7.1.x @Scaffold Services and Controllers #15245

codeconsole · 2025-11-20T02:57:17Z

Commands

grails create-domain-class testapp.Book
grails create-domain-class testapp.Car

./gradlew runCommand "-Pargs=create-scaffold-controller testapp.Book"
./gradlew runCommand "-Pargs=create-scaffold-controller testapp.Book --namespace=admin"
./gradlew runCommand "-Pargs=create-scaffold-service testapp.Book"
./gradlew runCommand "-Pargs=generate-scaffold-all testapp.Car"
./gradlew runCommand "-Pargs=create-scaffold-controller testapp.Car --service --namespace=admin"

# With custom superclass
./gradlew runCommand "-Pargs=create-scaffold-service testapp.Book --extends=com.example.MyCustomService"
./gradlew runCommand "-Pargs=create-scaffold-controller testapp.Book --extends=com.example.MyCustomController"
./gradlew runCommand "-Pargs=generate-scaffold-all testapp.Car --serviceExtends=com.example.MyService
--controllerExtends=com.example.MyController"

Generated Files

Domain Classes

testapp/Book.groovy

package testapp

class Book {

    static constraints = {
    }
}

testapp/Car.groovy

package testapp

class Car {

    static constraints = {
    }
}

Controllers

testapp/BookController.groovy (basic)

package testapp

import grails.plugin.scaffolding.annotation.Scaffold

@Scaffold(Book)
class BookController {
}

testapp/admin/BookController.groovy (with namespace)

package testapp.admin

import testapp.Book

import grails.plugin.scaffolding.annotation.Scaffold

@Scaffold(Book)
class BookController {
    static namespace = 'admin'
}

testapp/CarController.groovy (from generate-scaffold-all)

package testapp

import grails.plugin.scaffolding.annotation.Scaffold
import grails.plugin.scaffolding.RestfulServiceController

@Scaffold(RestfulServiceController<Car>)
class CarController {
}

testapp/admin/CarController.groovy (with --service and --namespace)

package testapp.admin

import testapp.Car

import grails.plugin.scaffolding.annotation.Scaffold
import grails.plugin.scaffolding.RestfulServiceController

@Scaffold(RestfulServiceController<Car>)
class CarController {
    static namespace = 'admin'
}

Services

testapp/BookService.groovy

package testapp

import grails.plugin.scaffolding.annotation.Scaffold

@Scaffold(Book)
class BookService {
}

testapp/CarService.groovy (from generate-scaffold-all)

package testapp

import grails.plugin.scaffolding.annotation.Scaffold

@Scaffold(Car)
class CarService {
}

With --extends Flag

testapp/BookService.groovy (custom superclass)

package testapp

import grails.plugin.scaffolding.annotation.Scaffold
import com.example.MyCustomService

@Scaffold(MyCustomService<Book>)
class BookService {
}

testapp/BookController.groovy (custom superclass)

package testapp

import grails.plugin.scaffolding.annotation.Scaffold
import com.example.MyCustomController

@Scaffold(MyCustomController<Book>)
class BookController {
}

Command Options

Command	Flag	Description
`create-scaffold-controller`	`--force`	Overwrite existing files
	`--namespace`	Set the controller namespace
	`--service`	Use `grails.plugin.scaffolding.RestfulServiceController` instead of
`grails.rest.RestfulController`
	`--extends`	Specify a custom superclass (default: `grails.rest.RestfulController`)
`create-scaffold-service`	`--force`	Overwrite existing files
	`--extends`	Specify a custom superclass (default: `grails.plugin.scaffolding.GormService`)
`generate-scaffold-all`	`--force`	Overwrite existing files
	`--namespace`	Set the controller namespace
	`--serviceExtends`	Specify a custom superclass for the service (default:
`grails.plugin.scaffolding.GormService`)
	`--controllerExtends`	Specify a custom superclass for the controller (default:
`grails.plugin.scaffolding.RestfulServiceController`)

…= Domain)

jdaugherty

My only concern is there's no documentation for all of this and there's a whole section of the guide related to scaffolding.

sbglasius

This looks very good (I'm going to use it) and is very well documented.

Thank you @codeconsole

matrei · 2025-12-01T10:42:15Z

Look good @codeconsole. Do we need tests?
Some comments below.

I find the DisplayType values a bit unintuitive. Suggestion:

DisplayType.ALL -> DisplayType.ALWAYS
DisplayType.NONE -> DisplayType.NEVER
DisplayType.INPUT_ONLY -> DisplayType.WRITE_ONLY
DisplayType.OUTPUT_ONLY -> DisplayType.READ_ONLY

Aren't the command names and usage instructions inconsistent and confusing (I have not used scaffolding much myself)?
When to use create-*, create-scaffold-* or generate-*?
I understand this is not caused by this PR, but I think we should overhaul this for Grails 8.

Now added to the mix:

grails create-scaffold-controller Book
grails create-scaffold-service Book
grails generate-scaffold-all Book

Does create-scaffold-controller break compatibility with existing command below?

From 7.0.3 grails help:

Command	Description	Usage instruction
`create-controller`	Creates a controller	`create-controller [controller name]`
`create-domain-class`	Creates a Domain Class	`create-domain-class [domain class name]`
`create-scaffold-controller`	Creates a scaffolded controller	`create-controller [controller name]`
`create-service`	Creates a Service	`create-service [service name]`
`generate-all`	Generates a controller that performs CRUD operations and the associated views	`grails generate-all [DOMAIN CLASS]`
`generate-async-controller`	Generates an asynchronous controller that performs CRUD operations	`grails generate-async-controller [DOMAIN CLASS]`
`generate-controller`	Generates a controller that performs CRUD operations	`grails generate-controller [DOMAIN CLASS]`
`generate-service`	Generates a Grails data service for the specified domain-class.	No usage instruction
`generate-views`	Generates GSP views for the specified domain class	`grails generate-views [DOMAIN CLASS]

I think it’s a good idea to start removing the @author tags, but then we should also refrain from adding new ones.

codeconsole · 2025-12-01T18:56:16Z

@matrei Unless we commit to a policy of maintaining source history and restore the previously deleted history, I feel @author tags are necessary

codeconsole · 2025-12-01T18:59:55Z

create-scaffold-controller wasn't added. It should work how it did previously. All that was changed was adding optional parameters.

create-scaffold-service mimics in functionality create-scaffold-controller but in relation to services instead of controllers.

generate-scaffold-all is the equivalent to generate-all. It generates the scaffolded equivalent.

jdaugherty · 2025-12-01T21:58:17Z

grails-doc/src/en/guide/scaffolding.adoc

+[source,groovy]
+----
+class BookController {
+    static scaffold = Book  // Legacy syntax - @Scaffold annotation is preferred


You could change the AST transform to indicate it's "legacy" so it outputs a warning. Longer term this would allow us to remove the property and keep the api clean.

jdaugherty · 2025-12-01T22:02:27Z

@matrei Unless we commit to a policy of maintaining source history and restore the previously deleted history, I feel @author tags are necessary

From when we were in incubation, we learned that one of the major policies of the ASF is to not have authorship of individual files. They even encourage removing @author. The line of thinking is that individual authorship discourages contribution to a specific file because someone else is seen as an author. Longer term, we will have to remove these. Our first step is adding all contributors to the pom files as authors and handling this at the project level. There is currently a discussion underway on the mailing list about how best to accomplish this: https://lists.apache.org/thread/c33fx3djh17tl67y0g3szhvsq98cq2jc

@jamesfredley FYI

jamesfredley · 2025-12-01T23:42:23Z

@jdaugherty @codeconsole Here are a few links with more details on the migration of @author tags to a list in pom.xml

https://issues.apache.org/jira/browse/FUNCTOR-17
https://directory.apache.org/fortress/coding-standards.html
https://directory.apache.org/fortress/coding-standards.html

codeconsole added 2 commits November 19, 2025 18:51

Support new scaffold controller/service create/generate commands

52d6e63

Merge branch '7.1.x' into 7.1.x-scaffold-service-controller

64746f3

github-project-automation bot added this to Apache Grails Nov 20, 2025

cleanup

69b84ad

codeconsole marked this pull request as draft November 20, 2025 18:22

codeconsole added 7 commits November 20, 2025 15:32

remove redundant check

1e1bafa

Support for @scaffold(Domain) which is shortcut for @scaffold(domain …

f81ccd2

…= Domain)

use new shortcuts for @scaffold in templates

9cc53b2

update javadocs

cc93884

Introduce ScaffoldService interface

c029519

resolve merge conflict

00a4962

Merge branch '7.1.x' into 7.1.x-scaffold-service-controller

20f2efd

codeconsole marked this pull request as ready for review November 25, 2025 02:28

codeconsole requested review from jamesfredley, jdaugherty, matrei and sbglasius November 25, 2025 02:28

jdaugherty reviewed Nov 26, 2025

View reviewed changes

codeconsole added 4 commits November 28, 2025 17:00

Merge branch '7.1.x' into 7.1.x-scaffold-service-controller

cecef1d

introduce --extends to scaffold generation scripts.

f487f1f

update documentation

76f8c31

use common extends terminology

4f8387e

codeconsole requested a review from jdaugherty November 29, 2025 14:55

codeconsole changed the title ~~7.1.x scaffold service controller~~ 7.1.x @Scaffold Services and Controllers Nov 29, 2025

update upgrade guide

bb6540a

codeconsole force-pushed the 7.1.x-scaffold-service-controller branch from 3fbe3e2 to bb6540a Compare November 29, 2025 18:06

sbglasius approved these changes Dec 1, 2025

View reviewed changes

jdaugherty approved these changes Dec 1, 2025

View reviewed changes

show warning for static scaffold

1c2d192

simplify if

3c29ede

codeconsole merged commit e9e015c into apache:7.1.x Dec 2, 2025
32 checks passed

github-project-automation bot moved this to Done in Apache Grails Dec 2, 2025

Provide feedback

Saved searches

Use saved searches to filter your results more quickly

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

7.1.x @Scaffold Services and Controllers #15245

7.1.x @Scaffold Services and Controllers #15245

codeconsole commented Nov 20, 2025 •

edited

Loading

Uh oh!

jdaugherty left a comment

Uh oh!

sbglasius left a comment

Uh oh!

matrei commented Dec 1, 2025

Uh oh!

codeconsole commented Dec 1, 2025

Uh oh!

codeconsole commented Dec 1, 2025 •

edited

Loading

Uh oh!

jdaugherty Dec 1, 2025

Uh oh!

jdaugherty commented Dec 1, 2025

Uh oh!

jamesfredley commented Dec 1, 2025

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Reviewers

Assignees

Labels

Projects

Milestone

Development

Uh oh!

5 participants

Uh oh!

7.1.x @Scaffold Services and Controllers #15245

7.1.x @Scaffold Services and Controllers #15245

Conversation

codeconsole commented Nov 20, 2025 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

Uh oh!

Commands

Generated Files

Domain Classes

Controllers

Services

With --extends Flag

Command Options

Uh oh!

jdaugherty left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

sbglasius left a comment

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

matrei commented Dec 1, 2025

Uh oh!

codeconsole commented Dec 1, 2025

Uh oh!

codeconsole commented Dec 1, 2025 • edited Loading Uh oh! There was an error while loading. Please reload this page.

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

jdaugherty Dec 1, 2025

Choose a reason for hiding this comment

Uh oh!

jdaugherty commented Dec 1, 2025

Uh oh!

jamesfredley commented Dec 1, 2025

Uh oh!

Uh oh!

Reviewers

Assignees

Labels

Projects

Milestone

Development

Uh oh!

5 participants

codeconsole commented Nov 20, 2025 •

edited

Loading

codeconsole commented Dec 1, 2025 •

edited

Loading