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Performing simple tasks with Maven and Java

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Sometimes I need a small tool to perform a simple task for me. One recent example is a simple test client that sends a SOAP request that in an integrated environment would be sent by an external party. The client needs to send an ID and the outcome (accepted/rejected) of a request that was sent in a previous stage.

Now, there are several ways to achieve this. You could write a full web-based GUI, or, on the other end of the spectrum, use a tool like Boomerang. But if you’re already using Maven, you should also consider using the Exec Maven plugin.

The Exec plugin is an easy way to execute some code; it is lot faster to set up than a standalone application, but you are still able to access normal Maven dependencies.

Setting it up

You can use this in an existing project or create a new project. Since my client is basically test code, I created a new project that depends on the project that contains the application code.


    4.0.0
    
        eu.luminis.mvnexec
        parent
        1.0.0
    
    mvn-exec-example
    Exec Maven plugin example
    
        
            eu.luminis.mvnexec
            services
            1.0.0

Add an executable class to the project that performs the action you need. You can use the standard arguments array if you need paramaters. My class takes three parameters: a customer ID, the outcome, and the endpoint URL. It then performs a SOAP call and prints the results to the console.

package eu.luminis.mvnexec.client;

import eu.luminis.mvnexec.services.*;

import javax.xml.ws.BindingProvider;
import java.math.BigInteger;

public class SoapClient {

    private final LuminisService service;

    public static void main(final String[] args) {
        final String url = args[2];
        final SoapClient client = new SoapClient(url);
        final ServiceRequest request = new ServiceRequest();
        request.setCustomerId(BigInteger.valueOf(Long.parseLong(args[0])));
        request.setOutcome(Outcome.valueOf(args[1]));
        final ServiceResponse response = client.updateCustomer(request);
        System.out.println("Status: " + response.getStatus());
        System.out.println("Message: " + response.getMessage());
    }
    
    public SoapClient(final String endpointUrl) {
        service = new LumninisService();
        this.endpointUrl = endpointUrl;
    }
    
    public ServiceResponse updateCustomer(final ServiceRequest request) {
        return getPort().updateCustomer(request);
    }

    private LuminisPort getPort() {
        final LuminisPort port = service.getLuminisPort();
        final BindingProvider bp = (BindingProvider) port;
        bp.getRequestContext().put(BindingProvider.ENDPOINT_ADDRESS_PROPERTY, endpointUrl);
        return port;
    }
}

Add the Exec plugin to your pom; if you want to use arguments, you must specify them in the configuration of the plugin. With the classpath tag you automatically add all project dependencies to the classpath.


  ...  
  
        
            
                org.codehaus.mojo
                exec-maven-plugin
                1.3.2
                
                    
                        
                            exec
                        
                    
                
                
                    java
                    
                        -classpath
                        
                        eu.luminis.mvnexec.client.SoapClient
                        ${customerId}
                        ${outcome}
                        ${serviceUrl}
                    
                
            
        
    
    ...

Running your code

Run the code by calling the exec:exec goal and providing the parameters you defined in the pom. You must provide all parameters that you defined!

mvn exec:exec -DcustomerId=1234 -Doutcome=REJECTED -DserviceUrl=http://localhost:8080/services/soap

If one of the parameters is (almost) always the same for the user, you could define the value as a property in the user’s Maven settings file (user_home/.m2/settings.xml) so you don’t have to provide it every time you execute the code.

 
      
        
          inject-services-url
          
            http://localhost:8080/services/soap
          
        
      

      
        inject-services-url