## Bean Component

*Available as of Camel version 1.0*

The *bean:* component binds beans to Camel message exchanges.

### URI format

[source,java]
---------------------
bean:beanName[?options]
---------------------

Where *beanID* can be any string which is used to look up the bean in
the link:registry.html[Registry]

### Options


// component options: START
The Bean component has no options.
// component options: END



// endpoint options: START
The Bean endpoint is configured using URI syntax:

    bean:beanName

with the following path and query parameters:

#### Path Parameters (1 parameters):

[width="100%",cols="2,5,^1,2",options="header"]
|=======================================================================
| Name | Description | Default | Type
| **beanName** | *Required* Sets the name of the bean to invoke |  | String
|=======================================================================

#### Query Parameters (5 parameters):

[width="100%",cols="2,5,^1,2",options="header"]
|=======================================================================
| Name | Description | Default | Type
| **method** (producer) | Sets the name of the method to invoke on the bean |  | String
| **cache** (advanced) | If enabled Camel will cache the result of the first Registry look-up. Cache can be enabled if the bean in the Registry is defined as a singleton scope. | false | boolean
| **multiParameterArray** (advanced) | How to treat the parameters which are passed from the message body; if it is true the message body should be an array of parameters. Note: This option is used internally by Camel and is not intended for end users to use. | false | boolean
| **parameters** (advanced) | Used for configuring additional properties on the bean |  | Map
| **synchronous** (advanced) | Sets whether synchronous processing should be strictly used or Camel is allowed to use asynchronous processing (if supported). | false | boolean
|=======================================================================
// endpoint options: END


You can append query options to the URI in the following format,
`?option=value&option=value&...`

### Using

The object instance that is used to consume messages must be explicitly
registered with the link:registry.html[Registry]. For example, if you
are using Spring you must define the bean in the Spring configuration,
`spring.xml`; or if you don't use Spring, by registering the bean in
JNDI.

Error formatting macro: snippet: java.lang.IndexOutOfBoundsException:
Index: 20, Size: 20

Once an endpoint has been registered, you can build Camel routes that
use it to process exchanges.

A *bean:* endpoint cannot be defined as the input to the route; i.e. you
cannot consume from it, you can only route from some inbound message
link:endpoint.html[Endpoint] to the bean endpoint as output. So consider
using a *direct:* or *queue:* endpoint as the input.

You can use the `createProxy()` methods on
http://camel.apache.org/maven/current/camel-core/apidocs/org/apache/camel/component/bean/ProxyHelper.html[ProxyHelper]
to create a proxy that will generate BeanExchanges and send them to any
endpoint:

And the same route using Spring DSL:

[source,xml]
----------------------------
<route>
   <from uri="direct:hello">
   <to uri="bean:bye"/>
</route>
----------------------------

### Bean as endpoint

Camel also supports invoking link:bean.html[Bean] as an Endpoint. In the
route below:

What happens is that when the exchange is routed to the `myBean` Camel
will use the link:bean-binding.html[Bean Binding] to invoke the bean. +
 The source for the bean is just a plain POJO:

Camel will use link:bean-binding.html[Bean Binding] to invoke the
`sayHello` method, by converting the Exchange's In body to the `String`
type and storing the output of the method on the Exchange Out body.

### Java DSL bean syntax

Java DSL comes with syntactic sugar for the link:bean.html[Bean]
component. Instead of specifying the bean explicitly as the endpoint
(i.e. `to("bean:beanName")`) you can use the following syntax:

[source,java]
-------------------------------------------------------
// Send message to the bean endpoint
// and invoke method resolved using Bean Binding.
from("direct:start").beanRef("beanName");

// Send message to the bean endpoint
// and invoke given method.
from("direct:start").beanRef("beanName", "methodName");
-------------------------------------------------------

Instead of passing name of the reference to the bean (so that Camel will
lookup for it in the registry), you can specify the bean itself:

[source,java]
---------------------------------------------------------------
// Send message to the given bean instance.
from("direct:start").bean(new ExampleBean());

// Explicit selection of bean method to be invoked.
from("direct:start").bean(new ExampleBean(), "methodName");

// Camel will create the instance of bean and cache it for you.
from("direct:start").bean(ExampleBean.class);
---------------------------------------------------------------

### Bean Binding

How bean methods to be invoked are chosen (if they are not specified
explicitly through the *method* parameter) and how parameter values are
constructed from the link:message.html[Message] are all defined by the
link:bean-binding.html[Bean Binding] mechanism which is used throughout
all of the various link:bean-integration.html[Bean Integration]
mechanisms in Camel.

### See Also

* link:configuring-camel.html[Configuring Camel]
* link:component.html[Component]
* link:endpoint.html[Endpoint]
* link:getting-started.html[Getting Started]

* link:class.html[Class] component
* link:bean-binding.html[Bean Binding]
* link:bean-integration.html[Bean Integration]
