AspectJ: Using Advised Class Fields

A short post to clarify something that was a little mysterious from the documentation.

AspectJ around advice typically looks something like:

pointcut myPointCut( ) : execution(void my.package.myClass.myMethod());
 
void around(): myPointCut() {
    // do some stuff
    proceed(); // call the advised method
    // do some other stuff
    
}

What if I want to call other methods or use fields from myClass in the advice? There are a few moving parts here:

pointcut myPointCut( ) : execution(void my.package.myClass.myMethod());
 
void around(my.package.myClass myClass): target(myClass) && myPointCut() {
    myClass.method1(); // do some stuff
    proceed(myClass); // call the advised method
    myClass.publicField = null; // do some other stuff
    
}

To break it down:

1. Add a parameter to around() with the type of the advised class.
2. Use the AspectJ target() method to populate that parameter.
3. Use the parameter value within the advice however you like. But note that you’re limited to public accessible methods and members – despite what you might think, the advice isnot within the lexical scope of the advised class.
4. Add the parameter value as the first parameter to proceed().

This example is for an advised method with no parameters. If the method has parameters:

pointcut myPointCut( ) : execution(void my.package.myClass.myMethod(my.package.ParamClass param));
 
void around(my.package.myClass myClass, my.package.ParamClass param): target(myClass) 
        && args(param) && myPointCut() {
    myClass.method1(); // do some stuff
    proceed(myClass, param); // call the advised method
    myClass.publicField = null; // do some other stuff
    
}