The details for reloading the DWR configurations are as follows:

As I saw it, there were 2 ways to go about adding a dynamic reloading
behavior to DWR.  First, one can add behavior in DWRServlet where a thread
occasionally checks to see if config files' timestamp has changed
(indicating an update).  Second, one can provide an explicit facility to
re-invoke the DWRServlet (thus reloading configurations).

For my purpose, the 2nd option was a better fit.  The steps are as follows
(using option 2).  In coming up with this solution, I needed to address 3
issues.

1. I needed to be able to access the DWRServlet within another class or
servlet.

2. I needed a way to cleanup the current DWRServlet instance.

3. I needed to devise a way to explicitly invoke the reloading of the
DWRServlet.

The first two points required me to update DWR framework code.  I had to
re-package the dwr.jar with the following changes to DWRServlet.  I suppose
this would have also worked if DWRServlet was sub-classed and these were
added to the sub-class (and the sub-class was used as the servlet for the
application).

- within the init method of the DWRServlet, after all initialization
processing has taken place, I stored the current instance of DWRServlet in
ServletContext.  The code snippet for this is pretty simple and looks
something like the following:

config.getServletContext().setAttribute("DWR_SERVLET", this);

With this change, I now have convenient access to the DWR Servlet instance
outside of the DWRServlet class or sub-class (consistent with the 1st issue
mentioned).  <<mention that Struts does this>>

The other change is:

- added a destroy method in the DWRServlet.  The contents of the destroy
method is as follows:

public void destroy() {

       processor= null;

}

DWR Javadocs indicate that the Processor class handles all of the request
for DWR.  In addition, it seemed that it also has a handle to all major DWR
objects related to the configurations.  Therefore, I figured that nullifying
the Processor class with be enough (in cleaning up current DWR configs).
With this change, I have convenient way to clean-up DWRServlet and related
configuration objects (consistent with 2nd issue).

To tie this all together (and consistent with the 3rd issue), I added a
utility servlet which explicitly invokes the reloading of the DWRServlet.
The contents of the utility servlet is as follows:

public void service(HttpServletRequest req, HttpServletResponse res)
               throws ServletException, IOException {


       if (null !=
req.getSession().getServletContext().getAttribute("DWR_SERVLET")) {

               /** retrieve the DWRServlet for servlet context **/
               DWRServlet dwrServlet =
                               (DWRServlet) req.getSession().getServletContext().getAttribute(
                                       "DWR_SERVLET");

               /** call destroy() **/
               dwrServlet.destroy();

               /** call init() **/
               dwrServlet.init(dwrServlet.getServletConfig());



       }

}

This is all to it.  Now, when reloading of DWR configurations is desired,
one would just have to invoke the utility servlet.  By the way, it should be
noted that this facility is ONLY for the reloading/re-reading of the DWR
configuration files and should not be confused with the re-compilation of
recently updated classes.  The later is typically is a function of
application servers.

Joe - I have only been using DWR for a month or so (and nowhere near an
expert).  The solution above seems to work fine for me.  Please verify (to
ensure no serious side effects) and let me know what you think.


Pat.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

About Dynamic Reconfiguration

A month or so ago someone suggested a simple method of getting synamic reconfig to work and I said I'd take a look.

My opinion is now that reconfiguration is not easy, and probably not worth it for 2.0. The issues are:
- It's not as simple as layering the new config on top of the old because stuff you remove will still be left behind, and for some things this could be a cause for serious confusion.
- Re-writing things like the security rules in a running system whilst leaving it always in a secure state is going to require all sorts of locks and checks.

dwr.xml is not a big file, so I don't see that it will change that much. Sure reload would be useful and neat, but the issues above are serious impediments.

Joe.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
/*
 * Copyright 2005 Joe Walker
 *
 * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
 * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
 * You may obtain a copy of the License at
 *
 *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
 *
 * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
 * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
 * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
 * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 * limitations under the License.
 */
package uk.ltd.getahead.dwr.impl;

import uk.ltd.getahead.dwr.AccessControl;
import uk.ltd.getahead.dwr.AjaxFilterManager;
import uk.ltd.getahead.dwr.Configurator;
import uk.ltd.getahead.dwr.Container;
import uk.ltd.getahead.dwr.CreatorManager;
import uk.ltd.getahead.dwr.dwrp.ConverterManager;

/**
 * Undoes the work done by any of the standard configurators.
 * @author Joe Walker [joe at getahead dot ltd dot uk]
 */
public class DeConfigurator implements Configurator
{
    /* (non-Javadoc)
     * @see uk.ltd.getahead.dwr.Configurator#configure(uk.ltd.getahead.dwr.Container)
     */
    public void configure(Container container)
    {
        AccessControl accessControl = (AccessControl) container.getBean(AccessControl.class.getName());
        accessControl.removeAllRules();
        accessControl.removeAllRoleRestrictions();

        AjaxFilterManager ajaxFilterManager = (AjaxFilterManager) container.getBean(AjaxFilterManager.class.getName());
        ajaxFilterManager.removeAllAjaxFilters();

        ConverterManager converterManager = (ConverterManager) container.getBean(ConverterManager.class.getName());
        converterManager.removeAllConverters();
        converterManager.removeAllConverterTypes();

        CreatorManager creatorManager = (CreatorManager) container.getBean(CreatorManager.class.getName());
        creatorManager.removeAllCreators();
        creatorManager.removeAllCreatorTypes();
    }
}