Spring Page Sort Endpoints - Usage Guide

A lightweight library for standardized pagination and sorting in Spring Boot REST APIs.

Installation

Add the dependency to your project:

implementation 'com.therdnotes:spring-page-sort-endpoints:0.1.2'

Basic Usage

1. Annotate RestController methods with @PageSortConfig
2. Inject PageSortRequest as a parameter in your controller method:

@RestController
public class ItemController {
    
    @GetMapping("/items")
    @PageSortConfig
    public Map<String, Object> getItems(PageSortRequest pageSortRequest) {
        // Access pagination params with:
        int offset = pageSortRequest.offset();     // Default: 0
        int limit = pageSortRequest.limit();       // Default: 25
        String sortBy = pageSortRequest.sortBy();
        String sortDir = pageSortRequest.sortDir(); // Default: "asc"
        
        // Use values to query your data source
        // ...
        
        return Map.of(
            "offset", offset,
            "limit", limit,
            "sortBy", sortBy,
            "sortDir", sortDir
        );
    }
}

Custom Configuration

Apply the @PageSortConfig annotation to customize validation:

@GetMapping("/products")
@PageSortConfig(
    defaultOffset = 0,
    defaultLimit = 10,
    minOffset = 0,
    minLimit = 1,
    maxLimit = 50,
    validSortFields = {"name", "price", "date"}
)
public Page<Product> getProducts(PageSortRequest pageSortRequest) {
    // Your implementation
}

Request Examples

These query parameters are automatically parsed:

GET /items?offset=20&limit=10
GET /items?sortBy=name&sortDir=desc
GET /items?offset=0&limit=5&sortBy=date&sortDir=asc

Validation

The library automatically validates all parameters:

• Invalid offset values (negative values)
• Invalid limit values (too small or too large)
• Invalid sort fields (if validSortFields is specified)
• Invalid sort directions (only "asc" or "desc" allowed)

When validation fails, a 400 Bad Request response is returned with a descriptive error message.

Features

• Sensible defaults (offset=0, limit=25, sortDir=asc)
• Case-insensitive sort direction handling
• Consistent error responses
• Parameter order independence
• Comprehensive logging

---

Using the Annotation Processor

This annotation processor validates your @PageSortConfig configuration at compile time to ensure proper setup of pagination and sorting parameters.

How It Works

The processor checks that your @PageSortConfig annotation is correctly configured by validating:

• If defaultSortBy is specified, it must be one of the validSortFields
• Notifies when validSortFields are specified but defaultSortBy isn't set

Setup in Your Project

Add the library to your project:

dependencies {
    implementation 'com.therdnotes:spring-page-sort-endpoints:0.1.2'
    
    // Important: Enable annotation processing
    annotationProcessor 'com.therdnotes:spring-page-sort-endpoints:0.1.2'
}

Usage

Apply the annotation to your REST controller methods:

@RestController
@RequestMapping("/items")
public class ItemsController {
    @GetMapping
    @PageSortConfig(
        defaultLimit = 10,
        maxLimit = 50,
        validSortFields = {"title", "createdAt", "price"},
        defaultSortBy = "createdAt"
    )
    public ResponseEntity<Page<Item>> getItems(PageSortRequest pageSortRequest) {
        // Implementation
    }
}

Compiler Feedback

The processor will catch issues during compilation:

• Error: defaultSortBy must be one of the validSortFields
• Note: Suggestion to specify defaultSortBy when validSortFields is defined

This helps you catch configuration issues early, without runtime errors.

---

Exception Handling

The library throws PageSortValidationException when validation of offset/sort parameters fails. You have several options for handling these exceptions:

1. Use the built-in exception handler: The library provides a default exception handler that converts PageSortValidationException to HTTP 400 Bad Request responses.
2. Create a custom exception handler: You can create your own exception handler to customize the response structure and status code.

Option 1: Use the built-in exception handler

By default, the library includes a built-in exception handler that converts PageSortValidationException to HTTP 400 Bad Request responses. This handler is enabled by default.

To disable it, add this to your application.properties or application.yml:

com.therdnotes.springpagesort.exception-handling.enabled=false

Option 2: Create a custom exception handler

You can create your own exception handler for PageSortValidationException:

@RestControllerAdvice
public class YourExceptionHandler {

    @ExceptionHandler(PageSortValidationException.class)
    public ResponseEntity<?> handlePageSortValidationException(PageSortValidationException ex) {
        ProblemDetail problemDetail = ProblemDetail.forStatusAndDetail(HttpStatus.BAD_REQUEST, "Paging/sorting query parameters validation error: "+ex.getMessage());
        return ResponseEntity.status(problemDetail.getStatus()).body(problemDetail);
    }
}

---

Requirements

• Library Usage: Requires Java 17+
• Annotation Processor: Compatible with Java 17+
• Spring Boot: Works with Spring Boot 3.x+

The annotation processor is compatible with all Java versions 17 and newer, including future releases.