SPEvaluationException: EL1079E: SpEL expression is too long, exceeding the threshold of ‘10,000‘

The error SpELEvaluationException: Expression is too long, exceeding the threshold of '10,000' characters typically occurs when the Spring Expression Language (SpEL) tries to process an expression that is too large to handle, often due to the expression trying to parse a long string or a large data structure (like a big JSON string) in a single injection. The SpEL engine has a default limit for the length of expressions, and if the expression exceeds this limit, it throws the error you encountered.

Key Problem:

You're trying to inject a large Map<String, String> or other large data structure into your Spring bean using SpEL, likely in a property value like:

@Value("#{${geo.coordinate}}") private Map<String, String> geoCoordinate;

This can easily exceed the 10,000-character threshold because Spring attempts to parse a large JSON string or complex expression.

Solutions:

1. Refactor SpEL to Avoid Large Expressions

Instead of injecting a large map directly via SpEL, consider storing the map data externally (in a .properties or .yml file) and parsing it into a Map in Java code. This avoids SpEL from trying to evaluate large expressions.

For example:

Step 1: Define the data in application.properties

geo.coordinate={"address1":"longitude1,latitude1", "address2":"longitude2,latitude2"}

Step 2: Parse this data into a Map inside your Java code

Instead of using SpEL to directly inject the data, inject it as a string and parse it into a Map in a @PostConstruct method:

import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper; import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Value; import org.springframework.stereotype.Component; import javax.annotation.PostConstruct; import java.io.IOException; import java.util.Map; @Component public class GeoCoordinateComponent { @Value("${geo.coordinate}") private String geoCoordinateJson; private Map<String, String> geoCoordinate; @PostConstruct public void init() throws IOException { // Parse the JSON string into a Map ObjectMapper objectMapper = new ObjectMapper(); geoCoordinate = objectMapper.readValue(geoCoordinateJson, Map.class); // Now the geoCoordinate map is available } public Map<String, String> getGeoCoordinate() { return geoCoordinate; } }

Here, you store the large JSON as a string and parse it into a map when the bean is initialized.

2. Use a Java Configuration Class

If you need more flexibility or the map needs to be complex, you can create a @Configuration class to define the map as a bean.

Step 1: Create a configuration class

import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean; import org.springframework.context.annotation.Configuration; import java.util.HashMap; import java.util.Map; @Configuration public class GeoCoordinateConfig { @Bean public Map<String, String> geoCoordinate() { Map<String, String> geoCoordinateMap = new HashMap<>(); geoCoordinateMap.put("address1", "longitude1,latitude1"); geoCoordinateMap.put("address2", "longitude2,latitude2"); // Populate the map with your data return geoCoordinateMap; } }

Step 2: Inject the map into your service or controller

@Autowired private Map<String, String> geoCoordinate;

This approach allows you to completely bypass SpEL and avoid exceeding the length limit.

3. Store the Large Data in a File and Load It

If the map is large, consider externalizing the data in a JSON or properties file and loading it dynamically.

For example, store the coordinates in a JSON file (geo_coordinates.json):

{ "address1": "longitude1,latitude1", "address2": "longitude2,latitude2" }

Then, load this JSON file into a Map using a @PostConstruct method.

import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper; import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Value; import org.springframework.stereotype.Component; import javax.annotation.PostConstruct; import java.io.File; import java.io.IOException; import java.util.Map; @Component public class GeoCoordinateComponent { @Value("${geo.coordinates.file.path}") private String geoCoordinatesFilePath; // Path to your JSON file private Map<String, String> geoCoordinate; @PostConstruct public void init() throws IOException { ObjectMapper objectMapper = new ObjectMapper(); geoCoordinate = objectMapper.readValue(new File(geoCoordinatesFilePath), Map.class); // Now geoCoordinate is populated } public Map<String, String> getGeoCoordinate() { return geoCoordinate; } }

This method loads large data from an external file, avoiding the SpEL limitation entirely.

4. Use Simple String Injection

If the map data is serialized into a string format, and it's too large to use SpEL for parsing, you can simply inject the raw string and parse it yourself in a method.

Step 1: Define the data as a simple string in application.properties

geo.coordinate={"address1":"longitude1,latitude1", "address2":"longitude2,latitude2"}

Step 2: Parse the string manually

import org.springframework.beans.factory.annotation.Value; import org.springframework.stereotype.Component; import javax.annotation.PostConstruct; import java.util.Map; import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper; import java.io.IOException; @Component public class GeoCoordinateComponent { @Value("${geo.coordinate}") private String geoCoordinateJson; private Map<String, String> geoCoordinate; @PostConstruct public void init() throws IOException { ObjectMapper objectMapper = new ObjectMapper(); geoCoordinate = objectMapper.readValue(geoCoordinateJson, Map.class); } public Map<String, String> getGeoCoordinate() { return geoCoordinate; } }

Conclusion

• Avoid using large SpEL expressions to directly inject complex or large data structures. Instead, consider using a properties file for simple data and parse it in Java code using libraries like Jackson or Gson for JSON.
• Use Java configuration classes or @PostConstruct methods to load large data externally and avoid SpEL altogether.
• Externalize large data (e.g., JSON files) and load it at runtime, especially if the data is too large to comfortably manage as part of Spring's properties.