JavaCallout policy

This page applies to Apigee and Apigee hybrid.

View Apigee Edge documentation.

What

Enables you to use Java to implement custom behavior that is not included out-of-the-box by Apigee policies. In your Java code, you can access message properties (headers, query parameters, content) and flow variables in the proxy flow. If you're just getting started with this policy, see How to create a Java callout.

Supported Java versions include: Oracle JDK 11 and OpenJDK 11

This policy is an Extensible policy and use of this policy might have cost or utilization implications, depending on your Apigee license. For information on policy types and usage implications, see Policy types.

Note: Important: If you are developing Java Callout policies, you need to know which permission policies are in effect in the Apigee JVM and how they will affect your code. See Java permission reference. See also Restrictions.

When

For guidelines, see "When should I use a Java callout?" in How to create a Java callout.

About

The Java Callout policy lets you get and set flow variables, execute custom logic and perform error handling, extract data from requests or responses and more. This policy allows you to implement custom behavior that is not covered by any other standard Apigee policies.

Note: Apigee recommends that you consider using the JavaScript policy if you are inclined to use JavaScript. Or, consider using Service Callout policy if you need to make HTTP calls to remote services. However, if you want to write custom Java code, you have that option. See also When should I use a Java Callout.

You can package your Java application with whatever package JAR files you need. Note that there are some restrictions on what you can do with a Java Callout. These are listed below in Restrictions.

Samples

Simple example

How to create a Java callout

Retrieve properties in your Java code

The policy's <Property> element let's you specify a name/value pair that you can retrieve at runtime in your Java code. For a working example that uses properties, see How to use properties in a Java callout.

Use the <Property> element's name attribute to specify the name with which to access the property from Java code. The <Property> element's value (the value between the opening and closing tags) is the value that will be received by the Java code. The value must be a string; you cannot reference a flow variable to get the value.

• Configure the property. Here, the property value is the variable name response.status.code.

  <JavaCallout async="false" continueOnError="false" enabled="true" name="JavaCallout">
      <DisplayName>JavaCallout</DisplayName>
      <ClassName>com.example.mypolicy.MyJavaCallout</ClassName>
      <ResourceURL>java://MyJavaCallout.jar</ResourceURL>
      <Properties>
          <Property name="source">response.status.code</Property>
      </Properties>
  </Javascript>

• In your Java code, implement the following constructor on the Execution class implementation as follows:
  

  public class MyJavaCallout implements Execution{
      public MyJavaCallout(Map<string, string> props){
          
              // Extract property values from map.
      }
      ...
  }

Set flow variables in your Java code

For a clear description of how to set variables in the message context (flow variables) in your Java code, see this Apigee Community post.

---

Element reference

The element reference describes the elements and attributes of the JavaCallout policy.

<JavaCallout name="MyJavaCalloutPolicy">
   <ClassName>com.example.mypolicy.MyJavaCallout</ClassName>
   <ResourceURL>java://MyJavaCallout.jar</ResourceURL>
</JavaCallout>

<JavaCallout> attributes

<JavaCallout name="MyJavaCalloutPolicy" enabled="true" continueOnError="false" async="false" >

The following table describes attributes that are common to all policy parent elements:

Attribute	Description	Default	Presence
name	The internal name of the policy. The value of the name attribute can contain letters, numbers, spaces, hyphens, underscores, and periods. This value cannot exceed 255 characters. Optionally, use the <DisplayName> element to label the policy in the management UI proxy editor with a different, natural-language name.	N/A	Required
continueOnError	Set to false to return an error when a policy fails. This is expected behavior for most policies. Set to true to have flow execution continue even after a policy fails. See also: Fault rules are triggered ONLY in an error state (about continueOnError) Handling faults within the current flow Tip: In the cases where your Java code throws an exception, the Apigee proxy flow moves to fault status even if the continueOnError attribute is set to true. If you do not wish a thrown exception to result in a fault status in the proxy, design the Java callout so that it does not throw errors. Instead, catch exceptions and set a context variable to capture the exception information. For more information, see this Apigee Community post.	false	Optional
enabled	Set to true to enforce the policy. Set to false to turn off the policy. The policy will not be enforced even if it remains attached to a flow.	true	Optional
async	This attribute is deprecated.	false	Deprecated

<DisplayName> element

Use in addition to the name attribute to label the policy in the management UI proxy editor with a different, natural-language name.

<DisplayName>Policy Display Name</DisplayName>

Default	N/A If you omit this element, the value of the policy's name attribute is used.
Presence	Optional
Type	String

<ClassName> element

Specifies the name of the Java class that executes when the Java Callout policy runs. The class must be included in the JAR file specified by the <ResourceURL>. See also How to create a Java callout.

<JavaCallout name="MyJavaCalloutPolicy">
   <ResourceURL>java://MyJavaCallout.jar</ResourceURL>
   <ClassName>com.example.mypolicy.MyJavaCallout</ClassName>
</JavaCallout>

Default:	N/A
Presence:	Required
Type:	String

<Properties> element

Adds new properties that you can access from Java code at runtime.

<Properties>
    <Property name="propName">propertyValue</Property>
</Properties>

Default:	None
Presence:	Optional
Type:	String

<Property> element

Specifies a property you can access from Java code at runtime. You must specify a literal string value for each property; you cannot reference flow variables in this element. For a working example that uses properties, see How to use properties in a Java callout.

<Properties>
    <Property name="propName">propertyValue</Property>
</Properties>

Default:	None
Presence:	Optional
Type:	String

Attributes

Attribute	Description	Default	Presence
name	Specifies the name of the property.	N/A	Required.

<ResourceURL> element

This element specifies the Java JAR file that will execute when the Java callout policy runs.

You can store this file at the API proxy scope (under /apiproxy/resources/java in the API proxy bundle or in the Scripts section of the API proxy editor's Navigator pane), or at the organization or environment scopes for reuse across multiple API proxies, as described in Resource files.

<JavaCallout name="MyJavaCalloutPolicy">
   <ResourceURL>java://MyJavaCallout.jar</ResourceURL>
   <ClassName>com.example.mypolicy.MyJavaCallout</ClassName>
</JavaCallout>

Default:	None
Presence:	Required
Type:	String

Error reference

This section describes the fault codes and error messages that are returned and fault variables that are set by Apigee when this policy triggers an error. This information is important to know if you are developing fault rules to handle faults. To learn more, see What you need to know about policy errors and Handling faults.

Runtime errors

These errors can occur when the policy executes.

Fault code	HTTP status	Cause	Fix
steps.javacallout.ExecutionError	500	Occurs when Java code throws an exception or returns null during the execution of a JavaCallout policy.

Deployment errors

These errors can occur when the proxy containing the policy is deployed.

Error name	Fault string	HTTP status	Occurs when
ResourceDoesNotExist	Resource with name [name] and type [type] does not exist	N/A	The file specified in the <ResourceURL> element does not exist.
JavaCalloutInstantiationFailed	Failed to instantiate the JavaCallout Class [classname]	N/A	The class file specified in the <ClassName> element is not in the jar.
IncompatibleJavaVersion	Failed to load java class [classname] definition due to - [reason]	N/A	See fault string. Supported Java versions include: Oracle JDK 7/8 and OpenJDK 7/8
JavaClassNotFoundInJavaResource	Failed to find the ClassName in java resource [jar_name] - [class_name]	N/A	See fault string.
JavaClassDefinitionNotFound	Failed to load java class [class_name] definition due to - [reason]	N/A	See fault string.
NoAppropriateConstructor	No appropriate constructor found in JavaCallout class [class_name]	N/A	See fault string.
NoResourceForURL	Could not locate a resource with URL [string]	N/A	See fault string.

Fault variables

These variables are set when this policy triggers an error. For more information, see What you need to know about policy errors.

Variables	Where	Example
fault.name="fault_name"	fault_name is the name of the fault, as listed in the Runtime errors table above. The fault name is the last part of the fault code.	fault.name Matches "ExecutionError"
javacallout.policy_name.failed	policy_name is the user-specified name of the policy that threw the fault.	javacallout.JC-GetUserData.failed = true

Example error response

{  
   "fault":{  
      "faultstring":"Failed to execute JavaCallout. [policy_name]",
      "detail":{  
         "errorcode":"javacallout.ExecutionError"
      }
   }
}

Example fault rule

<FaultRule name="JavaCalloutFailed">
    <Step>
        <Name>AM-JavaCalloutError</Name>
    </Step>
    <Condition>(fault.name Matches "ExecutionError") </Condition>
</FaultRule>

Schemas

Sample: Each policy type is defined by an XML schema (.xsd). For reference, policy schemas are available on GitHub.

Compiling and deploying

For details on how to compile your custom Java code and deploy it with a proxy, see How to create a Java callout.

Restrictions

Note: For security reasons, Apigee applies Java permissions policies to Java Callout code. The policies apply to code that you write as well as to code from imported packages. Any code (whether your code or imported) will fail if it violates a permission policy. For details, see Java permission reference.

Below are restrictions that you need to consider when writing Java Callouts:

• Most system calls are disallowed. For example, you cannot make internal file system reads or writes.
• Access to the network via sockets. Apigee restricts access to sitelocal, anylocal, loopback, and linklocal addresses.
• The callout cannot get information about the current process, the process list, or CPU/memory utilization on the machine. Although some such calls may be functional, they are unsupported and liable to be actively disabled at any time. For forward compatibility, you should avoid making such calls in your code.
• Reliance on Java libraries that are included with Apigee is not supported. Those libraries are for Apigee product functionality only, and there's no guarantee that a library will be available from release to release.
• Don't use io.apigee or com.apigee as package names in Java Callouts. Those names are reserved and used by other Apigee modules.

Packaging

Place the JAR in an API proxy under /resources/java. If your Java Callout relies on additional third-party libraries packaged as independent JAR files, then place those JAR files in the /resources/java directory as well to ensure that they are loaded correctly at runtime.

If you are using the management UI to create or modify the proxy, add a new resource and specify an additional dependent JAR file. If there are multiple JARs, simply add them as additional resources. You do not need to modify the policy configuration to refer to additional JAR files. Putting them in /resources/java is sufficient.

For information on uploading Java JARs, see Resource files.

For a detailed example that demonstrates how to package and deploy a Java Callout using Maven or javac, see How to create a Java callout.

Javadoc

Javadoc for writing Java Callout code is included here on GitHub. You will need to clone or download the HTML to your system, and then simply open the index.html file in a browser.

Usage notes and best practices

• When working with multiple Java callouts, consider uploading common JARs as environment-scoped resources. This practice is more efficient as compared to packaging the same JARs with multiple proxy bundles when deploying to the same environment.
• Avoid packaging and deploying multiple copies or versions of the same JAR file to an environment. For example, Apigee recommends that you avoid:
  • Deploying the same JAR as part of a proxy bundle and as an environment resource.
  • Deploying one version of a JAR file as an environment resource and another as part of a proxy bundle.

  Having multiple copies of same JAR deployed can cause non-deterministic behavior at runtime because of potential ClassLoader conflicts.

• A Java Callout policy contains no actual code. Instead, a Java Callout policy references a Java 'resource' and defines the Step in the API flow where the Java code executes. You can upload your Java JAR through the Management UI proxy editor, or you can include it in the /resources/java directory in API proxies that you develop locally.
• For lightweight operations, such as API calls to remote services, we recommend using the ServiceCallout policy. See Service Callout policy.
• For relatively simple interactions with message content, such as modifying or extracting HTTP headers, parameters, or message content, Apigee recommends using a JavaScript policy.