Introduce PropertyResolver#getPropertyAsClass

org.springframework.core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/env/AbstractEnvironment.java

@@ -196,6 +196,10 @@ public abstract class AbstractEnvironment implements ConfigurableEnvironment {
 		return this.propertyResolver.getProperty(key, targetType);
 	}
 
+	public <T> Class<T> getPropertyAsClass(String key, Class<T> targetType) {
+		return this.propertyResolver.getPropertyAsClass(key, targetType);
+	}
+
 	public String getRequiredProperty(String key) throws IllegalStateException {
 		return this.propertyResolver.getRequiredProperty(key);
 	}

org.springframework.core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/env/PropertyResolver.java

@@ -41,6 +41,15 @@ public interface PropertyResolver {
 	 */
 	<T> T getProperty(String key, Class<T> targetType);
 
+	/**
+	 * Convert the property value associated with the given key to a {@code Class}
+	 * of type {@code T} or {@code null} if the key cannot be resolved.
+	 * @throws ConversionException if class specified by property value cannot be found
+	 * or loaded or if targetType is not assignable from class specified by property value
+	 * @see #getProperty(String, Class)
+	 */
+	<T> Class<T> getPropertyAsClass(String key, Class<T> targetType);
+
 	/**
 	 * Return the property value associated with the given key, converted to the given
 	 * targetType (never {@code null}).

org.springframework.core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/env/PropertySourcesPropertyResolver.java

@@ -18,6 +18,9 @@ package org.springframework.core.env;
 
 import static java.lang.String.format;
 
+import org.springframework.core.convert.ConversionException;
+import org.springframework.util.ClassUtils;
+
 /**
  * {@link PropertyResolver} implementation that resolves property values against
  * an underlying set of {@link PropertySources}.
@@ -58,7 +61,7 @@ public class PropertySourcesPropertyResolver extends AbstractPropertyResolver {
 		if (logger.isTraceEnabled()) {
 			logger.trace(format("getProperty(\"%s\", %s)", key, targetValueType.getSimpleName()));
 		}
-	
+
 		for (PropertySource<?> propertySource : this.propertySources) {
 			if (debugEnabled) {
 				logger.debug(format("Searching for key '%s' in [%s]", key, propertySource.getName()));
@@ -79,11 +82,68 @@ public class PropertySourcesPropertyResolver extends AbstractPropertyResolver {
 				return conversionService.convert(value, targetValueType);
 			}
 		}
-	
+
 		if (debugEnabled) {
 			logger.debug(format("Could not find key '%s' in any property source. Returning [null]", key));
 		}
 		return null;
 	}
 
+	public <T> Class<T> getPropertyAsClass(String key, Class<T> targetValueType) {
+		boolean debugEnabled = logger.isDebugEnabled();
+		if (logger.isTraceEnabled()) {
+			logger.trace(format("getPropertyAsClass(\"%s\", %s)", key, targetValueType.getSimpleName()));
+		}
+
+		for (PropertySource<?> propertySource : this.propertySources) {
+			if (debugEnabled) {
+				logger.debug(format("Searching for key '%s' in [%s]", key, propertySource.getName()));
+			}
+			Object value;
+			if ((value = propertySource.getProperty(key)) != null) {
+				if (debugEnabled) {
+					logger.debug(
+							format("Found key '%s' in [%s] with value '%s'", key, propertySource.getName(), value));
+				}
+
+				Class<?> clazz;
+				if (value instanceof String) {
+					try {
+						clazz = ClassUtils.forName((String)value, null);
+					} catch (Exception ex) {
+						throw new ClassConversionException((String)value, targetValueType, ex);
+					}
+				}
+				else if (value instanceof Class) {
+					clazz = (Class<?>)value;
+				} else {
+					clazz = value.getClass();
+				}
+
+				if (!targetValueType.isAssignableFrom(clazz)) {
+					throw new ClassConversionException(clazz, targetValueType);
+				}
+				@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
+				Class<T> targetClass = (Class<T>)clazz;
+				return targetClass;
+			}
+		}
+
+		if (debugEnabled) {
+			logger.debug(format("Could not find key '%s' in any property source. Returning [null]", key));
+		}
+		return null;
+	}
+
+
+	@SuppressWarnings("serial")
+	static class ClassConversionException extends ConversionException {
+		public ClassConversionException(Class<?> actual, Class<?> expected) {
+			super(String.format("Actual type %s is not assignable to expected type %s", actual.getName(), expected.getName()));
+		}
+
+		public ClassConversionException(String actual, Class<?> expected, Exception ex) {
+			super(String.format("Could not find/load class %s during attempt to convert to %s", actual, expected.getName()), ex);
+		}
+	}
 }