Spring Explorer not showing beans from bean definition file

Question

I just downloaded the Springsource Tool Suite, and I created a simple bean configuration file called myDefinition.xml and placed it in the root directory of the Spring Project.

Answer 1

There currently (as of 2012-04-10) seem to be problems with the Spring Explorer view when using a purely annotation driven bean definition (i.e. using Java annotations to wire everything up instead of using XML files).

There is a workaround though, by providing a minimum XML file that declares scanning for components. http://forum.springsource.org/showthread.php?118928-Spring-Explorer-with-Java-based-Web-Container-configuration

Unfortunately, this procedure is still flawed, missing some components.

Answer 2

In the Spring Explorer tab in Eclipse, right click on your project > properties. Then go to Spring > Beans Support and select the Config Files tab. You can then select files or scan a directory and that should add them. I haven't found a way to autoscan a directory so I don't have to do this whenever I add a new spring bean file. The beans that appear in that list are stored in the .springbeans file.

Answer 3

Just want to add that if you want to generate a diagram of a webflow of an existing project, you have to right-click said project in Eclipses Project Explorer and "Add Spring Project Nature" by using the Spring Tools entry of the context menu.

Answer 4

Just to add Claudio030

Make sure you have JEE perspective selected for your project, otherwise it won't show in Java perspective.