>
<context:component-scan base-package="com.tom.viper, com.tom.cobra" />
<mvc:annotation-driven>
<mvc:message-converters register-defaults="true">
<bean class="org.springframework.http.converter.json.MappingJackson2HttpMessageConverter">
<property name="objectMapper">
<bean class="com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper">
<property name="dateFormat">
<bean class="java.text.SimpleDateFormat">
<constructor-arg type="java.lang.String" value="yyyy-MM-dd"></constructor-arg>
</bean>
</property>
</bean>
</property>
</bean>
</mvc:message-converters>
</mvc:annotation-driven>
<bean id="jsonHttpMessageConverter" class="org.springframework.http.converter.json.MappingJackson2HttpMessageConverter">
<property name="supportedMediaTypes" value="application/json"/>
</bean>
<bean class="org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.annotation.AnnotationMethodHandlerAdapter">
<property name="messageConverters">
<list>
<ref bean="jsonHttpMessageConverter" />
</list>
</property>
</bean>
<bean id="restTemplate" class="org.springframework.web.client.RestTemplate">
<property name="messageConverters">
<list>
<ref bean="jsonHttpMessageConverter" />
</list>
</property>
</bean>
</beans>
web.xml
<web-app>
<context-param>
<param-name>log4jConfigLocation</param-name>
<param-value>classpath:/log4j.properties</param-value>
</context-param>
<context-param>
<param-name>contextConfigLocation</param-name>
<param-value>
/WEB-INF/classes/applicationContext.xml
/WEB-INF/classes/springmvc-servlet.xml
classpath:project-dao.xml
classpath:project-engines.xml
classpath:project-infrastructure.xml
classpath:project-interface.xml
classpath:project-service.xml
classpath:project-transactions.xml
classpath:project-ui.xml
classpath:project-webservices.xml
</param-value>
</context-param>
<listener>
<listener-class>org.springframework.web.context.ContextLoaderListener</listener-class>
</listener>
<!-- Servlets -->
<servlet>
<servlet-name>springmvc</servlet-name>
<servlet-class>org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet</servlet-class>
<load-on-startup>1</load-on-startup>
</servlet>
<servlet>
<servlet-name>jUnitHostImpl</servlet-name>
<servlet-class>com.google.gwt.junit.server.JUnitHostImpl</servlet-class>
</servlet>
<servlet-mapping>
<servlet-name>springmvc</servlet-name>
<url-pattern>/rest/*</url-pattern>
</servlet-mapping>
<servlet-mapping>
<servlet-name>jUnitHostImpl</servlet-name>
<url-pattern>/RevenueManager/junithost/*</url-pattern>
</servlet-mapping>
<!-- Servlets -->
<!-- Default page to serve -->
<welcome-file-list>
<welcome-file>index.jsp</welcome-file>
</welcome-file-list>
</web-app>
And now the controller tests:
#RunWith(SpringJUnit4ClassRunner.class)
#WebAppConfiguration
#ContextConfiguration(locations =
{
"/applicationContext.xml",
"/springmvc-servlet.xml",
"classpath:project-infrastructure.xml",
"classpath:project-dao.xml",
"classpath:project-service.xml" })
public class InvoiceControllerTests
{
#Autowired
private WebApplicationContext wac;
private MockMvc mockMvc;
#Before
public void setup()
{
this.mockMvc = MockMvcBuilders.webAppContextSetup(this.wac).build();
}
#Test
public void getInvoices()
{
assertEquals(true, true);
}
}

Answer 1

Remove
<bean id="invoiceControllerTests" class="com.tom.rest.controller.invoice.InvoiceControllerTests" />
in your applicationContext.xml.

Answer 2

you can make the InvoiceControllerTest implement ApplicationContextAware and grab the instance of applicationContext from the implementation of the lifecycle method.
Alternatively, you can Autowire specific controller instance that u want to test in ur test class and do a standalone setup like so,
this.mockMvc = MockMvcBuilders.standaloneSetup(this.invoiceController).build();

Answer 3

I came to a new company that had an existing Spring DAO and Services layer created and full unit tested. They use Ivy to handle dependencies and Ant build.xml files to handle the builds. I presumed that when the JAR was created, that this would be a self-contained file (encapsulated) with all the config files and necessary jar files. When I cracked open the JAR file, I was horrified that there was no config files or jars, it was simply the Java code from the project itself. That is why there was no Spring config files.
In my new maven project, it was asking me for all the jars that were missing from the previous project, so I just decided to create a new Maven Spring DAO/Service project and bring all the code over.
So to update:
In this new Maven project for DAO's and Services, I have the Spring config files under; src/main/resources/spring
and when this new JAR compiles, the new spring config files are at:
WEB-INF/classes/spring
So, in my Spring Web MVC project, here is my applicationContext.xml now:
<import resource="classpath*:projct-dao.xml"/>
<import resource="classpath*:projct-engines.xml"/>
<import resource="classpath*:project-infrastructure.xml"/>
<import resource="classpath*:project-interface.xml"/>
<import resource="classpath*:projct-service.xml"/>
<import resource="classpath*:projct-transactions.xml"/>
<import resource="classpath*:project-ui.xml"/>
<import resource="classpath*project-webservices.xml" />
and here is part of the web.xml that handles the spring context files:
<context-param>
<param-name>contextConfigLocation</param-name>
<param-value>
/WEB-INF/classes/applicationContext.xml
/WEB-INF/viper-servlet.xml
classpath*:project-dao.xml
classpath*:project-engines.xml
classpath*:project-infrastructure.xml
classpath*:poject-interface.xml
classpath*:project-service.xml
classpath*:project-transactions.xml
classpath*:projct-ui.xml
classpath*:project-webservices.xml
</param-value>
</context-param>
Adding the wildcard (*) to the end of the classpath made it find the missing spring context files. This solves the problem with my web-app starting ... I hope this helps someone else.