spring-projects / spring-projects/spring-boot

Add support for configuration property cross-references

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status: pending-design-work type: enhancement
Dominant language
Java
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Description

https://github.com/spring-projects/spring-boot/issues/42482 has shown a need for the annotation processor to support cross-referencing in configuration property descriptions. Initially at least, we'd only want to support references where both properties exist in or beneath the same @ConfigurationProperties class.

We'll need to devise a syntax to use for the cross-references. The references will then be automatically replaced with the fully-qualified name of the referenced property during metadata generation. When designing this syntax, we should take support for Markdown-formatted javadoc comments into account.

Contributor guide

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First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reviewing issue #42482 and the annotation processor's metadata-generation entry point. Define a cross-reference syntax that supports Markdown-formatted Javadoc comments and references properties within the same @ConfigurationProperties class. Done means references are replaced with the referenced property's fully qualified name during metadata generation.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Tech stack
java, spring-boot
Domain
tooling
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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