Index: lams_common/build.xml
===================================================================
diff -u -r71d1ff69d56ec38b525fab3a282fa29c1d163e5a -re136309c831c4509819e7651ce2f565747bccb57
--- lams_common/build.xml	(.../build.xml)	(revision 71d1ff69d56ec38b525fab3a282fa29c1d163e5a)
+++ lams_common/build.xml	(.../build.xml)	(revision e136309c831c4509819e7651ce2f565747bccb57)
@@ -391,6 +391,22 @@
 		</hibernatedoclet>
 	</target>
 	
+	<!-- =================================================================== -->
+	<!-- Generate Notebook hibernate xml files                             	 -->
+	<!-- =================================================================== -->
+	<target name="generate-config-hbm-file" description="Generate the hibernate hbm.xml files from the Java source (using XDoclet)">
+
+		<taskdef name="hibernatedoclet" classname="xdoclet.modules.hibernate.HibernateDocletTask" classpathref="all-libs" />
+
+		<echo message="Building hbm.xml files using XDoclet" />
+
+		<hibernatedoclet destdir="${conf.hibernate.mapping.dir}" excludedtags="@version,@author,@todo" force="true" verbose="true">
+			<fileset dir="${src.java.dir}">
+				<include name="**/ConfigurationItem.java" />
+			</fileset>
+			<hibernate version="3.0" />
+		</hibernatedoclet>
+	</target>
 	
 	<!-- =================================================================== -->
 	<!-- Notebook Schema export				                             	 -->
Index: lams_common/conf/hibernate/mappings/org/lamsfoundation/lams/config/ConfigurationItem.hbm.xml
===================================================================
diff -u
--- lams_common/conf/hibernate/mappings/org/lamsfoundation/lams/config/ConfigurationItem.hbm.xml	(revision 0)
+++ lams_common/conf/hibernate/mappings/org/lamsfoundation/lams/config/ConfigurationItem.hbm.xml	(revision e136309c831c4509819e7651ce2f565747bccb57)
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+
+<!DOCTYPE hibernate-mapping PUBLIC
+    "-//Hibernate/Hibernate Mapping DTD 3.0//EN" 
+    "http://hibernate.sourceforge.net/hibernate-mapping-3.0.dtd">
+
+<hibernate-mapping
+>
+    <class
+        name="org.lamsfoundation.lams.config.ConfigurationItem"
+        table="lams_configuration"
+    >
+
+        <id
+            name="key"
+            column="config_key"
+            type="java.lang.String"
+            length="30"
+        >
+        </id>
+
+        <property
+            name="value"
+            type="java.lang.String"
+            update="true"
+            insert="true"
+            column="config_value"
+            length="255"
+            not-null="false"
+        />
+
+        <!--
+            To add non XDoclet property mappings, create a file named
+                hibernate-properties-ConfigurationItem.xml
+            containing the additional properties and place it in your merge dir.
+        -->
+
+    </class>
+
+</hibernate-mapping>
Index: lams_common/src/java/org/lamsfoundation/lams/commonContext.xml
===================================================================
diff -u -r38a6c414e30497d03559a85b5c33155e4a2fc22e -re136309c831c4509819e7651ce2f565747bccb57
--- lams_common/src/java/org/lamsfoundation/lams/commonContext.xml	(.../commonContext.xml)	(revision 38a6c414e30497d03559a85b5c33155e4a2fc22e)
+++ lams_common/src/java/org/lamsfoundation/lams/commonContext.xml	(.../commonContext.xml)	(revision e136309c831c4509819e7651ce2f565747bccb57)
@@ -75,6 +75,9 @@
 				<!-- Core Notebook Service related mapping files -->
 				<value>org/lamsfoundation/lams/notebook/model/NotebookEntry.hbm.xml</value>
 				
+				<!--  Configuration related mapping files -->
+				<value>org/lamsfoundation/lams/config/ConfigurationItem.hbm.xml</value>
+				
 				<!-- Integration related mapping files -->
 				<value>org/lamsfoundation/lams/integration/ExtServerOrgMap.hbm.xml</value>
 				<value>org/lamsfoundation/lams/integration/ExtCourseClassMap.hbm.xml</value>
@@ -231,6 +234,11 @@
 		</property>
 	</bean>
 	
+	<!--  Configuration service -->
+	<bean id="configurationService" class="org.lamsfoundation.lams.util.Configuration" singleton="true">
+		<property name="configurationDAO"><ref bean="configurationDAO" /></property>
+	</bean>
+	
 	<!-- auditing service -->
 	<bean id="auditService" class="org.lamsfoundation.lams.util.audit.AuditService"  singleton="true">
 		<property name="messageService"><ref bean="commonMessageService"/></property>
@@ -275,6 +283,11 @@
 		<property name="sessionFactory"><ref local="coreSessionFactory"/></property>
 	</bean>	
 	
+	<!--  Configuration related beans -->
+	<bean id="configurationDAO" class="org.lamsfoundation.lams.config.dao.hibernate.ConfigurationDAO">
+		<property name="sessionFactory"><ref local="coreSessionFactory"/></property>
+	</bean>
+	
 	<!--  System Session bean -->
 	<bean id="SystemSession"
 	    class="org.lamsfoundation.lams.web.session.SessionManager"
Index: lams_common/src/java/org/lamsfoundation/lams/config/ConfigurationItem.java
===================================================================
diff -u
--- lams_common/src/java/org/lamsfoundation/lams/config/ConfigurationItem.java	(revision 0)
+++ lams_common/src/java/org/lamsfoundation/lams/config/ConfigurationItem.java	(revision e136309c831c4509819e7651ce2f565747bccb57)
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+/****************************************************************
+ * Copyright (C) 2005 LAMS Foundation (http://lamsfoundation.org)
+ * =============================================================
+ * License Information: http://lamsfoundation.org/licensing/lams/2.0/
+ * 
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2.0 
+ * as published by the Free Software Foundation.
+ * 
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ * 
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+ * Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301
+ * USA
+ * 
+ * http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.txt
+ * ****************************************************************
+ */
+/* $$Id$$ */
+package org.lamsfoundation.lams.config;
+
+import java.io.Serializable;
+
+
+/** 
+ * 
+ * @hibernate.class table="lams_configuration"
+ */
+public class ConfigurationItem implements Serializable {
+
+    /** identifier field */
+    private String key;
+
+    /** persistent field */
+    private String value;
+
+    /** default constructor */
+    public ConfigurationItem() {
+    }
+    
+    /** full constructor */
+    public ConfigurationItem(String key, 
+                String value) 
+    {
+    	this.key = key;
+    	this.value = value;
+    }
+
+    /** 
+     * @hibernate.id type="java.lang.String" length="30"
+     *             	 column="config_key"      
+     */
+    public String getKey() {
+        return this.key;
+    }
+
+    public void setKey(String key) {
+        this.key = key;
+    }
+
+    /** 
+     * @hibernate.property column="config_value" length="255"
+     *            		   not-null="false"    
+     */
+    public String getValue() {
+        return this.value;
+    }
+
+    public void setValue(String value) {
+        this.value = value;
+    }
+
+}
Index: lams_common/src/java/org/lamsfoundation/lams/config/dao/IConfigurationDAO.java
===================================================================
diff -u
--- lams_common/src/java/org/lamsfoundation/lams/config/dao/IConfigurationDAO.java	(revision 0)
+++ lams_common/src/java/org/lamsfoundation/lams/config/dao/IConfigurationDAO.java	(revision e136309c831c4509819e7651ce2f565747bccb57)
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+/****************************************************************
+ * Copyright (C) 2005 LAMS Foundation (http://lamsfoundation.org)
+ * =============================================================
+ * License Information: http://lamsfoundation.org/licensing/lams/2.0/
+ * 
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2.0 
+ * as published by the Free Software Foundation.
+ * 
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ * 
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+ * Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301
+ * USA
+ * 
+ * http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.txt
+ * ****************************************************************
+ */
+/* $$Id$$ */
+package org.lamsfoundation.lams.config.dao;
+
+import java.util.List;
+
+import org.lamsfoundation.lams.config.ConfigurationItem;
+
+
+/**
+ * 
+ * @author Mitchell Seaton
+ * 
+ */
+public interface IConfigurationDAO
+{
+
+    public List getAllItems();
+    public ConfigurationItem getConfigItemByKey(final String configKey);
+}
Index: lams_common/src/java/org/lamsfoundation/lams/config/dao/hibernate/ConfigurationDAO.java
===================================================================
diff -u
--- lams_common/src/java/org/lamsfoundation/lams/config/dao/hibernate/ConfigurationDAO.java	(revision 0)
+++ lams_common/src/java/org/lamsfoundation/lams/config/dao/hibernate/ConfigurationDAO.java	(revision e136309c831c4509819e7651ce2f565747bccb57)
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+/****************************************************************
+ * Copyright (C) 2005 LAMS Foundation (http://lamsfoundation.org)
+ * =============================================================
+ * License Information: http://lamsfoundation.org/licensing/lams/2.0/
+ * 
+ * This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2.0 
+ * as published by the Free Software Foundation.
+ * 
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+ * GNU General Public License for more details.
+ * 
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
+ * along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
+ * Foundation, Inc., 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301
+ * USA
+ * 
+ * http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.txt
+ * ****************************************************************
+ */
+/* $$Id$$ */
+package org.lamsfoundation.lams.config.dao.hibernate;
+
+import java.util.List;
+
+import org.hibernate.HibernateException;
+import org.hibernate.Session;
+import org.lamsfoundation.lams.config.ConfigurationItem;
+import org.lamsfoundation.lams.config.dao.IConfigurationDAO;
+import org.lamsfoundation.lams.dao.hibernate.BaseDAO;
+import org.springframework.orm.hibernate3.HibernateCallback;
+import org.springframework.orm.hibernate3.support.HibernateDaoSupport;
+
+
+/**
+ * 
+ * @author Mitchell Seaton
+ * 
+ */
+public class ConfigurationDAO extends BaseDAO implements IConfigurationDAO
+{
+	private static final String LOAD_CONFIG_ITEM_BY_KEY = "from configuration in class " + ConfigurationItem.class.getName() + " where configuration.key=:key";
+	
+	
+    /**
+     * @see org.lamsfoundation.lams.config.dao.IConfigurationlDAO#getAllItems()
+     */
+   
+    public List getAllItems(){    	
+    	return super.findAll(ConfigurationItem.class);
+    }
+    
+    /**
+     * @see org.lamsfoundation.lams.config.dao.IConfigurationlDAO#getConfigItemByKey()
+     */
+    
+    public ConfigurationItem getConfigItemByKey(final String configKey)
+    {
+        return (ConfigurationItem) getHibernateTemplate().execute(new HibernateCallback()
+         {
+             public Object doInHibernate(Session session) throws HibernateException
+             {
+                 return session.createQuery(LOAD_CONFIG_ITEM_BY_KEY)
+                               .setString("key",configKey)
+                               .uniqueResult();
+             }
+         });
+    }
+
+
+}
Index: lams_common/src/java/org/lamsfoundation/lams/util/Configuration.java
===================================================================
diff -u -r08950e1090443c3423a3d1c587416a2fccd8bbdf -re136309c831c4509819e7651ce2f565747bccb57
--- lams_common/src/java/org/lamsfoundation/lams/util/Configuration.java	(.../Configuration.java)	(revision 08950e1090443c3423a3d1c587416a2fccd8bbdf)
+++ lams_common/src/java/org/lamsfoundation/lams/util/Configuration.java	(.../Configuration.java)	(revision e136309c831c4509819e7651ce2f565747bccb57)
@@ -23,17 +23,67 @@
 /* $$Id$$ */
 package org.lamsfoundation.lams.util;
 
+import java.util.Collections;
+import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.Iterator;
+import java.util.List;
 import java.util.Map;
 
+
+import org.apache.log4j.Logger;
+
+import org.lamsfoundation.lams.config.ConfigurationItem;
+import org.lamsfoundation.lams.config.dao.IConfigurationDAO;
+import org.lamsfoundation.lams.config.dao.hibernate.ConfigurationDAO;
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.InitializingBean;
+import org.springframework.web.context.WebApplicationContext;
+import org.springframework.web.context.support.WebApplicationContextUtils;
+
 /**
  * Configuration Object
  * 
  * @author Fei Yang
+ * @author Mitchell Seaton
  */
-public class Configuration {
+public class Configuration implements InitializingBean {
 
-	private static Map items = ConfigurationLoader.load();
+	protected Logger log = Logger.getLogger(Configuration.class);	
 	
+	private static Map items = null;
+
+	protected ConfigurationDAO configurationDAO;
+	
+	/**
+	 * @param configurationDAO The configurationDAO to set.
+	 */
+	public void setConfigurationDAO(ConfigurationDAO configurationDAO) {
+		this.configurationDAO = configurationDAO;
+	}
+	
+	public void afterPropertiesSet() {
+		Map itemsmap = Collections.synchronizedMap(new HashMap());
+		
+		try {
+			
+			List mapitems = configurationDAO.getAllItems();
+			
+			if(mapitems.size() > 0) {
+				Iterator it = mapitems.iterator();
+				while(it.hasNext()) {
+					ConfigurationItem item = (ConfigurationItem) it.next();
+					itemsmap.put(item.getKey(), item.getValue());
+				}
+				
+			}
+			
+		} catch (Exception e) {
+			 log.error("Exception has occurred: ",e);
+		}
+		
+		items = itemsmap;
+		
+	}
+	
 	public static String get(String key)
 	{
 		if ((items != null)&&(items.get(key)!=null))