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spring-webflow/spring-webflow-reference/src/system-setup.xml
Keith Donald 6d3f37ce9c polish
2008-10-17 20:12:26 +00:00

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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<chapter id="system-setup">
<title>System Setup</title>
<sect1 id="system-setup-introduction">
<title>Introduction</title>
<para>
This chapter shows you how to setup the Web Flow system for use in any web environment.
</para>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="system-config-schema">
<title>webflow-config.xsd</title>
<para>
Web Flow provides a Spring schema that allows you to configure the system.
To use this schema, include it in one of your infrastructure-layer beans files:
</para>
<programlisting language="xml"><![CDATA[
<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
xmlns:webflow="http://www.springframework.org/schema/webflow-config"
xsi:schemaLocation="
http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans
http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-2.5.xsd
http://www.springframework.org/schema/webflow-config
http://www.springframework.org/schema/webflow-config/spring-webflow-config-2.0.xsd">
<!-- Setup Web Flow here -->
</beans>]]>
</programlisting>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="system-config-basic">
<title>Basic system configuration</title>
<para>
The next section shows the minimal configuration required to set up the Web Flow system in your application.
</para>
<sect2 id="basic-setup-flow-registry">
<title>FlowRegistry</title>
<para>
Register your flows in a <code>FlowRegistry</code>:
</para>
<programlisting language="xml"><![CDATA[
<webflow:flow-registry id="flowRegistry">
<webflow:flow-location path="/WEB-INF/flows/booking/booking.xml" />
</webflow:flow-registry>]]>
</programlisting>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="basic-setup-flow-executor">
<title>FlowExecutor</title>
<para>
Deploy a FlowExecutor, the central service for executing flows:
</para>
<programlisting language="xml"><![CDATA[
<webflow:flow-executor id="flowExecutor" />]]>
</programlisting>
</sect2>
<para>
See the Spring MVC and Spring Faces sections of this guide on how to integrate the Web Flow system with the MVC and JSF environment, respectively.
</para>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="flow-registry">
<title>flow-registry options</title>
<para>
This section explores flow-registry configuration options.
</para>
<sect2 id="flow-registry-location">
<title>Specifying flow locations</title>
<para>
Use the <code>location</code> element to specify paths to flow definitions to register.
By default, flows will be assigned registry identifiers equal to their filenames minus the file extension, unless a registry bath path is defined.
</para>
<programlisting language="xml"><![CDATA[
<webflow:flow-location path="/WEB-INF/flows/booking/booking.xml" />]]>
</programlisting>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="flow-registry-location-id">
<title>Assigning custom flow identifiers</title>
<para>
Specify an id to assign a custom registry identifier to a flow:
</para>
<programlisting language="xml"><![CDATA[
<webflow:flow-location path="/WEB-INF/flows/booking/booking.xml" id="bookHotel" />]]>
</programlisting>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="flow-registry-location-attributes">
<title>Assigning flow meta-attributes</title>
<para>
Use the <code>flow-definition-attributes</code> element to assign custom meta-attributes to a registered flow:
</para>
<programlisting language="xml"><![CDATA[
<webflow:flow-location path="/WEB-INF/flows/booking/booking.xml">
<flow-definition-attributes>
<attribute name="caption" value="Books a hotel" />
</flow-definition-attributes>
</webflow:flow-location>]]>
</programlisting>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="flow-registry-patterns">
<title>Registering flows using a location pattern</title>
<para>
Use the <code>flow-location-patterns</code> element to register flows that match a specific resource location pattern:
</para>
<programlisting language="xml"><![CDATA[
<webflow:flow-location-pattern value="/WEB-INF/flows/**/*-flow.xml" />]]>
</programlisting>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="flow-registry-base-path">
<title>Flow location base path</title>
<para>
Use the <code>base-path</code> attribute to define a base location for all flows in the application.
All flow locations are then relative to the base path.
The base path can be a resource path such as '/WEB-INF' or a location on the classpath like 'classpath:org/springframework/webflow/samples'.
</para>
<programlisting language="xml"><![CDATA[
<webflow:flow-registry id="flowRegistry" base-path="/WEB-INF">
<webflow:flow-location path="/hotels/booking/booking.xml" />
</webflow:flow-registry>]]>
</programlisting>
<para>
With a base path defined, the algorithm that assigns flow identifiers changes slightly.
Flows will now be assigned registry identifiers equal to the the path segment between their base path and file name.
For example, if a flow definition is located at '/WEB-INF/hotels/booking/booking-flow.xml' and the base path is '/WEB-INF' the remaining path to this flow is 'hotels/booking' which becomes the flow id.
</para>
<tip>
<title>Directory per flow definition</title>
<para>
Recall it is a best practice to package each flow definition in a unique directory.
This improves modularity, allowing dependent resources to be packaged with the flow definition.
It also prevents two flows from having the same identifiers when using the convention.
</para>
</tip>
<para>
If no base path is not specified or if the flow definition is directly on the base path, flow id assignment from the filename (minus the extension) is used.
For example, if a flow definition file is 'booking.xml', the flow identifier is simply 'booking'.
</para>
<para>
Location patterns are particularly powerful when combined with a registry base path.
Instead of the flow identifiers becoming '*-flow', they will be based on the directory path.
For example:
</para>
<programlisting language="xml"><![CDATA[
<webflow:flow-registry id="flowRegistry" base-path="/WEB-INF">
<webflow:flow-location-pattern value="/**/*-flow.xml" />
</webflow:flow-registry>]]>
</programlisting>
<para>
In the above example, suppose you had flows located in <code>/user/login</code>, <code>/user/registration</code>, <code>/hotels/booking</code>, and <code>/flights/booking</code> directories within <code>WEB-INF</code>,
you'd end up with flow ids of <code>user/login</code>, <code>user/registration</code>, <code>hotels/booking</code>, and <code>flights/booking</code>, respectively.
</para>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="flow-registry-parent">
<title>Configuring FlowRegistry hierarchies</title>
<para>
Use the <code>parent</code> attribute to link two flow registries together in a hierarchy.
When the child registry is queried, if it cannot find the requested flow it will delegate to its parent.
</para>
<programlisting language="xml"><![CDATA[
<!-- my-system-config.xml -->
<webflow:flow-registry id="flowRegistry" parent="sharedFlowRegistry">
<webflow:flow-location path="/WEB-INF/flows/booking/booking.xml" />
</webflow:flow-registry>
<!-- shared-config.xml -->
<webflow:flow-registry id="sharedFlowRegistry">
<!-- Global flows shared by several applications -->
</webflow:flow-registry>]]>
</programlisting>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="flow-registry-builder-services">
<title>Configuring custom FlowBuilder services</title>
<para>
Use the <code>flow-builder-services</code> attribute to customize the services and settings used to build flows in a flow-registry.
If no flow-builder-services tag is specified, the default service implementations are used.
When the tag is defined, you only need to reference the services you want to customize.
</para>
<programlisting language="xml"><![CDATA[
<webflow:flow-registry id="flowRegistry" flow-builder-services="flowBuilderServices">
<webflow:flow-location path="/WEB-INF/flows/booking/booking.xml" />
</webflow:flow-registry>
<webflow:flow-builder-services id="flowBuilderServices" />]]>
</programlisting>
<para>
The configurable services are the <code>conversion-service</code>, <code>expression-parser</code>, and <code>view-factory-creator</code>.
These services are configured by referencing custom beans you define. For example:
</para>
<programlisting language="xml"><![CDATA[
<webflow:flow-builder-services id="flowBuilderServices"
conversion-service="conversionService"
expression-parser="expressionParser"
view-factory-creator="viewFactoryCreator" />
<bean id="conversionService" class="..." />
<bean id="expressionParser" class="..." />
<bean id="viewFactoryCreator" class="..." />]]>
</programlisting>
<sect3 id="builder-service-conversion">
<title>conversion-service</title>
<para>
Use the <code>conversion-service</code> attribute to customize the <code>ConversionService</code> used by the Web Flow system.
Converters are used to convert from one type to another when required during flow execution.
The default ConversionService registers converters for your basic object types such as numbers, classes, and enums.
</para>
</sect3>
<sect3 id="builder-service-expression-parser">
<title>expression-parser</title>
<para>
Use the <code>expression-parser</code> attribute to customize the <code>ExpressionParser</code> used by the Web Flow system.
The default ExpressionParser uses the Unified EL if available on the classpath, otherwise OGNL is used.
</para>
</sect3>
<sect3 id="builder-service-view-factory-creator">
<title>view-factory-creator</title>
<para>
Use the <code>view-factory-creator</code> attribute to customize the <code>ViewFactoryCreator</code> used by the Web Flow system.
The default ViewFactoryCreator produces Spring MVC ViewFactories capable of rendering JSP, Velocity, and Freemarker views.
</para>
</sect3>
<para>
The configurable settings are <code>development</code>.
These settings are global configuration attributes that can be applied during the flow construction process.
</para>
<sect3 id="builder-development">
<title>development</title>
<para>
Set this to <code>true</code> to switch on flow <emphasis>development mode</emphasis>.
Development mode switches on hot-reloading of flow definition changes, including changes to dependent flow resources such as message bundles.
</para>
</sect3>
</sect2>
</sect1>
<sect1 id="flow-executor">
<title>flow-executor options</title>
<para>
This section explores flow-executor configuration options.
</para>
<sect2 id="flow-executor-execution-listeners">
<title>Attaching flow execution listeners</title>
<para>
Use the <code>flow-execution-listeners</code> element to register listeners that observe the lifecycle of flow executions:
</para>
<programlisting language="xml"><![CDATA[
<flow-execution-listeners>
<listener ref="securityListener"/>
<listener ref="persistenceListener"/>
</flow-execution-listeners>]]>
</programlisting>
<para>
You may also configure a listener to observe only certain flows:
</para>
<programlisting language="xml"><![CDATA[
<listener ref="securityListener" criteria="securedFlow1,securedFlow2"/>]]>
</programlisting>
</sect2>
<sect2 id="tuning-flow-execution-repository">
<title>Tuning FlowExecution persistence</title>
<para>
Use the <code>flow-execution-repository</code> element to tune flow execution persistence settings:
</para>
<programlisting language="xml"><![CDATA[
<flow-execution-repository max-executions="5" max-execution-snapshots="30" />]]>
</programlisting>
<sect3 id="repository-max-executions">
<title>max-executions</title>
<para>
Tune the <code>max-executions</code> attribute to place a cap on the number of flow executions that can be created per user session.
</para>
</sect3>
<sect3 id="repository-max-snapshots">
<title>max-execution-snapshots</title>
<para>
Tune the <code>max-execution-snapshots</code> attribute to place a cap on the number of history snapshots that can be taken per flow execution.
To disable snapshotting, set this value to 0. To enable an unlimited number of snapshots, set this value to -1.
</para>
</sect3>
</sect2>
</sect1>
</chapter>