Configuration

Bindgen has several configurable parameters that are documented here.

bindgen.properties

Bindgen’s configuration is stored in a bindgen.properties file at the root of your project.

Technically, the APT API provides a way to pass key/value pairs to processors via compiler arguments (e.g. -Akey=value), but this proves less than ideal when you have more than a few properties and also multiple tools compiling your code (e.g. having to configure the build.xml, Eclipse .settings, etc.)

So you can use -Akey=value arguments, but a separate bindgen.properties file is recommended.

Scope

Given a class annotated with @Bindable, Bindgen by default recurses into that class’s fields/methods and generates bindings for their types, and their types fields’/methods’ types, etc. This is what allows you to chain together a binding like b.foo().bar().name().

However, if unchecked, this recursion can result in a lot of sprawl, especially if Bindgen gets into a framework like Spring or Hibernate.

To limit the recursion to not escape certain package boundaries, you can set the scope property:

    scope=com.myapp,java

Block Types to Attempt

Besides fields/getters/setters, Bindgen can generate callable bindings.

Out of the box, Bindgen will wrap void, no-argument methods like void foo() into a Runnable foo() that invokes the original foo when the Runnable run() is called.

To customize the pseudo-closure like types Bindgen inspects your methods for, set blockTypes, e.g.:

    blockTypes=com.myapp.Block

The com.myapp.Block type should have on method. Note that it is allowed to have parameters.

Skip Attribute

Sometimes you just don’t want a property to have a binding generated for it. In this case, set:

skipAttribute.com.myapp.FooClass.barProperty=true

Skip Bind Keyword

By default, Bindgen creates a org.bindgen.BindKeyword class with a static bind method. This bind method is overloaded for each class that had bindings generated, so that you can use bind(this) and get back a type-safe Binding instance.

If you do not want this behavior, set:

skipBindKeyword=true

Skip Generated Timestamps

By default, Bindgen puts a @Generated annotation in the source output of any bindings it generates. This identifies Bindgen as the originator of the source and also the timestamp of when it was created.

If you don’t want the @Generated put, you can set the property:

skipGeneratedTimestamps=true

Fix Raw Types

Occasionally an old API will use generic classes but without the generics. This can cause a headache to bind against, so you can override the missing generic.

For example, this option:

fixRawType.javax.servlet.ServletRequest.parameterMap=String, String[]

Changes the binding type for the pre-1.5 ServletRequest.getParameterMap method from a raw Map to a Map<String, String[]>

Note that Bindgen by default includes fixRawType. settings for any servlet API methods that use raw types.

Binding Super Class

The generated XxxBindingPath classes typically extend an internal Bindgen AbstractBinding class. If you’d prefer to have them extend your own class, you can set:

bindingPathSuperClass=your.class.Name