loading classes with jodd and using them in drools - classloader

Question

I am working on a system that uses drools to evaluate certain objects. However, these objects can be of classes that are loaded at runtime using jodd. I am able to load a file fine using the following function:
public static void loadClassFile(File file) {
try {
// use Jodd ClassLoaderUtil to load class into the current ClassLoader
ClassLoaderUtil.defineClass(getBytesFromFile(file));
} catch (IOException e) {
exceptionLog(LOG_ERROR, getInstance(), e);
}
}
Now lets say I have created a class called Tire and loaded it using the function above. Is there a way I can use the Tire class in my rule file:
rule "Tire Operational"
when
$t: Tire(pressure == 30)
then
end
Right now if i try to add this rule i get an error saying unable to resolve ObjectType Tire. My assumption would be that I would somehow need to import Tire in the rule, but I'm not really sure how to do that.

Answer 1

Haven't use Drools since version 3, but will try to help anyway. When you load class this way (dynamically, in the run-time, no matter if you use e.g. Class.forName() or Jodd), loaded class name is simply not available to be explicitly used in the code. I believe we can simplify your problem with the following sudo-code, where you first load a class and then try to use its name:
defineClass('Tire.class');
Tire tire = new Tire();
This obviously doesn't work since Tire type is not available at compile time: compiler does not know what type you gonna load during the execution.
What would work is to have Tire implementing some interface (e.g. VehiclePart). So then you could use the following sudo-code:
Class tireClass = defineClass('Tire.class');
VehiclePart tire = tireClass.newInstance();
System.out.println(tire.getPartName()); // prints 'tire' for example
Then maybe you can build your Drools rules over the interface VehiclePart and getPartName() property.
Addendum
Above make sense only when interface covers all the properties of dynamically loaded class. In most cases, this is not a valid solution: dynamically loaded classes simply do not share properties. So, here is another approach.
Instead of using explicit class loading, this problem can be solved by 'extending' the classloader class path. Be warn, this is a hack!
In Jodd, there is method: ClassLoaderUtil.addFileToClassPath() that can add a file or a path to the classloader in the runtime. So here are the steps that worked for me:
1) Put all dynamically created classes into some root folder, with the respect of their packages. For example, lets say we want to use a jodd.samples.TestBean class, that has two properties: number (int) and a value (string). We then need to put it this class into the root/jodd/samples folder.
2) After building all dynamic classes, extend the classloaders path:
ClassLoaderUtil.addFileToClassPath("root", ClassLoader.getSystemClassLoader());
3) load class and create it before creating KnowledgeBuilder:
Class testBeanClass = Class.forName("jodd.samples.TestBean");
Object testBean = testBeanClass.newInstance();
4) At this point you can use BeanUtils (from Jodd, for example:) to manipulate properties of the testBean instance
5) Create Drools stuff and add insert testBean into session:
knowledgeSession.insert(testBean);
6) Use it in rule file:
import jodd.samples.TestBean;
rule "xxx"
when
$t: TestBean(number == 173)
then
System.out.println("!!!");
end
This worked for me. Note that on step #2 you can try using different classloader, but you might need it to pass it to the KnowledgeBuilderFactory via KnowledgeBuilderConfiguration (i.e. PackageBuilderConfiguration).
Another solution
Another solution is to simply copy all object properties to a map, and deal with the map in the rules files. So you can use something like this at step #4:
Map map = new HashMap();
BeanTool.copy(testBean, map);
and later (step #5) add a map to Drools context instead of the bean instance. In this case it would be even better to use defineClass() method to explicitly define each class.