Some properties defined in this file are already interpreted by the system:

Now we will adapt the xins.properties for the MyFunction implementation by adding the following lines:

# Salutation message for the person
salutation=Hello

We now need to change the implementation to read and use the property. Note that the property should be able to be changed at runtime. Add the following code to MyFunctionImpl.java

import org.xins.common.collections.MissingRequiredPropertyException;
import org.xins.common.collections.InvalidPropertyValueException;
import org.xins.common.collections.PropertyReader;
import org.xins.common.manageable.BootstrapException;
import org.xins.common.manageable.InitializationException;

...
   /**
    * The salutation message.
    */
   private String _salutation;

   protected void initImpl(PropertyReader properties)
   throws MissingRequiredPropertyException,
          InvalidPropertyValueException,
          InitializationException {

      // Get the salutation
      _salutation = properties.get("salutation");
      if (_salutation == null || _salutation.trim().equals("")) {
         throw new MissingRequiredPropertyException("salutation");
      }
      // Here you can also chack the value and throw an
      // InvalidPropertyValueException if needed
   }

   public final Result call(Request request) throws Throwable {
...
      result.setMessage(_salutation + " " + nomination + " " +
                        request.getPersonLastName());
      return result;
   }

Now recompile your code, restart the server, execute the function, change the value in xins.properties to Hi, wait for the server to reload the properties file and execute the function again.

The API class defines a deinitImpl() method. This method is used to release resources when you stop the API.

The API class has a bootstrapImpl2(PropertyReader buildSettings) method that is called the API is started. The buildSettings passed as parameters are the properties stored in the web.xml file included in the deployment war file.

The API class has a reinitializeImpl() method. This method can be invoked in your implementation to ask the framework to reinitialize the API.

XINS 1.3.0 includes a new system that allows to define runtime properties that you will use in your API in the impl.xml file. In this file you define the name of the property, its description, its type and whether is property is required or optional. The value of the property still needs to be defined in the xins.properties file.

Example:

<impl>
  <runtime-properties>
    <property name="myproject.eurodollar.rate" type="_float32" required="true">
      <description>The price in dollars of 1 euro.</description>
    </property>
  </runtime-properties>
</impl>

Now when the specification documentation is generated, a new page is available containing the list of the runtimes properties used by the API along with their description, their type and whether the property is required or optional. This page makes it easier to deploy an API with the correct runtime properties set.

Another advantage of defining the properties this way is that you don't need to implement the initImpl method to retreive the property values. A class is generated that checks and retreives the properties. If the value of a property is incorrect or a required property is missing then the API will fail with a description of the problem. The getAPI().getProperties() method can also be called from the initImpl method of your function, if you want for example initialize another object based on a runtime property.

Example on how to use the generated class:

   // No imports needed, no initImpl method needed

   public final Result call(Request request) throws Throwable {
      SuccessfulResult result = new SuccessfulResult();
      result.setPriceInEuro(request.getPriceInDollar() /
         ((RuntimeProperties) getAPI().getProperties()).getMyprojectEurodollarRate());
      return result;
   }

If the property was optional, a java.lang.Float object would have been returned.