Revised documentation for PDF, Excel and JSON views

Issue: SPR-17180
Issue: SPR-17182

spring-webmvc/src/main/java/org/springframework/web/servlet/view/json/MappingJackson2JsonView.java

@@ -149,7 +149,7 @@ public class MappingJackson2JsonView extends AbstractJackson2View {
 	 * Filter out undesired attributes from the given model.
 	 * The return value can be either another {@link Map} or a single value object.
 	 * <p>The default implementation removes {@link BindingResult} instances and entries
-	 * not included in the {@link #setModelKeys renderedAttributes} property.
+	 * not included in the {@link #setModelKeys modelKeys} property.
 	 * @param model the model, as passed on to {@link #renderMergedOutputModel}
 	 * @return the value to be rendered
 	 */

src/docs/asciidoc/web/webmvc-view.adoc

@@ -22,8 +22,8 @@ extensive set of features that will make such a transition easier. Thymeleaf is
 developed and maintained. For a more complete introduction see the
 http://www.thymeleaf.org/[Thymeleaf] project home page.
 
-The Thymeleaf integration with Spring MVC is managed by the Thymeleaf project. The
-configuration involves a few bean declarations such as
+The Thymeleaf integration with Spring MVC is managed by the Thymeleaf project.
+The configuration involves a few bean declarations such as
 `ServletContextTemplateResolver`, `SpringTemplateEngine`, and `ThymeleafViewResolver`.
 See http://www.thymeleaf.org/documentation.html[Thymeleaf+Spring] for more details.
 
@@ -941,9 +941,8 @@ The preceding JSP assumes that the variable name of the form backing object is
 ==== The input tag
 
 This tag renders an HTML 'input' tag using the bound value and type='text' by default.
-For an example of this tag, see <<mvc-view-jsp-formtaglib-formtag>>. Starting with Spring
-3.1 you can use other types such HTML5-specific types like 'email', 'tel', 'date', and
-others.
+For an example of this tag, see <<mvc-view-jsp-formtaglib-formtag>>. You may also use
+HTML5-specific types like 'email', 'tel', 'date', and others.
 
 
 [[mvc-view-jsp-formtaglib-checkboxtag]]
@@ -1563,12 +1562,12 @@ The corresponding `@Controller` method is shown below:
 [[mvc-view-jsp-formtaglib-html5]]
 ==== HTML5 tags
 
-Starting with Spring 3, the Spring form tag library allows entering dynamic attributes,
-which means you can enter any HTML5 specific attributes.
+The Spring form tag library allows entering dynamic attributes, which means you can
+enter any HTML5 specific attributes.
 
-In Spring 3.1, the form input tag supports entering a type attribute other than 'text'.
-This is intended to allow rendering new HTML5 specific input types such as 'email',
-'date', 'range', and others. Note that entering type='text' is not required since 'text'
+The form input tag supports entering a type attribute other than 'text'. This is
+intended to allow rendering new HTML5 specific input types such as 'email', 'date',
+'range', and others. Note that entering type='text' is not required since 'text'
 is the default type.
 
 
@@ -1801,7 +1800,6 @@ Similar requirements apply for implementing `AbstractRssFeedView`, as shown belo
 				HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws Exception {
 			// implementation omitted
 		}
-
 	}
 ----
 
@@ -1822,7 +1820,7 @@ https://spring.io/blog/2009/03/16/adding-an-atom-view-to-an-application-using-sp
 
 
 [[mvc-view-document-intro]]
-=== Introduction
+=== Introduction to document views
 
 Returning an HTML page isn't always the best way for the user to view the model output,
 and Spring makes it simple to generate a PDF document or an Excel spreadsheet
@@ -1843,166 +1841,45 @@ vulnerability for untrusted PDF content.
 
 
 
-[[mvc-view-document-config]]
-=== Configuration
-
-Document based views are handled in an almost identical fashion to XSLT views, and the
-following sections build upon the previous one by demonstrating how the same controller
-used in the XSLT example is invoked to render the same model as both a PDF document and
-an Excel spreadsheet (which can also be viewed or manipulated in Open Office).
-
-
-
-[[mvc-view-document-configviews]]
-=== View definition
-
-First, let's amend the views.properties file (or xml equivalent) and add a simple view
-definition for both document types. The entire file now looks like this with the XSLT
-view shown from earlier:
-
-[literal]
-[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
-----
-home.(class)=xslt.HomePage
-home.stylesheetLocation=/WEB-INF/xsl/home.xslt
-home.root=words
-
-xl.(class)=excel.HomePage
-
-pdf.(class)=pdf.HomePage
-----
-
-__If you want to start with a template spreadsheet or a fillable PDF form to add your
-model data to, specify the location as the 'url' property in the view definition__
-
-
-
-[[mvc-view-document-configcontroller]]
-=== Controller
-
-The controller code we'll use remains exactly the same from the XSLT example earlier
-other than to change the name of the view to use. Of course, you could be clever and
-have this selected based on a URL parameter or some other logic - proof that Spring
-really is very good at decoupling the views from the controllers!
-
-
-
-[[mvc-view-document-configsubclasses]]
-=== Excel views
-
-Exactly as we did for the XSLT example, we'll subclass suitable abstract classes in
-order to implement custom behavior in generating our output documents. For Excel, this
-involves writing a subclass of
-`org.springframework.web.servlet.view.document.AbstractExcelView` (for Excel files
-generated by POI) or `org.springframework.web.servlet.view.document.AbstractJExcelView`
-(for JExcelApi-generated Excel files) and implementing the `buildExcelDocument()` method.
-
-Here's the complete listing for our POI Excel view which displays the word list from the
-model map in consecutive rows of the first column of a new spreadsheet:
-
-[source,java,indent=0]
-[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
-----
-	package excel;
-
-	// imports omitted for brevity
-
-	public class HomePage extends AbstractExcelView {
-
-		protected void buildExcelDocument(Map model, HSSFWorkbook wb, HttpServletRequest req,
-				HttpServletResponse resp) throws Exception {
-
-			HSSFSheet sheet;
-			HSSFRow sheetRow;
-			HSSFCell cell;
-
-			// Go to the first sheet
-			// getSheetAt: only if wb is created from an existing document
-			// sheet = wb.getSheetAt(0);
-			sheet = wb.createSheet("Spring");
-			sheet.setDefaultColumnWidth((short) 12);
-
-			// write a text at A1
-			cell = getCell(sheet, 0, 0);
-			setText(cell, "Spring-Excel test");
-
-			List words = (List) model.get("wordList");
-			for (int i=0; i < words.size(); i++) {
-				cell = getCell(sheet, 2+i, 0);
-				setText(cell, (String) words.get(i));
-			}
-		}
-
-	}
-----
+[[mvc-view-document-pdf]]
+=== PDF views
 
-And the following is a view generating the same Excel file, now using JExcelApi:
+A simple PDF view for a word list could extend
+`org.springframework.web.servlet.view.document.AbstractPdfView` and implement the
+`buildPdfDocument()` method as follows:
 
 [source,java,indent=0]
 [subs="verbatim,quotes"]
 ----
-	package excel;
+	public class PdfWordList extends AbstractPdfView {
 
-	// imports omitted for brevity
-
-	public class HomePage extends AbstractJExcelView {
-
-		protected void buildExcelDocument(Map model, WritableWorkbook wb,
+		protected void buildPdfDocument(Map<String, Object> model, Document doc, PdfWriter writer,
 				HttpServletRequest request, HttpServletResponse response) throws Exception {
 
-			WritableSheet sheet = wb.createSheet("Spring", 0);
-
-			sheet.addCell(new Label(0, 0, "Spring-Excel test"));
-
-			List words = (List) model.get("wordList");
-			for (int i = 0; i < words.size(); i++) {
-				sheet.addCell(new Label(2+i, 0, (String) words.get(i)));
+			List<String> words = (List<String>) model.get("wordList");
+			for (String word : words) {
+				doc.add(new Paragraph(word));
 			}
 		}
 	}
 ----
 
-Note the differences between the APIs. We've found that the JExcelApi is somewhat more
-intuitive, and furthermore, JExcelApi has slightly better image-handling capabilities.
-There have been memory problems with large Excel files when using JExcelApi however.
-
-If you now amend the controller such that it returns `xl` as the name of the view (
-`return new ModelAndView("xl", map);`) and run your application again, you should find
-that the Excel spreadsheet is created and downloaded automatically when you request the
-same page as before.
+A controller may return such a view either from an external view definition
+(referencing it by name) or as a `View` instance from the handler method.
 
 
 
-[[mvc-view-document-configsubclasspdf]]
-=== PDF views
-
-The PDF version of the word list is even simpler. This time, the class extends
-`org.springframework.web.servlet.view.document.AbstractPdfView` and implements the
-`buildPdfDocument()` method as follows:
-
-[source,java,indent=0]
-[subs="verbatim,quotes"]
-----
-	package pdf;
-
-	// imports omitted for brevity
-
-	public class PDFPage extends AbstractPdfView {
-
-		protected void buildPdfDocument(Map model, Document doc, PdfWriter writer,
-			HttpServletRequest req, HttpServletResponse resp) throws Exception {
-			List words = (List) model.get("wordList");
-			for (int i=0; i<words.size(); i++) {
-				doc.add( new Paragraph((String) words.get(i)));
-			}
-		}
+[[mvc-view-document-pdf]]
+=== Excel views
 
-	}
-----
+Since Spring Framework 4.2,
+`org.springframework.web.servlet.view.document.AbstractXlsView` is provided as a base
+class for Excel views based on POI, with specialized subclasses `AbstractXlsxView`
+and `AbstractXlsxStreamingView`, superseding the outdated `AbstractExcelView` class.
 
-Once again, amend the controller to return the `pdf` view with `return new
-ModelAndView("pdf", map);`, and reload the URL in your application. This time a PDF
-document should appear listing each of the words in the model map.
+The programming model is similar to `AbstractPdfView`, with `buildExcelDocument()`
+as the central template method and controllers being able to return such a view from
+an external definition (by name) or as a `View` instance from the handler method.
 
 
 
@@ -2014,16 +1891,16 @@ document should appear listing each of the words in the model map.
 
 
 [[mvc-view-json-mapping]]
-=== JSON
+=== Jackson-based JSON views
 [.small]#<<web-reactive.adoc#webflux-view-httpmessagewriter,Same in Spring WebFlux>>#
 
 The `MappingJackson2JsonView` uses the Jackson library's `ObjectMapper` to render the response
 content as JSON. By default, the entire contents of the model map (with the exception of
 framework-specific classes) will be encoded as JSON. For cases where the contents of the
 map need to be filtered, users may specify a specific set of model attributes to encode
-via the `RenderedAttributes` property. The `extractValueFromSingleKeyModel` property may
-also be used to have the value in single-key models extracted and serialized directly
-rather than as a map of model attributes.
+via the `modelKeys` property. The `extractValueFromSingleKeyModel` property may also be
+used to have the value in single-key models extracted and serialized directly rather than
+as a map of model attributes.
 
 JSON mapping can be customized as needed through the use of Jackson's provided
 annotations. When further control is needed, a custom `ObjectMapper` can be injected
@@ -2033,7 +1910,7 @@ serializers/deserializers need to be provided for specific types.
 
 
 [[mvc-view-xml-mapping]]
-=== XML
+=== Jackson-based XML views
 [.small]#<<web-reactive.adoc#webflux-view-httpmessagewriter,Same in Spring WebFlux>>#
 
 The `MappingJackson2XmlView` uses the
@@ -2051,11 +1928,11 @@ serializers/deserializers need to be provided for specific types.
 
 
 [[mvc-view-xml-marshalling]]
-== XML
+== XML marshalling
 
 The `MarshallingView` uses an XML `Marshaller` defined in the `org.springframework.oxm`
 package to render the response content as XML. The object to be marshalled can be set
-explicitly using ``MarhsallingView``'s `modelKey` bean property. Alternatively, the view
+explicitly using ``MarshallingView``'s `modelKey` bean property. Alternatively, the view
 will iterate over all model properties and marshal the first type that is supported
 by the `Marshaller`. For more information on the functionality in the
 `org.springframework.oxm` package refer to the chapter
@@ -2065,7 +1942,7 @@ by the `Marshaller`. For more information on the functionality in the
 
 
 [[mvc-view-xslt]]
-== XSLT
+== XSLT views
 
 XSLT is a transformation language for XML and is popular as a view technology within web
 applications. XSLT can be a good choice as a view technology if your application
@@ -2084,9 +1961,8 @@ document ready for transformation.
 [[mvc-view-xslt-beandefs]]
 === Beans
 
-Configuration is standard for a simple Spring application.
-The MVC configuration has to define a `XsltViewResolver` bean and
-regular MVC annotation configuration.
+Configuration is standard for a simple Spring web application: The MVC configuration
+has to define an `XsltViewResolver` bean and regular MVC annotation configuration.
 
 [source,java,indent=0]
 [subs="verbatim,quotes"]
@@ -2103,7 +1979,6 @@ public class WebConfig implements WebMvcConfigurer {
 		viewResolver.setSuffix(".xslt");
 		return viewResolver;
 	}
-
 }
 ----
 
@@ -2115,7 +1990,7 @@ And we need a Controller that encapsulates our word generation logic.
 === Controller
 
 The controller logic is encapsulated in a `@Controller` class, with the
-handler method being defined like so...
+handler method being defined as follows:
 
 [source,java,indent=0]
 [subs="verbatim,quotes"]
@@ -2125,7 +2000,6 @@ handler method being defined like so...
 
 		@RequestMapping("/")
 		public String home(Model model) throws Exception {
-
 			Document document = DocumentBuilderFactory.newInstance().newDocumentBuilder().newDocument();
 			Element root = document.createElement("wordList");
 
@@ -2140,7 +2014,6 @@ handler method being defined like so...
 			model.addAttribute("wordList", root);
 			return "home";
 		}
-
 	}
 ----