Spring AOP + AspectJ annotation example

In this tutorial, we show you how to integrate AspectJ annotation with Spring AOP framework. In simple, Spring AOP + AspectJ allow you to intercept method easily.

Common AspectJ annotations :

@Before – Run before the method execution
@After – Run after the method returned a result
@AfterReturning – Run after the method returned a result, intercept the returned result as well.
@AfterThrowing – Run after the method throws an exception
@Around – Run around the method execution, combine all three advices above.

Note
For Spring AOP without AspectJ support, read this build-in Spring AOP examples.

1. Directory Structure

See directory structure of this example.

2. Project Dependencies

To enable AspectJ, you need aspectjrt.jar, aspectjweaver.jar and spring-aop.jar. See following Maven pom.xml file.

AspectJ supported since Spring 2.0
This example is using Spring 3, but the AspectJ features are supported since Spring 2.0.

File : pom.xml

<project ...>
 
	<properties>
		<spring.version>3.0.5.RELEASE</spring.version>
	</properties>
 
	<dependencies>
 
		<dependency>
			<groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
			<artifactId>spring-core</artifactId>
			<version>${spring.version}</version>
		</dependency>
 
		<dependency>
			<groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
			<artifactId>spring-context</artifactId>
			<version>${spring.version}</version>
		</dependency>
 
		<!-- Spring AOP + AspectJ -->
		<dependency>
			<groupId>org.springframework</groupId>
			<artifactId>spring-aop</artifactId>
			<version>${spring.version}</version>
		</dependency>
 
		<dependency>
			<groupId>org.aspectj</groupId>
			<artifactId>aspectjrt</artifactId>
			<version>1.6.11</version>
		</dependency>
 
		<dependency>
			<groupId>org.aspectj</groupId>
			<artifactId>aspectjweaver</artifactId>
			<version>1.6.11</version>
		</dependency>
 
	</dependencies>
</project>

3. Spring Beans

Normal bean, with few methods, later intercept it via AspectJ annotation.

package com.mkyong.customer.bo;
 
public interface CustomerBo {
 
	void addCustomer();
 
	String addCustomerReturnValue();
 
	void addCustomerThrowException() throws Exception;
 
	void addCustomerAround(String name);
}

package com.mkyong.customer.bo.impl;
 
import com.mkyong.customer.bo.CustomerBo;
 
public class CustomerBoImpl implements CustomerBo {
 
	public void addCustomer(){
		System.out.println("addCustomer() is running ");
	}
 
	public String addCustomerReturnValue(){
		System.out.println("addCustomerReturnValue() is running ");
		return "abc";
	}
 
	public void addCustomerThrowException() throws Exception {
		System.out.println("addCustomerThrowException() is running ");
		throw new Exception("Generic Error");
	}
 
	public void addCustomerAround(String name){
		System.out.println("addCustomerAround() is running, args : " + name);
	}
}

4. Enable AspectJ

In Spring configuration file, put “<aop:aspectj-autoproxy />“, and define your Aspect (interceptor) and normal bean.

File : Spring-Customer.xml

<beans xmlns="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans"
	xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" 
	xmlns:aop="http://www.springframework.org/schema/aop"
	xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans
	http://www.springframework.org/schema/beans/spring-beans-3.0.xsd 
	http://www.springframework.org/schema/aop 
	http://www.springframework.org/schema/aop/spring-aop-3.0.xsd ">
 
	<aop:aspectj-autoproxy />
 
	<bean id="customerBo" class="com.mkyong.customer.bo.impl.CustomerBoImpl" />
 
	<!-- Aspect -->
	<bean id="logAspect" class="com.mkyong.aspect.LoggingAspect" />
 
</beans>

4. AspectJ @Before

In below example, the logBefore() method will be executed before the execution of customerBo interface, addCustomer() method.

Note
AspectJ “pointcuts” is used to declare which method is going to intercept, and you should refer to this Spring AOP pointcuts guide for full list of supported pointcuts expressions.

File : LoggingAspect.java

package com.mkyong.aspect;
 
import org.aspectj.lang.JoinPoint;
import org.aspectj.lang.annotation.Aspect;
import org.aspectj.lang.annotation.Before;
 
@Aspect
public class LoggingAspect {
 
	@Before("execution(* com.mkyong.customer.bo.CustomerBo.addCustomer(..))")
	public void logBefore(JoinPoint joinPoint) {
 
		System.out.println("logBefore() is running!");
		System.out.println("hijacked : " + joinPoint.getSignature().getName());
		System.out.println("******");
	}
 
}

Run it

	CustomerBo customer = (CustomerBo) appContext.getBean("customerBo");
	customer.addCustomer();

Output

logBefore() is running!
hijacked : addCustomer
******
addCustomer() is running

5. AspectJ @After

In below example, the logAfter() method will be executed after the execution of customerBo interface, addCustomer() method.

File : LoggingAspect.java

package com.mkyong.aspect;
 
import org.aspectj.lang.JoinPoint;
import org.aspectj.lang.annotation.Aspect;
import org.aspectj.lang.annotation.After;
 
@Aspect
public class LoggingAspect {
 
	@After("execution(* com.mkyong.customer.bo.CustomerBo.addCustomer(..))")
	public void logAfter(JoinPoint joinPoint) {
 
		System.out.println("logAfter() is running!");
		System.out.println("hijacked : " + joinPoint.getSignature().getName());
		System.out.println("******");
 
	}
 
}

Run it

	CustomerBo customer = (CustomerBo) appContext.getBean("customerBo");
	customer.addCustomer();

Output

addCustomer() is running 
logAfter() is running!
hijacked : addCustomer
******

6. AspectJ @AfterReturning

In below example, the logAfterReturning() method will be executed after the execution of customerBo interface, addCustomerReturnValue() method. In addition, you can intercept the returned value with the “returning” attribute.

To intercept returned value, the value of the “returning” attribute (result) need to be same with the method parameter (result).

File : LoggingAspect.java

package com.mkyong.aspect;
 
import org.aspectj.lang.JoinPoint;
import org.aspectj.lang.annotation.Aspect;
import org.aspectj.lang.annotation.AfterReturning;
 
@Aspect
public class LoggingAspect {
 
   @AfterReturning(
      pointcut = "execution(* com.mkyong.customer.bo.CustomerBo.addCustomerReturnValue(..))",
      returning= "result")
   public void logAfterReturning(JoinPoint joinPoint, Object result) {
 
	System.out.println("logAfterReturning() is running!");
	System.out.println("hijacked : " + joinPoint.getSignature().getName());
	System.out.println("Method returned value is : " + result);
	System.out.println("******");
 
   }
 
}

Run it

	CustomerBo customer = (CustomerBo) appContext.getBean("customerBo");
	customer.addCustomerReturnValue();

Output

addCustomerReturnValue() is running 
logAfterReturning() is running!
hijacked : addCustomerReturnValue
Method returned value is : abc
******

7. AspectJ @AfterReturning

In below example, the logAfterThrowing() method will be executed if the customerBo interface, addCustomerThrowException() method is throwing an exception.

File : LoggingAspect.java

package com.mkyong.aspect;
 
import org.aspectj.lang.JoinPoint;
import org.aspectj.lang.annotation.Aspect;
import org.aspectj.lang.annotation.AfterThrowing;
 
@Aspect
public class LoggingAspect {
 
   @AfterThrowing(
      pointcut = "execution(* com.mkyong.customer.bo.CustomerBo.addCustomerThrowException(..))",
      throwing= "error")
    public void logAfterThrowing(JoinPoint joinPoint, Throwable error) {
 
	System.out.println("logAfterThrowing() is running!");
	System.out.println("hijacked : " + joinPoint.getSignature().getName());
	System.out.println("Exception : " + error);
	System.out.println("******");
 
    }
}

Run it

	CustomerBo customer = (CustomerBo) appContext.getBean("customerBo");
	customer.addCustomerThrowException();

Output

addCustomerThrowException() is running 
logAfterThrowing() is running!
hijacked : addCustomerThrowException
Exception : java.lang.Exception: Generic Error
******
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.Exception: Generic Error
	//...

8. AspectJ @Around

In below example, the logAround() method will be executed before the customerBo interface, addCustomerAround() method, and you have to define the “joinPoint.proceed();” to control when should the interceptor return the control to the original addCustomerAround() method.

File : LoggingAspect.java

package com.mkyong.aspect;
 
import org.aspectj.lang.ProceedingJoinPoint;
import org.aspectj.lang.annotation.Aspect;
import org.aspectj.lang.annotation.Around;
 
@Aspect
public class LoggingAspect {
 
   @Around("execution(* com.mkyong.customer.bo.CustomerBo.addCustomerAround(..))")
   public void logAround(ProceedingJoinPoint joinPoint) throws Throwable {
 
	System.out.println("logAround() is running!");
	System.out.println("hijacked method : " + joinPoint.getSignature().getName());
	System.out.println("hijacked arguments : " + Arrays.toString(joinPoint.getArgs()));
 
	System.out.println("Around before is running!");
	joinPoint.proceed(); //continue on the intercepted method
	System.out.println("Around after is running!");
 
	System.out.println("******");
 
   }
 
}

Run it

	CustomerBo customer = (CustomerBo) appContext.getBean("customerBo");
	customer.addCustomerAround("mkyong");

Output

logAround() is running!
hijacked method : addCustomerAround
hijacked arguments : [mkyong]
Around before is running!
addCustomerAround() is running, args : mkyong
Around after is running!
******

Conclusion

It’s always recommended to apply the least power AsjectJ annotation. It’s rather long article about AspectJ in Spring. for further explanations and examples, please visit the reference links below.

Anti annotation or using JDK 1.4 ?
No worry, AspectJ supported XML configuration also, read this Spring AOP + AspectJ XML example.

Download Source Code

Download it – Spring3-AOP-AspectJ-Example.zip (8 KB)

References

Tags : annotation aop aspectj spring

mkyong

Founder of Mkyong.com, love Java and open source stuffs. Follow him on Twitter, or befriend him on Facebook or Google Plus.

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Popular Posts

package com.jak.sandbox.aspect; public class MyClass { @MyAnnotation private String myField; public void doSomething() { System.out.println("Saving the world"); } }

@AfterReturning(pointcut = "execution(* po.hike.dao..*.*(..))", returning = "result") public void logAfterReturning(JoinPoint joinPoint, Object result) { System.out.println("logAfterReturning() is running!"); System.out.println("hijacked : " + joinPoint.getSignature().getName()); System.out.println("Method returned value is : " + result); System.out .println("***************************************************"); }

@Pointcut("execution(public * *(..))") private void anyPublicOperation() {} @Pointcut("within(com.xyz.someapp.trading..*)") private void inTrading() {} @Pointcut("anyPublicOperation() && inTrading()") private void tradingOperation() {}

Ram May 26, 2013 at 3:55 pm

7. AspectJ @AfterReturning should be 7. AspectJ @AfterThrowing
Vinod Maladkar May 11, 2013 at 3:39 am

Very good blog and nice example.
jagan April 20, 2013 at 3:47 am

Hi Kyoung,

First of all, thanks a lot for publishing all this valuable information and aggregating on 1 web site. I visit your site frequently to clarify my knowledge. Now i have 1 question and the scenario is as follows:
org.abc.xyz.service.CounterService.activeCount()
and this service will be invoked from 2 execution paths:
1. org.abc.xyx.controllers.ABCController and
2. org.abc.xyz.controllers.XYZController

Now my question is can we have an aspect on activeCount for the execution path:- ABCController–>CounterService

thanks,
jagan
Greg April 3, 2013 at 6:30 am

I have a question… how can these aspects work when the methods are called without it getting the instance from a bean…. As in…

Right now it works like this…
CustomerBo customer = (CustomerBo) appContext.getBean(“customerBo”);
customer.addCustomerAround(“mkyong”);

I want it make it work like this….
CustomerBo customer = new CustomerBoImpl();
customer.addCustomerAround(“mkyong”);
Look February 16, 2013 at 4:28 pm

Its such as you read my mind! You appear to know a
lot about this, such as you wrote the e-book in it or something.
I think that you simply can do with some percent to drive the message home a bit, but instead
of that, that is great blog. An excellent read. I’ll certainly be back.
Jay Khimani February 12, 2013 at 7:14 am
Thanks for sharing this concise tutorial. It was a great help. One question. Is there a way to define an aspect which intercepts annotated fields? For e.g. If I’ve below class
package com.jak.sandbox.aspect; public class MyClass { @MyAnnotation private String myField; public void doSomething() { System.out.println("Saving the world"); } }
Now is it possible to define an aspect which will intercept the the field
```
myField
```
and invoke pointcut?
Himkar Dwivedi January 25, 2013 at 12:45 pm
hi,
this is really gr8 tutorial, I just follow all the steps and work fine for me, but I am facing issue in point number 6.

I have a DAO class which has two method, addUser(user) and List getAllUsers() and I have one test call which create an user, add this user to db using DAO addUser method and after that it retrieve it.

this unit test class works fine without adding this process, but if I add this, its giving error while retrieving the values I am getting null user list in Test class while in DAO class same list has one user.

I am not able to figure it out how this user is getting destroyed in logging class. even in logging class itself the return value is null inside
@AfterReturning(pointcut = "execution(* po.hike.dao..*.*(..))", returning = "result") public void logAfterReturning(JoinPoint joinPoint, Object result) { System.out.println("logAfterReturning() is running!"); System.out.println("hijacked : " + joinPoint.getSignature().getName()); System.out.println("Method returned value is : " + result); System.out .println("***************************************************"); }
method

Please help me to find the issue

Thanks
- Himkar Dwivedi January 25, 2013 at 2:02 pm
  
  even if I remove this method from “DaoLoggingAspect” class, I am getting same issue
- Himkar Dwivedi January 29, 2013 at 4:03 pm
  
  the main problem is with the around function, after removing around it works fine. but still I don’t know why around cause issue her
Shanmugapriya December 29, 2012 at 3:53 pm

Really an excellent example. Thank you very much.
Miguel December 11, 2012 at 10:35 pm

Thanks a lot. As always, straight to the point. Awesome tutorial.
yout November 5, 2012 at 3:27 pm
thanks, it is helpful.

btw,?????????
```
7. AspectJ @AfterReturning
```
???
```
7. AspectJ @AfterThrowing
```
Kapil October 26, 2012 at 12:55 pm

Thanks
Scott October 3, 2012 at 10:51 pm

7. AspectJ @AfterReturning -> @AfterThrowing

Great tutorial anyway!!!
Mohsin September 13, 2012 at 11:38 pm

Nice work Mkyong,

I have tried your example it is working fine in Tomcat but not working in Websphere and not getting any exception.

I am using below jars for AOP.
aopalliance-1.0.jar
aspectjtools-1.5.3.jar
spring-aop-3.0.5.RELEASE.jar
cglib-nodep-2.1_3.jar

kindly advice me why it is not working in Websphere 6.1
- mkyong September 14, 2012 at 9:33 am
  
  WebSphere products are all weird, and always have its own IBM standard. Advice is consult WebSphere document for AOP support, or call IBM :)
  - Ravishankar September 18, 2012 at 2:47 pm
    
    I have a quick question for you at the moment.
    
    How can we use Spring AOP along with AspectJ for static methods. If possible, can you show an example.
    
    Thanks in advance :).
Vinicius September 1, 2012 at 2:12 am

Great Post and Awesome blog by the way.

Vinicius
Ravishankar August 31, 2012 at 2:18 pm

Hi Young,

You have posted a great tutorial regarding the usage of Spring AOP along with AspectJ. Great work, we are looking forward for more articles from you.

I have a quick question for you at the moment.

How can we use Spring AOP along with AspectJ for static methods. If possible, can you show an example.

Thanks in advance :).
Daniel Peña July 12, 2012 at 8:36 pm

Nice work Mkyong, I suggest avoid xml configuration in bean aspect definition , you can annotate your class as @Configurable and Spring will add it to context:

import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Configurable;

@Configurable
@Aspect
public class LoggingAspect {
….
}

I hope you help.
Regards
- alex August 14, 2012 at 4:20 am
  
  I am sorry for my questio, i am just trying to set up logger through spring aspect annotations,do you you mean in case a make my aspect class @configurable there is no need for config.xml? Thank you
Drago M. Petit July 5, 2012 at 8:13 pm

Outstanding tutorial to get started with Spring AOP, thank’s a lot !
Matthew June 7, 2012 at 6:42 pm

Anyway to dynamically set the value of aspectj annotation within a java class instead of “hard wired” during compilation time?

@Pointcut(“execution(public * *(..))”)
This seem to be promising, but if this can be dynamically set during runtime of the program without restarting the JVM, it would be really nice.

Pankaj Soni April 22, 2012 at 2:44 pm

Nice work

I think one heading is typed incorrect by mistake.
So, Please correct the heading in
7. AspectJ @AfterReturning => 7. AspectJ @AfterThrowing

I would like to suggest that you have used only

  &lt;b&gt;execution&lt;/b&gt;

in the examples.
So, you can also show how to broaden the scope for pointcut. For example using

  &lt;b&gt;within&lt;/b&gt;

@Pointcut(&quot;execution(public * *(..))&quot;)
    private void anyPublicOperation() {}
 
    @Pointcut(&quot;within(com.xyz.someapp.trading..*)&quot;)
    private void inTrading() {}
 
    @Pointcut(&quot;anyPublicOperation() &amp;&amp; inTrading()&quot;)
    private void tradingOperation() {}

dileep April 22, 2012 at 1:00 am

Great Article, mkyong. Thanks for saving us lot of time !
Navneet Ranjan April 13, 2012 at 4:20 pm

Can we apply Spring AOP with AspectJ to class which is outside Spring context but part of the same web project?Please reply with spring 3.1.1.
Muhammad March 22, 2012 at 10:07 pm

Please correct Point 7 heading “AspectJ @AfterReturning” to “AspectJ @AfterThrowing”.

Good Work!
Ramkumar March 4, 2012 at 2:29 pm

is possible to apply AspectJ on Bean Using Annotations. I have to capture entry and exit point of Bean Method.

Ramkumar
Michael December 31, 2011 at 12:46 am

Hi MKYong,

On second thought, I think you can write book “Head First Spring”, please contact http://headfirstlabs.com/. Possibly you can make a million $ there -:)

Michael

Spring AOP + AspectJ annotation example

1. Directory Structure

2. Project Dependencies

3. Spring Beans

4. Enable AspectJ

4. AspectJ @Before

5. AspectJ @After

6. AspectJ @AfterReturning

7. AspectJ @AfterReturning

8. AspectJ @Around

Conclusion

Download Source Code

References

Popular Posts

What is your opinion?

Do you know the answer?

1. Directory Structure

2. Project Dependencies

3. Spring Beans

4. Enable AspectJ

4. AspectJ @Before

5. AspectJ @After

6. AspectJ @AfterReturning

7. AspectJ @AfterReturning

8. AspectJ @Around

Conclusion

Download Source Code

References

Related Posts

Popular Posts

What is your opinion?

Do you know the answer?