Reading a List from properties file and load with spring annotation @Value

Question

I want to have a list of values in a .properties file, ie:

my.list.of.strings=ABC,CDE,EFG

And to load it in my class directly, ie:

Answer 1

Beware of spaces in the values. I could be wrong, but I think spaces in the comma-separated list are not truncated using @Value and Spel. The list

foobar=a, b, c

would be read in as a list of strings

"a", " b", " c"

In most cases you would probably not want the spaces!

The expression

@Value("#{'${foobar}'.trim().replaceAll(\"\\s*(?=,)|(?<=,)\\s*\", \"\").split(',')}")
private List foobarList;

would give you a list of strings:

"a", "b", "c".

The regular expression removes all spaces just before and just after a comma. Spaces inside of the values are not removed. So

foobar = AA, B B, CCC

should result in values

"AA", "B B", "CCC".