[FIXED] How can I use @IfProfileValue to test if a Profile is active?

Issue

So confusingly @IfProfileValue has nothing to do with @Profile or @ActiveProfiles. @Profile tests to see if a profile is active, @ActiveProfiles sets them as active, and @IfProfileValue allows you to check things in Spring Environment. Wut? I'd deprecate all of them and add new ones @IfEnvironment, @IfProfile, and @ActivateProfiles.

Commentary aside, how can I use @IfProfileValue to detect whether i have a profile active? I am not using Spring Boot on this project, at this time. Answers should show code, and we will assume that I want the test to run if the profile is activated as @ActiveProfiles( "test" ).

I tried @IfProfileValue(name = "activeProfiles", value = "test") but that seems to have the test skipped, which means it's not matching. I'm going to speculate the problem may have to do with the fact that ActiveProfiles is a Collection.

Solution

So confusingly @IfProfileValue has nothing to do with @Profile or @ActiveProfiles.

That's correct, and I explained this in detail here: https://stackoverflow.com/a/23627479/388980

... which I'm assuming you have already seen, since you commented on my answer yesterday.

The reason that @IfProfileValue has nothing to do with @Profile or @ActiveProfiles is due to the evolution of the framework. See below for further details.

@Profile tests to see if a profile is active, @ActiveProfiles sets them as active, and @IfProfileValue allows you to check things in Spring Environment.

These statements are not entirely correct, especially the last part.

@Profile is used to selectively enable a component (e.g., @Service, etc.), @Configuration class, or @Bean method if one of the named bean definition profiles is active in the Spring Environment for the ApplicationContext. This annotation is not directly related to testing: @Profile should not be used on a test class.

@ActiveProfiles is used to designate which bean definition profiles (e.g., those declared via @Profile) should be active when loading an ApplicationContext for an integration test.

@IfProfileValue does not allow you to check things in the Spring Environment. I'm not sure why you are assuming this, since none of the documentation in the Spring Framework states that. As I stated in the aforementioned thread:

Please note that @IfProfileValue was introduced in Spring Framework 2.0, long before the notion of bean definition profiles, and @ActiveProfiles was first introduced in Spring Framework 3.1.

In the aforementioned thread, I also pointed out the following:

The term 'profile' is perhaps misleading when considering the semantics for @IfProfileValue. The key is to think about 'test groups' (like those in TestNG) instead of 'profiles'. See the examples in the JavaDoc for @IfProfileValue.

how can I use @IfProfileValue to detect whether i have a profile active?

That depends, and... I'm assuming you mean bean definition profile when you say "profile".

If you're using @ActiveProfiles to set the bean definition profiles for your tests, you cannot currently use @IfProfileValue to determine if a bean definition profile is active, since the bean definition profiles configured via @ActiveProfiles are set directly in the test's ApplicationContext and not as a Java system property.

However, if you are setting the bean definition profiles only via the spring.profiles.active system property, then it would be possible to use @IfProfileValue to determine if a bean definition profile is active, since @IfProfileValue in fact works with system properties. For example, you could then use the following:

@IfProfileValue(name = "spring.profiles.active", value = "test")

I tried @IfProfileValue(name = "activeProfiles", value = "test") but that seems to have the test skipped, which means it's not matching.

That won't work since activeProfiles is the incorrect property name. The correct system property name is spring.profiles.active. See AbstractEnvironment.ACTIVE_PROFILES_PROPERTY_NAME for details.

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The fact that @IfProfileValue does not work in harmony with @ActiveProfiles is a known issue to the Spring team. Please consult the following JIRA issues for further details and to join in on the discussions if you'd like.

• https://jira.spring.io/browse/SPR-7754
• https://jira.spring.io/browse/SPR-8982
• https://jira.spring.io/browse/SPR-11677

Hope this clarifies the situation for you!

Sam (author of the Spring TestContext Framework)

Answered By - Sam Brannen
Answer Checked By - Dawn Plyler (JavaFixing Volunteer)