Could someone give a MWE of how to use the @ConfigurationProperties annotation directly on a @Bean method?

I have seen countless examples of it being used on class definitions - but no examples yet for @Bean methods.

To quote the documentation :

So, I think there is a possibility and an intended use as well - but unluckily I am unable to figure it out.

spring.datasource.url = [url]
spring.datasource.username = [username]
spring.datasource.password = [password]
spring.datasource.driverClassName = oracle.jdbc.OracleDriver
@Bean
@ConfigurationProperties(prefix="spring.datasource")
public DataSource dataSource() {
    return new DataSource();
Here the DataSource class has proeprties url, username, password, driverClassName, so spring boot maps them to the created object.  
Example of the DataSource class:
    public class DataSource {
        private String url;
        private String driverClassName;
        private String username;
        private String password;
        //getters & setters, etc.
In other words this has the same effect as if you initialize some bean with stereotype annotations(@Component, @Service, etc.) 
@Component
@ConfigurationProperties(prefix="spring.datasource")
public class DataSource {
            private String url;
            private String driverClassName;
            private String username;
            private String password;
            //getters & setters, etc.
                This is interesting - I do not see the point of the bean method now. Couldn't one directly @Autowired the DataSource class ?
                    – tMJ
                Apr 6 '17 at 11:37
                @tMJ Imagine you have multiple database configurations. You could extend the DataSource class multiple times for each seperate database and add the @ConfigurationProperties to each one, Or you could create a bean for each one with the appropriate property prefix. e.g. (@ConfigurationProperties(prefix="spring.datasource.test") @Bean public DataSource testDataSource(){...}). This saves the redundancy of creating each class for the sake of seperate property sets.
                    – coderatchet
                Sep 21 '17 at 6:58
                @EvgeniDimitrov Thanks, it actually only occurred to me because I was looking for this very solution to my problem and this fit my current use case as described perfectly.
                    – coderatchet
                Sep 21 '17 at 23:39
                Just to point out that setters are important in the destination class (eg. Datasource). I thought it would use reflection for the mapping but it uses the setters instead.
                    – nik686
                Jan 9 '18 at 23:05
        
24.8.1 Third-party Configuration
As well as using @ConfigurationProperties to annotate a class, you can also use it on public @Bean methods. Doing so can be particularly useful when you want to bind properties to third-party components that are outside of your control.
To configure a bean from the Environment properties, add @ConfigurationProperties to its bean registration, as shown in the following example:
@ConfigurationProperties(prefix = "another")
@Bean
public AnotherComponent anotherComponent() {
Any property defined with the another prefix is mapped onto that AnotherComponent bean in manner similar to the preceding AcmeProperties example.
    @ConfigurationProperties(prefix = "my.entity")
    public MY_ENTITY getContract() {
        return new MY_ENTITY()
                .setProp1("prop1111111")
                .setProp2("prop2222222")
    @Bean(name = "contract2")
    @ConfigurationProperties(prefix = "my.entity2")
    public MY_ENTITY getContract2() {
        return new MY_ENTITY()
                .setProp1("prop1111.2222")
                .setProp2("prop2222.222")
application.properties
my.entity.prop1=2120180023
my.entity.prop2=CUSTOMER_NAME111
my.entity2.prop1=9994494949
my.entity2.prop2=CUSTOMER_NAME222
SpringBootApplication
@SpringBootApplication
public class DemoApplication implements CommandLineRunner {
    @Autowired
    @Qualifier("contract2")
    private MY_ENTITY myEntity;
    public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
        SpringApplication.run(DemoApplication.class, args);
    @Override
    public void run(String... args) throws Exception {
        System.out.println(myEntity);
        
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