VelocityTools2/GenericTools

Overview

GenericTools is the set of classes that provide basic infrastructure for using tools in standard Java SE Velocity projects, as well as a set of tools for use in generic Velocity templates. These tools have no Java EE dependencies and are often safe to use as "singletons". Some of them are not thread-safe to allow both a no-arg constructor and configurability, but the state-changing methods are declared protected with the exception of configure(Map) which is--by default--rendered useless after being used just once. If you require strict thread-safety, be very cautious in using any configurable tools.

Default Configuration

The default configuration provided for GenericTools is here.

Dependencies

TODO: just link to an anchor in a comprehensive dependencies overview page?

• Compile Time Requirements
  • commons-beanutils
  • commons-collections
  • commons-digester
  • commons-lang
  • commons-logging
  • velocity
• Runtime Requirements

  • commons-beanutils - core infrastructure, MathTool, SortTool

  • commons-digester - xml configuration

  • commons-lang - EscapeTool

  • velocity - ClassTool, IteratorTool, RenderTool

Tools

• Alternator & AlternatorTool - For easily alternating over values in a list or array.

• ClassTool - For simplifying reflective lookup of information about Classes and their fields, methods and constructors.

• ConversionTool - For converting String values to richer object types.

• DateTool & ComparisonDateTool - For manipulating, formatting, and comparing dates.

• DisplayTool - For controlling display of references (e.g. truncating values, "pretty printing" lists, and displaying alternates when a reference is null).

• EscapeTool - For common escaping needs in Velocity templates (e.g. escaping html, xml, javascript etc.)

• FieldTool - For (easy) access to static fields in a class, such as string constants.

• IteratorTool - Wraps lists to let the designer specify a condition to terminate the loop, and reuse the same list in different loops.

• ListTool - For working with arrays and lists, treats both transparently the same.

• MathTool - For performing math functions.

• NumberTool - For formatting and converting numbers.

• RenderTool - To evaluate and render arbitrary strings of VTL, including recursive rendering.

• ResourceTool - For simplified access to ResourceBundles for internationalization or other dynamic content needs.

• SortTool - Used to sort collections (or arrays, iterators, etc) on any arbitary set of properties exposed by the objects contained within the collection.

• ValueParser - Used to retrieve and parse (aka convert) String values pulled from a map.