## org.codehaus.groovy.grails.commons
Interface GrailsApplication

All Superinterfaces:
  ApplicationContextAware

All Known Implementing Classes:
  DefaultGrailsApplication

    public interface GrailsApplication

extends ApplicationContextAware

The main interface representing a running Grails application. This interface's main purpose is to provide a mechanism for analysing the conventions within a Grails application as well as providing metadata and information about the execution environment.

The GrailsApplication interface interfacts with `ArtefactHandler` instances which are capable of analysing different artefact types (controllers, domain classes etc.) and introspecting the artefact conventions

Implementors of this inteface should be aware that a GrailsApplication is only initialised when the initialise() method is called. In other words GrailsApplication instances are lazily initialised by the Grails runtime.

Since:
  0.1 Created: Jul 2, 2005
Author:
  Graeme Rocher, Steven Devijver
See Also:
  `initialise()`, `ArtefactHandler`

Field Summary
`static String` `APPLICATION_ID` The id of the grails application within a bean context
`static String` `CONFIG_CLASS` The name of the class that provides configuration
`static String` `DATA_SOURCE_CLASS`
`static String` `ENV_APPLICATION` Deprecated. Use `Environment.APPLICATION` instead.
`static String` `ENV_DEVELOPMENT` Deprecated. Use `Environment.DEVELOPMENT` instead.
`static String` `ENV_PRODUCTION` Deprecated. Use `Environment.PRODUCTION` instead.
`static String` `ENV_TEST` Deprecated. Use `Environment.TEST` instead.
`static String` `ENVIRONMENT` Deprecated. Use `Environment.KEY` instead.
`static String` `ENVIRONMENT_DEFAULT` Deprecated. Use `Environment.DEFAULT` instead.
`static String` `GLOBAL_PLUGINS_DIR` Deprecated. Use `BuildSettings.GLOBAL_PLUGINS_DIR` instead.
`static String` `PLUGINS_DIR` Deprecated. Use `BuildSettings.PLUGINS_DIR` instead.
`static String` `PROJECT_CLASSES_DIR` Deprecated. Use `BuildSettings.PROJECT_CLASSES_DIR` instead.
`static String` `PROJECT_META_FILE`
`static String` `PROJECT_RESOURCES_DIR` Deprecated. Use `BuildSettings.PROJECT_RESOURCES_DIR` instead.
`static String` `PROJECT_TEST_CLASSES_DIR` Deprecated. Use `BuildSettings.PROJECT_TEST_CLASSES_DIR` instead.
`static String` `PROJECT_WORK_DIR` Deprecated. Use `BuildSettings.PROJECT_WORK_DIR` instead.
`static String` `WORK_DIR` Deprecated. Use `BuildSettings.WORK_DIR` instead.

Method Summary
`void` `addArtefact(Class artefact)` Adds the given artefact, attempting to determine type from
`GrailsClass` `addArtefact(String artefactType, Class artefactClass)` Registers a new artefact
`GrailsClass` `addArtefact(String artefactType, GrailsClass artefactGrailsClass)` Registers a new artefact
`void` `addOverridableArtefact(Class artefact)` Adds an artefact that can be overriden by user defined classes
`void` `configChanged()` Fired to inform the application when the Config.groovy file changes
`Class[]` `getAllArtefacts()` Retrieves all java.lang.Class instances considered Artefacts loaded by the Grails class loader
`Class[]` `getAllClasses()` Retrieves all java.lang.Class instances loaded by the Grails class loader
`GrailsClass` `getArtefact(String artefactType, String name)` Gets the GrailsClass associated with the named artefact class i.e. to get the GrailsClass for controller called "BookController" you pass the name "BookController"
`GrailsClass` `getArtefactByLogicalPropertyName(String type, String logicalName)` Retrieves an artefact by its logical property name.
`GrailsClass` `getArtefactForFeature(String artefactType, Object featureID)` Get an artefact GrailsClass by a "feature" which depending on the artefact may be a URI or tag name for example
`ArtefactHandler` `getArtefactHandler(String type)` Returns the ArtefactHandler for the given type
`ArtefactHandler[]` `getArtefactHandlers()` Obtain a list of all the artefact handlers
`ArtefactInfo` `getArtefactInfo(String artefactType)` Obtain all the class information about the artefactType specified
`GrailsClass[]` `getArtefacts(String artefactType)` Get an array of all the GrailsClass instances relating to artefacts of the specified type.
`ArtefactHandler` `getArtefactType(Class theClass)` Returns the ArtefactHandler for the given class or null
`Class` `getClassForName(String className)` Retrieves a class for the given name within the GrailsApplication or returns null
`ClassLoader` `getClassLoader()` Returns the class loader instance for the Grails application
`groovy.util.ConfigObject` `getConfig()` Returns the ConfigObject instance
`Map` `getFlatConfig()` Returns the flatten ConfigObject for use from Java classes
`ApplicationContext` `getMainContext()` Returns the Spring context for this application.
`Map` `getMetadata()` Get access to the project's metadata, specified in application.properties This provides access to information like required grails version, application name, version etc but NOT general application settings.
`ApplicationContext` `getParentContext()` Returns the Spring application context that contains this application instance.
`Resource` `getResourceForClass(Class theClazz)` Retrieves a Resource instance for the given Grails class or null it doesn't exist
`boolean` `hasArtefactHandler(String type)` Test whether an artefact handler exists for a given type
`void` `initialise()` Initialise this GrailsApplication
`boolean` `isArtefact(Class theClazz)` Call this to find out if the class you have is an artefact loaded by grails.
`boolean` `isArtefactOfType(String artefactType, Class theClazz)` Check if the specified artefact Class has been loaded by Grails already AND is of the type expected
`boolean` `isArtefactOfType(String artefactType, String className)` Check if the artefact Class with the name specified is of the type expected
`boolean` `isInitialised()` Returns whether this GrailsApplication has been initialised or not
`boolean` `isWarDeployed()` Returns true if this application has been deployed as a WAR file
`void` `rebuild()` Rebuilds this Application throwing away the class loader and re-constructing it from the loaded resources again.
`void` `refresh()` This method will refresh the entire application
`void` `refreshConstraints()` This method will rebuild the constraint definitions
`void` `registerArtefactHandler(ArtefactHandler handler)` Register a new artefact handler
`void` `setMainContext(ApplicationContext context)` Sets the main Spring context for this application.

Methods inherited from interface org.springframework.context.ApplicationContextAware
`setApplicationContext`

Field Detail

### WORK_DIR

    static final String WORK_DIR

  Deprecated. Use `BuildSettings.WORK_DIR` instead.
  The name of the system property whose value contains the location, during development, of the Grails working directory where temporary files are generated to

  See Also:
    Constant Field Values

### PROJECT_WORK_DIR

    static final String PROJECT_WORK_DIR

  Deprecated. Use `BuildSettings.PROJECT_WORK_DIR` instead.
  The directory where temporary project resources and plug-ins are kept

  See Also:
    Constant Field Values

### PLUGINS_DIR

    static final String PLUGINS_DIR

  Deprecated. Use `BuildSettings.PLUGINS_DIR` instead.
  The path to the plug-ins directory for the application

  See Also:
    Constant Field Values

### GLOBAL_PLUGINS_DIR

    static final String GLOBAL_PLUGINS_DIR

  Deprecated. Use `BuildSettings.GLOBAL_PLUGINS_DIR` instead.
  The path to the global plug-ins directory for the application

  See Also:
    Constant Field Values

### PROJECT_RESOURCES_DIR

    static final String PROJECT_RESOURCES_DIR

  Deprecated. Use `BuildSettings.PROJECT_RESOURCES_DIR` instead.
  The name of the system property whose value contains the location, during development, of the current Grails projects resources directory

  See Also:
    Constant Field Values

### PROJECT_CLASSES_DIR

    static final String PROJECT_CLASSES_DIR

  Deprecated. Use `BuildSettings.PROJECT_CLASSES_DIR` instead.
  The name of the system property whose value contains the location, during development, of the current Grails projects resources directory

  See Also:
    Constant Field Values

### PROJECT_TEST_CLASSES_DIR

    static final String PROJECT_TEST_CLASSES_DIR

  Deprecated. Use `BuildSettings.PROJECT_TEST_CLASSES_DIR` instead.
  The name of the system property whose value contains the location, during development, of the current Grails projects resources directory

  See Also:
    Constant Field Values

### APPLICATION_ID

    static final String APPLICATION_ID

  The id of the grails application within a bean context

  See Also:
    Constant Field Values

### ENVIRONMENT

    static final String ENVIRONMENT

  Deprecated. Use `Environment.KEY` instead.
  Constant used to resolve the environment via System.getProperty(ENVIRONMENT)

### ENVIRONMENT_DEFAULT

    static final String ENVIRONMENT_DEFAULT

  Deprecated. Use `Environment.DEFAULT` instead.
  Constants that indicates whether this GrailsApplication is running in the default environment

  See Also:
    Constant Field Values

### ENV_DEVELOPMENT

    static final String ENV_DEVELOPMENT

  Deprecated. Use `Environment.DEVELOPMENT` instead.
  Constant for the development environment

### ENV_APPLICATION

    static final String ENV_APPLICATION

  Deprecated. Use `Environment.APPLICATION` instead.
  Constant for the application data source, primarly for backward compatability for those applications that use ApplicationDataSource.groovy

### ENV_PRODUCTION

    static final String ENV_PRODUCTION

  Deprecated. Use `Environment.PRODUCTION` instead.
  Constant for the production environment.

### ENV_TEST

    static final String ENV_TEST

  Deprecated. Use `Environment.TEST` instead.
  Constant for the test environment.

### CONFIG_CLASS

    static final String CONFIG_CLASS

  The name of the class that provides configuration

  See Also:
    Constant Field Values

### DATA_SOURCE_CLASS

    static final String DATA_SOURCE_CLASS

See Also:
  Constant Field Values

### PROJECT_META_FILE

    static final String PROJECT_META_FILE

See Also:
  Constant Field Values

Method Detail

### getConfig

    groovy.util.ConfigObject getConfig()

  Returns the ConfigObject instance

  Returns:
    The ConfigObject instance

### getFlatConfig

    Map getFlatConfig()

  Returns the flatten ConfigObject for use from Java classes

  Returns:
    The flattened config

### getClassLoader

    ClassLoader getClassLoader()

  Returns the class loader instance for the Grails application

  Returns:
    The ClassLoader instance

### getAllClasses

    Class[] getAllClasses()

  Retrieves all java.lang.Class instances loaded by the Grails class loader

  Returns:
    An array of classes

### getAllArtefacts

    Class[] getAllArtefacts()

  Retrieves all java.lang.Class instances considered Artefacts loaded by the Grails class loader

  Returns:
    An array of classes

### getMainContext

    ApplicationContext getMainContext()

  Returns the Spring context for this application. Note that this will return `null` until the application is fully initialised. This context contains all the application artifacts, plugin beans, the works.

### setMainContext

    void setMainContext(ApplicationContext context)

  Sets the main Spring context for this application.

### getParentContext

    ApplicationContext getParentContext()

  Returns the Spring application context that contains this application instance. It is the parent of the context returned by `getMainContext()`.

### getClassForName

    Class getClassForName(String className)

  Retrieves a class for the given name within the GrailsApplication or returns null

  Parameters:
    `className` - The name of the class
  Returns:
    The class or null

### refreshConstraints

    void refreshConstraints()

  This method will rebuild the constraint definitions

  To do:
    move this out? Why ORM dependencies in here?

### refresh

    void refresh()

  This method will refresh the entire application

### rebuild

    void rebuild()

  Rebuilds this Application throwing away the class loader and re-constructing it from the loaded resources again. This method can only be called in development mode and an error will be thrown if called in a different enivronment

### getResourceForClass

    Resource getResourceForClass(Class theClazz)

  Retrieves a Resource instance for the given Grails class or null it doesn't exist

  Parameters:
    `theClazz` - The Grails class
  Returns:
    A Resource or null

### isArtefact

    boolean isArtefact(Class theClazz)

  Call this to find out if the class you have is an artefact loaded by grails.

  Parameters:
    `theClazz` - A class to test
  Returns:
    True if and only if the class was loaded from grails-app/
  Since:
    0.5

### isArtefactOfType

    boolean isArtefactOfType(String artefactType,
                             Class theClazz)

  Check if the specified artefact Class has been loaded by Grails already AND is of the type expected

  Parameters:
    `artefactType` - A string identifying the artefact type to check for
    `theClazz` - The class to check
  Returns:
    True if Grails considers the class to be managed as an artefact of the type specified.
  Since:
    0.5

### isArtefactOfType

    boolean isArtefactOfType(String artefactType,
                             String className)

  Check if the artefact Class with the name specified is of the type expected

  Parameters:
    `artefactType` - A string identifying the artefact type to check for
    `className` - The name of a class to check
  Returns:
    True if Grails considers the class to be managed as an artefact of the type specified.
  Since:
    0.5

### getArtefact

    GrailsClass getArtefact(String artefactType,
                            String name)

  Gets the GrailsClass associated with the named artefact class

  i.e. to get the GrailsClass for controller called "BookController" you pass the name "BookController"

  Parameters:
    `artefactType` - The type of artefact to retrieve, i.e. "Controller"
    `name` - The name of an artefact such as "BookController"
  Returns:
    The associated GrailsClass or null
  Since:
    0.5

### getArtefactType

    ArtefactHandler getArtefactType(Class theClass)

  Returns the ArtefactHandler for the given class or null

  Parameters:
    `theClass` - The class
  Returns:
    The ArtefactHandler

### getArtefactInfo

    ArtefactInfo getArtefactInfo(String artefactType)

  Obtain all the class information about the artefactType specified

  Parameters:
    `artefactType` - An artefact type identifier i.e. "Domain"
  Returns:
    The artefact info or null if the artefactType is not recognized
  Since:
    0.5

### getArtefacts

    GrailsClass[] getArtefacts(String artefactType)

  Get an array of all the GrailsClass instances relating to artefacts of the specified type.

  Parameters:
    `artefactType` - The type of artefact to retrieve, i.e. "Controller"
  Returns:
    An array of GrailsClasses which may empty by not null
  Since:
    0.5

### getArtefactForFeature

    GrailsClass getArtefactForFeature(String artefactType,
                                      Object featureID)

  Get an artefact GrailsClass by a "feature" which depending on the artefact may be a URI or tag name for example

  Parameters:
    `artefactType` - The type ID of the artefact, i.e. "TagLib"
    `featureID` - The "feature" ID, say a URL or tag name
  Returns:
    The grails class or null if none is found
  Since:
    0.5

### addArtefact

    GrailsClass addArtefact(String artefactType,
                            Class artefactClass)

  Registers a new artefact

  Parameters:
    `artefactType` - The type ID of the artefact, i.e. "TagLib"
    `artefactClass` - The class of the artefact. A new GrailsClass will be created automatically and added to internal structures, using the appropriate ArtefactHandler
  Returns:
    The new grails class for the artefact class
  Since:
    0.5

### addArtefact

    GrailsClass addArtefact(String artefactType,
                            GrailsClass artefactGrailsClass)

  Registers a new artefact

  Parameters:
    `artefactType` - The type ID of the artefact, i.e. "TagLib"
    `artefactGrailsClass` - The GrailsClass of the artefact.
  Returns:
    The supplied grails class for the artefact class
  Since:
    0.5

### registerArtefactHandler

    void registerArtefactHandler(ArtefactHandler handler)

  Register a new artefact handler

  Parameters:
    `handler` - The new handler to add

### hasArtefactHandler

    boolean hasArtefactHandler(String type)

  Test whether an artefact handler exists for a given type

  Parameters:
    `type` - The type of the handler
  Returns:
    True if it does

### getArtefactHandlers

    ArtefactHandler[] getArtefactHandlers()

  Obtain a list of all the artefact handlers

  Returns:
    The list, possible empty but not null, of all currently registered handlers

### initialise

    void initialise()

  Initialise this GrailsApplication

### isInitialised

    boolean isInitialised()

  Returns whether this GrailsApplication has been initialised or not

  Returns:
    True if it has been initialised

### getMetadata

    Map getMetadata()

  Get access to the project's metadata, specified in application.properties

  This provides access to information like required grails version, application name, version etc but NOT general application settings.

  Returns:
    A read-only Map of data about the application, not environment specific

### getArtefactByLogicalPropertyName

    GrailsClass getArtefactByLogicalPropertyName(String type,
                                                 String logicalName)

  Retrieves an artefact by its logical property name. For example the logical property name of BookController would be book

  Parameters:
    `type` - The artefact type
    `logicalName` - The logical name
  Returns:
    The GrailsClass or null if it doesn't exist

### addArtefact

    void addArtefact(Class artefact)

  Adds the given artefact, attempting to determine type from

  Parameters:
    `artefact` - The artefact to add

### isWarDeployed

    boolean isWarDeployed()

  Returns true if this application has been deployed as a WAR file

  Returns:
    True if the application is WAR deployed

### addOverridableArtefact

    void addOverridableArtefact(Class artefact)

  Adds an artefact that can be overriden by user defined classes

  Parameters:
    `artefact` - An overridable artefact

### configChanged

    void configChanged()

  Fired to inform the application when the Config.groovy file changes

### getArtefactHandler

    ArtefactHandler getArtefactHandler(String type)

  Returns the ArtefactHandler for the given type

  Parameters:
    `type` - The artefact handler type
  Returns:
    The artefact handler

Copyright (c) 2005-2009 The Grails project