Call a method any time other methods are called

Question

Is there any way to make a sort of \"supermethod\" that is called every time a method is called, even for non-defined methods? Sort of like this:

public void         


        

Answer 1

I guess that it is not exactly what you want, but you could wrap all code in methods into try {}finally {supermethod ()}. That would garantuee that supermethod is called.

Answer 2

The Term behind this concept is called interceptor. You need a container that does this like a ApplicationServer, CDI Container, Spring or AOP. It works like this

1. call your Method
2. pause your Method
3. call intercepter
4. do interceptor stuff
5. resume your Method inside the interceptor

Answer 3

Sure you can do this, not with standard java but with AspectJ

Here is a simple example:

Aspect with an after-advice

package net.fsa.aspectj.test;


public aspect SuperMethdAspect {

    pointcut afterPointCut() : execution(public * com.my.pack.age.MyClass.*(..));

    after() : afterPointCut() {
        System.out.println("Super");
    }
}

You target class

package com.my.pack.age;

public class MyClass {

    public void onStart() {
        System.out.println("Start");
    }

    public void onEnd() {
        System.out.println("End");
    }
}

And finally some test app

package net.fsa.aspectj.test;

import com.my.pack.age.MyClass;

public class MyApp {

    public static void main(String... args) {
        MyClass myClass = new MyClass();
        myClass.onStart();
        myClass.onEnd();
    }
}

Output

Start
Super
End
Super

Answer 4

Java doesn't really allow magic like this. In order for a call to happen, it has to appear within your (compiled) code. So the answer is no, not without explicitly adding a call to the relevant methods. However, you can hide that somewhat by using a preprocessor or runtime code generation.

I think AspectJ might be what you want.

Answer 5

Here is an implementation in pure Java using the Proxy class:

import java.lang.reflect.*;
import java.util.*;

public class Demo
{
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        Map<String, String> map = new HashMap<String, String>();
        map.put("onStart", "abc");
        map.put("onEnd", "def");
        Library library = new LibraryProxy(map, new LibraryImpl()).proxy();
        library.onStart();
        library.onEnd();
        library.onRun();
    }
}

interface Library
{
    void onStart();
    void onEnd();
    void onRun();
}

class LibraryImpl
{
    public void abc() { System.out.println("Start"); }
    public void def() { System.out.println("End"); }
}

class LibraryProxy implements InvocationHandler
{
    Map<String, String> map;
    Object impl;

    public LibraryProxy(Map<String, String> map, Object impl)
    {
        this.map = map;
        this.impl = impl;
    }

    public Library proxy()
    {
        return (Library) Proxy.newProxyInstance(Library.class.getClassLoader(),
            new Class[] { Library.class }, this);
    }

    @Override
    public Object invoke(Object proxy, Method m, Object[] args) throws Throwable
    {
        Object res = null;
        String name = map.get(m.getName());
        if (name == null) {
            System.out.println("[" + m.getName() + " is not defined]");
        } else {
            m = impl.getClass().getMethod(name, m.getParameterTypes());
            res = m.invoke(impl, args);
        }
        System.out.println("super duper");
        return res;
    }
}

Output:

Start
super duper
End
super duper
[onRun is not defined]
super duper