26.3. Making a Spring bean into a Seam component

The <seam:component/> namespace handler can be used to transform any Spring bean into a Seam component. Just add the <seam:component/> tag to the declaration of the bean that you want to make into a Seam component:

<bean id="someSpringBean" class="SomeSpringBeanClass" scope="prototype"> 
  <seam:component/> 
</bean>

By default, <seam:component/> creates a stateless Seam component with the class and name provided in the bean definition. Occasionally — when a FactoryBean is used, for example — the Spring bean class may differ from the class listed in the bean definition. In this case, specify the class explicitly. You should also explicitly specify a Seam component name where there is a potential naming conflict.

If you want the Spring bean to be managed in a particular Seam scope, use the scope attribute of <seam:component/>. If the Seam scope specified is anything other than STATELESS, you must scope your Spring bean to prototype. Pre-existing Spring beans usually have a fundamentally stateless character, so this attribute is not usually necessary.