Java ScriptEngine
The java-scriptengine
(not to be confused with a javascript
script engine) compiles and executes Java
files at runtime.
The script source is a standard Java class that out of the box must follow these rules:
- public class
- constructor with no arguments (default constructor)
- Callable entry point. One of the following:
- class implements
Supplier
: theget()
method is called - class implements
Runnable
: therun()
method is called - class has exactly one
public
method with no arguments: call it
Note: The class may have any numberprivate
methods andpublic
methods with arguments.
- class implements
The script class can be arbitrarily named and may be in a named package or the default package.
The java-scriptengine
needs Java 8 or later to run.
Using Java scripting engine in your projects
To use the JShell scripting you can either download the newest version of the .jar file from the published releases on Github or use the following dependency to Maven Central in your build script (please verify the version number to be the newest release):
Use Java scripting engine in Maven build
<dependency>
<groupId>ch.obermuhlner</groupId>
<artifactId>java-scriptengine</artifactId>
<version>1.0.1</version>
</dependency>
Use Java scripting engine in Gradle build
repositories {
mavenCentral()
}
dependencies {
compile 'ch.obermuhlner:java-scriptengine:1.0.1'
}
Simple usage
The following code snippet shows a simple usage of the Java script engine:
try {
ScriptEngineManager manager = new ScriptEngineManager();
ScriptEngine engine = manager.getEngineByName("java");
Object result = engine.eval("" +
"public class Script {" +
" public String getMessage() {" +
" return \"Hello World\";" +
" } " +
"}");
System.out.println("Result: " + result);
} catch (ScriptException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
The console output shows the result of the only method in the Script
class.
Result: Hello World
While example was written to be the simplest and easiest way to run a Java script, it is not the best way! Please have a look at the next chapter before you start integrating it into your application.
Compiling
Calling ScriptEngine.eval()
multiple times is very inefficient because the same script has to be compiled every time.
The JavaScriptEngine
implements the Compilable
interface which allows to compile the script once and run it multiple times.
The following example also shows the recommended best practices for writing scripts:
- declare a package (to avoid the unnamed package)
- script class implements
java.util.function.Supplier<String>
(to avoid ambiguities on the method to call)
try {
ScriptEngineManager manager = new ScriptEngineManager();
ScriptEngine engine = manager.getEngineByName("java");
Compilable compiler = (Compilable) engine;
CompiledScript compiledScript = compiler.compile("" +
"package script;" +
"public class Script implements java.util.function.Supplier<String> {" +
" private int counter = 1;" +
" @Override" +
" public String get() {" +
" return \"Hello World #\" + counter++;" +
" } " +
"}");
Object result1 = compiledScript.eval();
System.out.println("Result1: " + result1);
Object result2 = compiledScript.eval();
System.out.println("Result2: " + result2);
} catch (ScriptException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
The console output shows that the same instance was called multiple times (without recompiling the script).
Result1: Hello World #1
Result2: Hello World #2
Separating the compilation from the evaluation is more efficient if you need to evaluate the same script multiple times.
Here the execution times in milliseconds for:
- Multi Eval
- many calls to
JavaScriptEngine.eval(String)
(essentially compile and evaluate every time)
- many calls to
- Compile + Multi Eval
- single call to
JavaScriptEngine.compile(String)
- many calls to
JavaCompiledScript.eval(Bindings)
- single call to
Binding variables
You can read and write public
variables, both instance variables (fields) and static variables, by using Bindings
in the script engine.
try {
ScriptEngineManager manager = new ScriptEngineManager();
ScriptEngine engine = manager.getEngineByName("java");
Compilable compiler = (Compilable) engine;
CompiledScript compiledScript = compiler.compile("" +
"public class Script {" +
" public static String message = \"Counting\";" +
" public int counter = 1;" +
" public String getMessage() {" +
" return message + \" #\" + counter++;" +
" } " +
"}");
{
Bindings bindings = engine.createBindings();
Object result = compiledScript.eval(bindings);
System.out.println("Result1: " + result);
System.out.println("Variable1 message: " + bindings.get("message"));
System.out.println("Variable1 counter: " + bindings.get("counter"));
}
{
Bindings bindings = engine.createBindings();
bindings.put("message", "Hello world");
Object result = compiledScript.eval(bindings);
System.out.println("Result2: " + result);
System.out.println("Variable2 message: " + bindings.get("message"));
System.out.println("Variable2 counter: " + bindings.get("counter"));
}
} catch (ScriptException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
The console output shows that bindings can read and write values from both instance and static variables of your class.
Result1: Counting #1
Variable1 message: Counting
Variable1 counter: 2
Result2: Hello world #2
Variable2 message: Hello world
Variable2 counter: 3
Using application classes from script
The script can see classes of the calling application.
Assume that the calling application declares the following class:
package ch.obermuhlner.scriptengine.example;
public class Person {
public String name;
public int birthYear;
@Override
public String toString() {
return "Person{name=" + name + ", birthYear=" + birthYear + "}";
}
}
Your script has access to the public class declared in the calling application:
try {
ScriptEngineManager manager = new ScriptEngineManager();
ScriptEngine engine = manager.getEngineByName("java");
JavaScriptEngine javaScriptEngine = (JavaScriptEngine) engine;
JavaCompiledScript compiledScript = javaScriptEngine.compile("" +
"import ch.obermuhlner.scriptengine.example.Person;" +
"public class Script {" +
" public Person getPerson() {" +
" Person person = new Person();" +
" person.name = \"Eric\";" +
" person.birthYear = 1967;" +
" return person;" +
" } " +
"}");
Object result = compiledScript.eval();
System.out.println("Result: " + result);
} catch (ScriptException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
The console output shows that the script was able to use class Person
.
Result: Person{name=Eric, birthYear=1967}
Advanced features of JavaScriptEngine
The JavaScriptEngine
has an additional API to control the creation and execution of the script class.
Set NameStrategy
in JavaScriptEngine
You can specify the strategy to determine the name of the script class from the script.
public interface NameStrategy {
String getFullName(String script) throws ScriptException;
}
The default implementation DefaultNameStrategy
uses a simple (regular expression based) scanner to find the package name and the class name in the script.
Alternatively the FixNameStrategy
allows to set an explicit fully qualified class name.
Set ConstructorStrategy
in JavaScriptEngine
You can specify the strategy to construct an actual instance of the script class.
public interface ConstructorStrategy {
Object construct(Class<?> clazz) throws ScriptException;
}
The default implementation DefaultConstructorStrategy
uses the no-argument default constructor.
Additional static constructor methods in DefaultConstructorStrategy
allow to use a constructor with explicit arguments.
The following example uses the convenience DefaultConstructorStrategy.byMatchingArguments()
to to determine a matching constructor using the given arguments:
try {
ScriptEngineManager manager = new ScriptEngineManager();
ScriptEngine engine = manager.getEngineByName("java");
JavaScriptEngine javaScriptEngine = (JavaScriptEngine) engine;
javaScriptEngine.setConstructorStrategy(DefaultConstructorStrategy.byMatchingArguments("Hello", 42));
Object result = engine.eval("" +
"public class Script {" +
" private final String message;" +
" private final int value;" +
" public Script(String message, int value) {" +
" this.message = message;" +
" this.value = value;" +
" }" +
" public String getMessage() {" +
" return \"Message: \" + message + value;" +
" }" +
"}");
System.out.println("Result: " + result);
} catch (ScriptException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
The matching algorithm in DefaultConstructorStrategy.byMatchingArguments()
will ignore null
arguments for non-primitive argument types.
If the algorithm finds more than one matching constructor a ScriptException
is thrown.
Set ExecutionStrategyFactory
in JavaScriptEngine
You can specify the strategy to execute the script class instance by providing a factory that creates an ExecutionStrategy
from a Class<?>
.
public interface ExecutionStrategyFactory {
public ExecutionStrategy create(Class<?> clazz) throws ScriptException;
}
public interface ExecutionStrategy {
Object execute(Object instance) throws ScriptException;
}
The default implementation DefaultExecutionStrategy
supports the following:
- class implements
Supplier
: theget()
method is called - class implements
Runnable
: therun()
method is called - class has exactly one
public
method with no arguments: call it
Alternatively the MethodExecutionStrategy
can be used to call a specific method with its arguments.
Use one of the following static constructor methods:
MethodExecutionStrategy.byMethod(Method method, Object... arguments)
MethodExecutionStrategy.byMatchingArguments(Class<?> clazz, String methodName, Object... arguments) throws ScriptException
MethodExecutionStrategy.byArgumentTypes(Class<?> clazz, String methodName, Class<?>[] argumentTypes, Object... arguments) throws ScriptException
The MethodExecutionStrategy.byMatchingArguments()
is probably the most convenient way. It determines a matching function by name and the given arguments (ignoring null
arguments).
try {
ScriptEngineManager manager = new ScriptEngineManager();
ScriptEngine engine = manager.getEngineByName("java");
JavaScriptEngine javaScriptEngine = (JavaScriptEngine) engine;
javaScriptEngine.setExecutionStrategyFactory((clazz) -> {
return MethodExecutionStrategy.byMatchingArguments(
clazz,
"getMessage",
"Hello", 42);
});
Object result = engine.eval("" +
"public class Script {" +
" public String getMessage(Object message, int value) {" +
" return \"Message: \" + message + value;" +
" } " +
"}");
System.out.println("Result: " + result);
} catch (ScriptException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
The console output shows that getMessage("Hello", 42)
was called.
Result: Message: Hello42
The matching algorithm in MethodExecutionStrategy.byMatchingArguments()
will ignore null
arguments for non-primitive argument types.
If the algorithm finds more than one matching method a ScriptException
is thrown.
Set ExecutionStrategy
in JavaCompiledScript
If you compile the script with Compilable
you can specify the ExecutionStrategy
directly on the compiled script instead of using the ExecutionStrategyFactory
on the engine.
try {
ScriptEngineManager manager = new ScriptEngineManager();
ScriptEngine engine = manager.getEngineByName("java");
JavaScriptEngine javaScriptEngine = (JavaScriptEngine) engine;
javaScriptEngine.setExecutionStrategyFactory((clazz) -> {
return MethodExecutionStrategy.byMatchingArguments(
clazz,
"getMessage",
"Hello", 42);
});
JavaCompiledScript compiledScript = javaScriptEngine.compile("" +
"public class Script {" +
" public String getMessage(Object message, int value) {" +
" return \"Message: \" + message + value;" +
" } " +
"}");
compiledScript.setExecutionStrategy(MethodExecutionStrategy.byMatchingArguments(
compiledScript.getCompiledClass(),
"getMessage",
"Hello", 42));
Object result = compiledScript.eval();
System.out.println("Result: " + result);
} catch (ScriptException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
Set Isolation
in JavaScriptEngine
You can specfy the Isolation
level of the script.
Isolation.CallerClassLoader
: the script can see the classes of the calling applicationIsolation.IsolatedClassLoader
: the script can only see JDK classes and classes declared inside the script
The default behaviour is Isolation.CallerClassLoader
.
Special codeBase
for permission policy
The script classes are executed using a special codeBase
: http://ch.obermuhlner/ch.obermuhlner.scriptengine.java/memory-class
This allows to grant specific permissions to the script classes.
Here an example policy file example.policy
when running in Java 8 (you will need to edit the file path to the application classes in your installation):
// global permissions (for the application and on-the-fly compiled script classes)
grant {
permission java.io.FilePermission "<<ALL FILES>>", "read";
permission java.util.PropertyPermission "application.home", "read";
permission java.util.PropertyPermission "env.class.path", "read";
permission java.util.PropertyPermission "java.class.path", "read";
permission java.util.PropertyPermission "java.home", "read";
permission java.util.PropertyPermission "java.endorsed.dirs", "read";
permission java.util.PropertyPermission "java.ext.dirs", "read";
permission java.util.PropertyPermission "nonBatchMode", "read";
permission java.util.PropertyPermission "sun.boot.class.path", "read";
permission java.util.PropertyPermission "sun.tools.ToolProvider", "read";
};
grant codeBase "file:/C:/Program%20Files/Java/jdk1.8.0_171/lib/tools.jar" {
permission java.lang.RuntimePermission "closeClassLoader";
permission java.lang.RuntimePermission "createClassLoader";
permission java.lang.reflect.ReflectPermission "suppressAccessChecks";
};
grant codeBase "file:/C:/Users/obe/git/java-scriptengine/ch.obermuhlner.scriptengine.example/out/production/classes/" {
permission java.lang.RuntimePermission "accessDeclaredMembers";
permission java.lang.RuntimePermission "closeClassLoader";
permission java.lang.RuntimePermission "createClassLoader";
permission java.lang.reflect.ReflectPermission "suppressAccessChecks";
};
grant codeBase "file:/C:/Users/obe/git/java-scriptengine/ch.obermuhlner.scriptengine.java/out/production/classes/" {
permission java.lang.RuntimePermission "accessDeclaredMembers";
permission java.lang.RuntimePermission "closeClassLoader";
permission java.lang.RuntimePermission "createClassLoader";
permission java.lang.reflect.ReflectPermission "suppressAccessChecks";
};
// permissions for on-the-fly compiled script classes (notice the special URL)
grant codeBase "http://ch.obermuhlner/ch.obermuhlner.scriptengine.java/memory-class" {
permission java.lang.RuntimePermission "exitVM.111";
};
Add the following VM arguments to your application launch: -Djava.security.manager -Djava.security.policy=path/to/example.policy
The permission given to the http://ch.obermuhlner/ch.obermuhlner.scriptengine.java/memory-class
allow to execute the dangerous System.exit()
in the following example:
try {
ScriptEngineManager manager = new ScriptEngineManager();
ScriptEngine engine = manager.getEngineByName("java");
JavaScriptEngine javaScriptEngine = (JavaScriptEngine) engine;
javaScriptEngine.setIsolation(Isolation.IsolatedClassLoader);
JavaCompiledScript compiledScript = javaScriptEngine.compile("" +
"import ch.obermuhlner.scriptengine.example.Person;" +
"public class Script {" +
" public Object getPerson() {" +
" System.out.println(\"Calling System.exit(111)\");" +
" System.exit(111);" +
" return 123;" +
" } " +
"}");
Object result = compiledScript.eval();
System.out.println("Result: " + result);
} catch (ScriptException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
The console output shows that the entire application exited before printing out the result.
Calling System.exit(111)
Remove the granted permission for http://ch.obermuhlner/ch.obermuhlner.scriptengine.java/memory-class
in the example.policy
file to prohibit the dangerous System.exit()
.
Calling System.exit(111)
javax.script.ScriptException: java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException
at ch.obermuhlner.scriptengine.java.execution.DefaultExecutionStrategy.execute(DefaultExecutionStrategy.java:52)
at ch.obermuhlner.scriptengine.java.JavaCompiledScript.eval(JavaCompiledScript.java:76)
at java.scripting/javax.script.CompiledScript.eval(CompiledScript.java:103)
at ch.obermuhlner.scriptengine.example.ScriptEngineExample.runDangerousCode2Example(ScriptEngineExample.java:339)
at ch.obermuhlner.scriptengine.example.ScriptEngineExample.runExamples(ScriptEngineExample.java:27)
at ch.obermuhlner.scriptengine.example.ScriptEngineExample.main(ScriptEngineExample.java:13)
Caused by: java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException
at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:62)
at java.base/jdk.internal.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
at java.base/java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:566)
at ch.obermuhlner.scriptengine.java.execution.DefaultExecutionStrategy.execute(DefaultExecutionStrategy.java:50)
... 5 more
Caused by: java.security.AccessControlException: access denied ("java.lang.RuntimePermission" "exitVM.111")
at java.base/java.security.AccessControlContext.checkPermission(AccessControlContext.java:472)
at java.base/java.security.AccessController.checkPermission(AccessController.java:897)
at java.base/java.lang.SecurityManager.checkPermission(SecurityManager.java:322)
at java.base/java.lang.SecurityManager.checkExit(SecurityManager.java:534)
at java.base/java.lang.Runtime.exit(Runtime.java:113)
at java.base/java.lang.System.exit(System.java:1746)
at Script.getPerson(Script.java:1)
... 10 more
When running in a Java 11 environment the policy file will look quite different (you will need to edit the file path to the application classes in your installation):
// global permissions (for the application and on-the-fly compiled script classes)
grant {
permission java.io.FilePermission "<<ALL FILES>>", "read";
permission java.util.PropertyPermission "application.home", "read";
permission java.util.PropertyPermission "env.class.path", "read";
permission java.util.PropertyPermission "java.class.path", "read";
permission java.util.PropertyPermission "java.home", "read";
};
// permissions for the example application
grant codeBase "file:/C:/Users/obe/git/java-scriptengine/ch.obermuhlner.scriptengine.example/out/production/classes/" {
permission java.lang.RuntimePermission "accessDeclaredMembers";
permission java.lang.RuntimePermission "accessSystemModules";
permission java.lang.RuntimePermission "closeClassLoader";
permission java.lang.RuntimePermission "createClassLoader";
};
// permissions for the java-scriptengine
grant codeBase "file:/C:/Users/obe/git/java-scriptengine/ch.obermuhlner.scriptengine.java/out/production/classes/" {
permission java.lang.RuntimePermission "accessDeclaredMembers";
permission java.lang.RuntimePermission "accessSystemModules";
permission java.lang.RuntimePermission "closeClassLoader";
permission java.lang.RuntimePermission "createClassLoader";
};
// permissions for the jdk.compiler module
grant codeBase "jrt:/jdk.compiler" {
permission java.lang.RuntimePermission "closeClassLoader";
permission java.lang.RuntimePermission "createClassLoader";
};
// permissions for on-the-fly compiled script classes (notice the special URL)
grant codeBase "http://ch.obermuhlner/ch.obermuhlner.scriptengine.java/memory-class" {
permission java.lang.RuntimePermission "exitVM";
};