SpEL property-not-found message hints at non-public method/field

Issue: SPR-11535

spring-expression/src/main/java/org/springframework/expression/spel/SpelMessage.java

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2013 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2014 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -42,10 +42,10 @@ public enum SpelMessage {
 	METHOD_NOT_FOUND(Kind.ERROR, 1004, "Method call: Method {0} cannot be found on {1} type"), //
 	TYPE_NOT_FOUND(Kind.ERROR, 1005, "Type cannot be found ''{0}''"), //
 	FUNCTION_NOT_DEFINED(Kind.ERROR, 1006, "The function ''{0}'' could not be found"), //
-	PROPERTY_OR_FIELD_NOT_READABLE_ON_NULL(Kind.ERROR, 1007, "Field or property ''{0}'' cannot be found on null"), //
-	PROPERTY_OR_FIELD_NOT_READABLE(Kind.ERROR, 1008, "Field or property ''{0}'' cannot be found on object of type ''{1}''"), //
-	PROPERTY_OR_FIELD_NOT_WRITABLE_ON_NULL(Kind.ERROR, 1009, "Field or property ''{0}'' cannot be set on null"), //
-	PROPERTY_OR_FIELD_NOT_WRITABLE(Kind.ERROR, 1010, "Field or property ''{0}'' cannot be set on object of type ''{1}''"), //
+	PROPERTY_OR_FIELD_NOT_READABLE_ON_NULL(Kind.ERROR, 1007, "Property or field ''{0}'' cannot be found on null"), //
+	PROPERTY_OR_FIELD_NOT_READABLE(Kind.ERROR, 1008, "Property or field ''{0}'' cannot be found on object of type ''{1}'' - maybe not public?"), //
+	PROPERTY_OR_FIELD_NOT_WRITABLE_ON_NULL(Kind.ERROR, 1009, "Property or field ''{0}'' cannot be set on null"), //
+	PROPERTY_OR_FIELD_NOT_WRITABLE(Kind.ERROR, 1010, "Property or field ''{0}'' cannot be set on object of type ''{1}'' - maybe not public?"), //
 	METHOD_CALL_ON_NULL_OBJECT_NOT_ALLOWED(Kind.ERROR, 1011, "Method call: Attempted to call method {0} on null context object"), //
 	CANNOT_INDEX_INTO_NULL_VALUE(Kind.ERROR, 1012, "Cannot index into a null value"),
 	NOT_COMPARABLE(Kind.ERROR, 1013, "Cannot compare instances of {0} and {1}"), //

spring-expression/src/main/java/org/springframework/expression/spel/support/ReflectivePropertyAccessor.java

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2013 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2014 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -42,9 +42,11 @@ import org.springframework.util.ReflectionUtils;
 import org.springframework.util.StringUtils;
 
 /**
- * Simple PropertyAccessor that uses reflection to access properties for reading and writing.
- * A property can be accessed if it is accessible as a field on the object or through a
- * getter (if being read) or a setter (if being written).
+ * Simple {@link PropertyAccessor} that uses reflection to access properties
+ * for reading and writing.
+ *
+ * <p>A property can be accessed through a public getter method (when being read)
+ * or a public setter method (when being written), and also as a public field.
  *
  * @author Andy Clement
  * @author Juergen Hoeller
@@ -92,8 +94,8 @@ public class ReflectivePropertyAccessor implements PropertyAccessor {
 		}
 		Method method = findGetterForProperty(name, type, target);
 		if (method != null) {
-			// Treat it like a property
-			// The readerCache will only contain gettable properties (let's not worry about setters for now)
+			// Treat it like a property...
+			// The readerCache will only contain gettable properties (let's not worry about setters for now).
 			Property property = new Property(type, method, null);
 			TypeDescriptor typeDescriptor = new TypeDescriptor(property);
 			this.readerCache.put(cacheKey, new InvokerPair(method, typeDescriptor));
@@ -134,8 +136,8 @@ public class ReflectivePropertyAccessor implements PropertyAccessor {
 				method = findGetterForProperty(name, type, target);
 				if (method != null) {
 					// TODO remove the duplication here between canRead and read
-					// Treat it like a property
-					// The readerCache will only contain gettable properties (let's not worry about setters for now)
+					// Treat it like a property...
+					// The readerCache will only contain gettable properties (let's not worry about setters for now).
 					Property property = new Property(type, method, null);
 					TypeDescriptor typeDescriptor = new TypeDescriptor(property);
 					invoker = new InvokerPair(method, typeDescriptor);
@@ -347,6 +349,7 @@ public class ReflectivePropertyAccessor implements PropertyAccessor {
 
 	private Method findMethodForProperty(String[] methodSuffixes, String prefix, Class<?> clazz,
 			boolean mustBeStatic, int numberOfParams, Set<Class<?>> requiredReturnTypes) {
+
 		Method[] methods = getSortedClassMethods(clazz);
 		for (String methodSuffix : methodSuffixes) {
 			for (Method method : methods) {
@@ -401,7 +404,7 @@ public class ReflectivePropertyAccessor implements PropertyAccessor {
 	}
 
 	/**
-	 * Find a field of a certain name on a specified class
+	 * Find a field of a certain name on a specified class.
 	 */
 	protected Field findField(String name, Class<?> clazz, boolean mustBeStatic) {
 		Field[] fields = clazz.getFields();

spring-expression/src/test/java/org/springframework/expression/spel/SpelReproTests.java

@@ -1783,7 +1783,7 @@ public class SpelReproTests extends ExpressionTestCase {
 		SPR11142 rootObject = new SPR11142();
 		Expression expression = parser.parseExpression("something");
 		thrown.expect(SpelEvaluationException.class);
-		thrown.expectMessage("property 'something' cannot be found");
+		thrown.expectMessage("'something' cannot be found");
 		expression.getValue(context, rootObject);
 	}