Fixed StandardTypeLocator to only know about java.lang.* out of the box. Doc fixes related to that.

org.springframework.expression/src/main/java/org/springframework/expression/spel/support/StandardTypeComparator.java

@@ -65,7 +65,6 @@ public class StandardTypeComparator implements TypeComparator {
 			return ((Comparable) left).compareTo(right);
 		}
 		
-		// How do we get to this line...?
 		throw new SpelException(SpelMessages.NOT_COMPARABLE, left.getClass(), right.getClass());
 	}
 

org.springframework.expression/src/main/java/org/springframework/expression/spel/support/StandardTypeLocator.java

@@ -47,8 +47,8 @@ public class StandardTypeLocator implements TypeLocator {
 
 	public StandardTypeLocator(ClassLoader loader) {
 		this.loader = loader;
+		// Similar to when writing Java, it only knows about java.lang by default
 		registerImport("java.lang");
-		registerImport("java.util");
 	}
 
 
@@ -95,5 +95,9 @@ public class StandardTypeLocator implements TypeLocator {
 	public List<String> getImportPrefixes() {
 		return Collections.unmodifiableList(this.knownPackagePrefixes);
 	}
+	
+	public void removeImport(String prefix) {
+		this.knownPackagePrefixes.remove(prefix);		
+	}
 
 }

org.springframework.expression/src/test/java/org/springframework/expression/spel/EvaluationTests.java

@@ -17,8 +17,10 @@
 package org.springframework.expression.spel;
 
 import org.springframework.expression.EvaluationContext;
+import org.springframework.expression.EvaluationException;
 import org.springframework.expression.Expression;
 import org.springframework.expression.spel.support.StandardEvaluationContext;
+import org.springframework.expression.spel.support.StandardTypeLocator;
 
 /**
  * Tests the evaluation of real expressions in a real context.
@@ -259,4 +261,20 @@ public class EvaluationTests extends ExpressionTestCase {
 		assertTrue(trueValue);
 	}
 	
+	public void testResolvingList() throws Exception {
+		StandardEvaluationContext context = TestScenarioCreator.getTestEvaluationContext();
+		try {
+			assertFalse(parser.parseExpression("T(List)!=null").getValue(context, Boolean.class));
+			fail("should have failed to find List");
+		} catch (EvaluationException ee) {
+			// success - List not found
+		}
+		((StandardTypeLocator)context.getTypeLocator()).registerImport("java.util");
+		assertTrue(parser.parseExpression("T(List)!=null").getValue(context, Boolean.class));
+	}
+	
+	public void testResolvingString() throws Exception {
+		Class stringClass = parser.parseExpression("T(String)").getValue(Class.class);
+		assertEquals(String.class,stringClass);
+	}
 }

org.springframework.expression/src/test/java/org/springframework/expression/spel/StandardTypeLocatorTests.java

@@ -29,18 +29,19 @@ import org.springframework.expression.spel.support.StandardTypeLocator;
  */
 public class StandardTypeLocatorTests extends TestCase {
 
-	public void testPrimitives() throws EvaluationException {
+	public void testImports() throws EvaluationException {
 		StandardTypeLocator locator = new StandardTypeLocator();
 		assertEquals(Integer.class,locator.findType("java.lang.Integer"));
 		assertEquals(String.class,locator.findType("java.lang.String"));
 		
 		List<String> prefixes = locator.getImportPrefixes();
-		assertEquals(2,prefixes.size());
+		assertEquals(1,prefixes.size());
 		assertTrue(prefixes.contains("java.lang"));
-		assertTrue(prefixes.contains("java.util"));
+		assertFalse(prefixes.contains("java.util"));
 
 		assertEquals(Boolean.class,locator.findType("Boolean"));
-		assertEquals(java.util.List.class,locator.findType("List"));
+		// currently does not know about java.util by default
+//		assertEquals(java.util.List.class,locator.findType("List"));
 		
 		try {
 			locator.findType("URL");
@@ -51,5 +52,7 @@ public class StandardTypeLocatorTests extends TestCase {
 		}
 		locator.registerImport("java.net");
 		assertEquals(java.net.URL.class,locator.findType("URL"));
+		
 	}
+
 }

spring-framework-reference/src/expressions.xml

@@ -499,8 +499,7 @@ boolean isMember = parser.parseExpression("isMember('Mihajlo Pupin')").getValue(
 
         <para>The relational operators; equal, not equal, less than, less than
         or equal, greater than, and greater than or equal are supported using
-        standard operator notation. Support is not yet implemented for objects
-        that implement the Comparable interface.</para>
+        standard operator notation. </para>
 
         <para><programlisting language="java">// evaluates to true
 boolean trueValue = parser.parseExpression("2 == 2").getValue(Boolean.class);
@@ -627,10 +626,16 @@ String aleks = parser.parseExpression("Name = 'Alexandar Seovic'").getValue(inve
 
       <para>The special 'T' operator can be used to specify an instance of
       java.lang.Class (the 'type'). Static methods are invoked using this
-      operator as well</para>
+      operator as well.  The <classname>StandardEvaluationContext</classname>
+      uses a <classname>TypeLocator</classname> to find types and
+      the <classname>StandardTypeLocator</classname> (which can be replaced)
+      is built with an understanding of the java.lang package.  This means T()
+      references to types within java.lang do not need to be fully qualified, 
+      but all other type references must be.</para>
 
       <programlisting language="java">Class dateClass = parser.parseExpression("T(java.util.Date)").getValue(Class.class);
 
+Class stringClass = parser.parseExpression("T(String)").getValue(Class.class);
 
 boolean trueValue = parser.parseExpression("T(java.math.RoundingMode).CEILING &lt; T(java.math.RoundingMode).FLOOR").getValue(Boolean.class);
 </programlisting>