I have just discovered that Apache commons-configuration can read properties from a DataSource, but it does not cache them. My application needs to read properties a lot of times and it is to slow to access the database each time.
I have a Camel application that sends all messages to routes that ends with my custom beans. These beans are created with scope prototype (I believe in OOP) and they will/need to read some properties and a data source (which reads from properties url/name/etc) that depends from the current user from a SQL db. Each message I receive creates a bean and so properties are reread. Unfortunately, I am not free to choose where to read properties from because now there is another software (GUI) not written by me that is a User/properties manager that writes to db. So I need to read properties from it.
Can you suggest me an alternative?
You could use the Netflix Archaius project, which adds the caching behavior you are looking for as well as dynamic refresh capabilities. Archaius is built around Commons Configuration.
So, rather than subclassing the DatabaseConfiguration, you could use Archaius' DynamicConfiguration, which extends Commons' AbstractConfiguration. This class will cache whatever source you would like, and refresh the properties at an interval you specify using their poll scheduling class.
The only class you would have to implement is a PolledConfigurationSource which pulls data from the database and places it in a Map. Should be pretty simple.