Problem with Velocity - ResourceNotFoundException when using with Spring MVC

Question

I am using Spring MVC for my web application and I am integrating Velocity for templating my emails.

I am getting the following 500 error when It attempts to send my email.

org.apache.velocity.exception.ResourceNotFoundException: 
Unable to find resource '/WEB-INF/velocity/registrationEmail.vm'

I am aware of what this means and what I need to do, but I know that I must be doing something wrong and I cant figure out why it cant find my .vm files.

I have configured velocity in my applicationContext.xml file as below, but I believe I might be leaving necessary properties out that Velocity needs to find the file.

<bean id="velocityEngine" 
    class="org.springframework.ui.velocity.VelocityEngineFactoryBean">
        <property name="velocityProperties">
             <value>
              resource.loader=class
               class.resource.loader.class=
               org.apache.velocity.runtime.resource.loader.ClasspathResourceLoader
             </value>
        </property>
    </bean>
    <bean id="velocityConfig" class="org.springframework.web.servlet.view.velocity.VelocityConfigurer">
     <property name="resourceLoaderPath" value="/WEB-INF/velocity/"/>
    </bean>

I believe this might be where I need to make some changes/additions but I am not sure.

The path to my template files is WEB-INF/velocity/templateName.vm

I specify this when using the velocityEngine bean in my controller as well such as the following

String text = VelocityEngineUtils.mergeTemplateIntoString(
                       velocityEngine, "/WEB-INF/velocity/registrationEmail.vm", test);

Is there something I need to do in my build.xml file to make sure that it is able to find my template files?

Solution 1

I think the problem is that WEB-INF is not part of CLASSPATH. You can't expect the ClasspathResourceLoader to find something that isn't in the CLASSPATH.

WEB-INF/classes and all the JARs in WEB-INF/lib are in the CLASSPATH. Try moving your folder with the .vm files under WEB-INF/classes and see if that helps.

Best idea of all is to follow the Spring docs:

http://static.springsource.org/spring/docs/2.5.x/reference/view.html#view-velocity

Solution 2

Say you archive *.vm files in a *.jar file. And put it in your WEB-INF/lib.

Then include following snippet in your bean configuration to make it visible to VelocityEngineUtils.

Work like a charm..!

<bean class="org.springframework.ui.velocity.VelocityEngineFactoryBean">
<property name="resourceLoaderPath">
<value>classpath:com/test/mail</value>
</property>
</bean>

You can give what every your resource location(i.e, should be in your class path) between <value>...</value> block.

Solution 3

I have experienced a similar problem and there the root cause turned out to be the usage of absolute path. So try it without the leading '/':

String text = VelocityEngineUtils.mergeTemplateIntoString(
        velocityEngine, "WEB-INF/velocity/registrationEmail.vm", test);

Comments

[TheJediCowboy]

I tried this, but it is still unable to find the .vm file, im wondering where my error could be...

[TheJediCowboy]

I tried putting my /velocity directory under /WEB-INF/classes/velocity but it still gave me the same problem. Is there a better way to do this or to specify the velocity properties?

[duffymo]

What path did you give it? Should have been "velocity/*.vm". If it's in WEB-INF/classes, you don't need the prefix.

[TheJediCowboy]

Great, this worked, I am curious, is this an alright method of doing this(keeping the velocity templates in the classes directory)? I haven't seen much on the topic, but I have heard from multiple sources the same practice.

[duffymo]

Sure, why would it not be all right? You're simply putting templates in the classpath where the resource loader can find them. What are the potential problems that you're worried about?

[TheJediCowboy]

I am not worried about any problems, I just dont have much experience and have not every put anything in the classes directory, but it works well and I appreciate the help!