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Jackson how map one Pojo field to 2 (json) fields (same content, different name)

I use Jackson to serialise POJOs into CSV. Now we need to change the naming for certain fields to snake_case. This is easily done by #JsonNaming(PropertyNamingStrategy.SnakeCaseStrategy.class).
For compatibility reasons we need some of the renamed fields also with their old name.
E.g.:
public class Pojo {
private int someField;
}
Default will serialise to "someField", SnakeCaseStrategy will serialise to "some_field".
How to get serialization with both?:
{
"someField" : "one",
"some_field" : "one"
}
My first try was a mixin:
public abstract class PojoFormat {
#JsonProperty("someField")
abstract String getSomeField();
}
but this effectively only undoes the naming strategy change.
So how to copy a field in serialization - preferable not by changing the Pojo (this copied fields should be removed when all clients can cope with it).
Little update:
in my real class there some nested class that use JsonUnwrapped and the doc stated that this is not working with custom serializer (didn't know that this makes a difference here).

Well, I have never seen this before, I would be very happy if someone here in this site knows how.
The easy way, in my opinion, is to use a Custom Serializer.
For example:
Using the #JsonSerialize annotation
Register a module
Dynamic Serializer with Reflection
#JsonSerialize annotation
import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonGenerator;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.SerializerProvider;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.annotation.JsonSerialize;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ser.std.StdSerializer;
#JsonSerializer(using=PojoSerializer.class)
class Pojo {
private String myValue;
// getters and setters
}
class PojoSerializer extends StdSerializer<Pojo> {
public PojoSerializer() {
super(Pojo.class);
}
#Override
public void serialize(Pojo value, JsonGenerator gen, SerializerProvider provider) throws IOException {
gen.writeStartObject();
gen.writeStringField("myValue", value.getMyValue());
gen.writeStringField("my_value", value.getMyValue());
gen.writeEndObject();
}
}
Module
static class Pojo {
private String myValue;
public String getMyValue() {
return myValue;
}
public Pojo setMyValue(String myValue) {
this.myValue = myValue;
return this;
}
}
static class PojoSerializer extends StdSerializer<Pojo> {
public PojoSerializer() {
super(Pojo.class);
}
#Override
public void serialize(Pojo value, JsonGenerator gen, SerializerProvider provider) throws IOException {
gen.writeStartObject();
gen.writeStringField("myValue", value.getMyValue());
gen.writeStringField("my_value", value.getMyValue());
gen.writeEndObject();
}
}
public static void main(String[] args) throws JsonProcessingException {
final ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
final SimpleModule module = new SimpleModule("PojoModule");
module.addSerializer(Pojo.class, new PojoSerializer());
mapper.registerModule(module);
final Pojo pojo = new Pojo();
pojo.setMyValue("This is the value of my pojo");
System.out.println(mapper.writeValueAsString(pojo));
}
Reflection
I write some code for you, you might want to see to get new ideias.
This works as a generic way(just to not write several serializers).
// The serializer will be register in the ObjectMapper module.
static class Pojo {
private String myValue = "With snake and camel";
private String value = "Without snake case";
private String thirdValue = "snake & camel";
}
// using the annotation
#JsonSerialize(using = PojoSerializer.class)
static class Pojo2 {
private String pojoName = "Pojo 2";
private String pojo = "pojp";
}
static class PojoSerializer extends StdSerializer<Object> {
public PojoSerializer() {
super(Object.class);
}
#Override
public void serialize(Object value, JsonGenerator gen, SerializerProvider provider) throws IOException {
gen.writeStartObject();
final Field[] fields = value.getClass().getDeclaredFields();
for(final Field field : fields) {
final String name = field.getName();
final String fieldValue;
try {
// Do not use this!
fieldValue = (String)field.get(value);
} catch (IllegalAccessException e) {
throw new RuntimeException(e);
}
byte firstUpperCase = -1;
for(byte index = 0; index < name.length(); index++) {
final char caractere = name.charAt(index);
// A ascii code is 66 decimal, and 90 is the Z in decimal
if(caractere > 'A' && caractere < 'Z') {
// found the first upper
firstUpperCase = index;
break;
}
}
// writes the normal field name
gen.writeStringField(name, fieldValue);
// if the name is in camel case, we will write in snake case too.
if(firstUpperCase != -1) {
final char lowerLetter = (char)((int) name.charAt(firstUpperCase) + 32);
final String left = name.substring(0, firstUpperCase);
final String right = String.format("%c%s",lowerLetter, name.substring(firstUpperCase + 1));
gen.writeStringField(String.format("%s_%s", left, right), fieldValue);
}
}
gen.writeEndObject();
}
}

You can try to use JsonAnyGetter annotation and define for every POJO extra mapping for backward compatibility.
Let's create a simple interface:
interface CompatibleToVer1 {
#JsonAnyGetter
Map<String, Object> getCompatibilityView();
}
and two classes which implement it:
#Data
#NoArgsConstructor
#AllArgsConstructor
#JsonNaming(PropertyNamingStrategy.SnakeCaseStrategy.class)
class RootPojo implements CompatibleToVer1 {
private int rootId;
#JsonUnwrapped
private SomePojo pojo;
#Override
public Map<String, Object> getCompatibilityView() {
return Collections.singletonMap("rootId", rootId);
}
}
#Data
#NoArgsConstructor
#AllArgsConstructor
#JsonNaming(PropertyNamingStrategy.SnakeCaseStrategy.class)
class SomePojo implements CompatibleToVer1 {
private int someField;
private String someName;
#Override
public Map<String, Object> getCompatibilityView() {
Map<String, Object> extra = new LinkedHashMap<>();
extra.put("someField", someField);
return extra;
}
}
As you can see, I defined extra columns for each POJO with custom names. Serialising to JSON is straightforward:
ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
mapper.enable(SerializationFeature.INDENT_OUTPUT);
SomePojo pojo = new SomePojo(123, "Tom");
mapper.writeValue(System.out, new RootPojo(1, pojo));
Above code prints:
{
"root_id" : 1,
"some_field" : 123,
"some_name" : "Tom",
"someField" : 123,
"rootId" : 1
}
But for CSV we need to create extra configuration:
CsvMapper csvMapper = CsvMapper.builder().build();
CsvSchema pojoExtraScheme = CsvSchema.builder()
.addColumn("someField")
.build();
CsvSchema rootExtraScheme = CsvSchema.builder()
.addColumn("rootId")
.build();
CsvSchema compatibleSchema = CsvSchema.emptySchema()
.withHeader()
.withColumnsFrom(csvMapper.schemaFor(RootPojo.class))
.withColumnsFrom(rootExtraScheme)
.withColumnsFrom(csvMapper.schemaFor(SomePojo.class))
.withColumnsFrom(pojoExtraScheme);
SomePojo tom = new SomePojo(123, "Tom");
SomePojo jerry = new SomePojo(124, "Jerry");
List<RootPojo> pojos = Arrays.asList(new RootPojo(1, tom), new RootPojo(2, jerry));
ObjectWriter writer = csvMapper.writer(compatibleSchema);
System.out.println(writer.writeValueAsString(pojos));
Above code prints:
some_field,some_name,root_id,rootId,someField
123,Tom,1,1,123
124,Jerry,2,2,124
If you do not want to specify extra columns two times you can implement builder method based on our interface:
CsvSchema createSchemaFor(CompatibleToVer1 entity) {
CsvSchema.Builder builder = CsvSchema.builder();
entity.getCompatibilityView().keySet().forEach(builder::addColumn);
return builder.build();
}
and use as below:
CsvSchema compatibleSchema = CsvSchema.emptySchema()
.withHeader()
.withColumnsFrom(csvMapper.schemaFor(RootPojo.class))
.withColumnsFrom(createSchemaFor(new RootPojo()))
.withColumnsFrom(csvMapper.schemaFor(SomePojo.class))
.withColumnsFrom(createSchemaFor(new SomePojo()));
Using JsonAnyGetter with CSV is really tricky and could be problematic mixing it with other annotations, take a look at: Could please add JsonAnyGetter and JsonAnySetter annotations support?

Jackson - combine #JsonValue and #JsonSerialize

I am trying a combination of #JsonValue and #JsonSerialize. Let's start with my current container class:
public class Container {
private final Map<SomeKey, Object> data;
#JsonValue
#JsonSerialize(keyUsing = SomeKeySerializer.class)
public Map<SomeKey, Object> data() {
return data;
}
}
In this case, the custom serializer SomeKeySerializer is not used.
If I change the container as following, the serializer is called:
public class Container {
#JsonSerialize(keyUsing = SomeKeySerializer.class)
private final Map<SomeKey, Object> data;
}
However, this is not what I want, as this introduces another 'data' level in the output JSON.
Is it possible to combine #JsonValue and #JsonSerialize in some way?
I could always write another custom serializer for Container, which more or less does the same as the functionality behind #JsonValue. This would be more or less a hack, in my opinion.
Jackson version: 2.6.2

This combination seems to do what you want: make a Converter to extract the Map from the Container, and add #JsonValue to SomeKey itself to serialize it:
#JsonSerialize(converter = ContainerToMap.class)
public class ContainerWithFieldData {
private final Map<SomeKey, Object> data;
public ContainerWithFieldData(Map<SomeKey, Object> data) {
this.data = data;
}
}
public static final class SomeKey {
public final String key;
public SomeKey(String key) {
this.key = key;
}
#JsonValue
public String toJsonValue() {
return "key:" + key;
}
#Override
public String toString() {
return "SomeKey:" + key;
}
}
public static final class ContainerToMap extends StdConverter<ContainerWithFieldData, Map<SomeKey, Object>> {
#Override
public Map<SomeKey, Object> convert(ContainerWithFieldData value) {
return value.data;
}
}
#Test
public void serialize_container_with_custom_keys_in_field_map() throws Exception {
ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
assertThat(
mapper.writeValueAsString(new ContainerWithFieldData(ImmutableMap.of(new SomeKey("key1"), "value1"))),
equivalentTo("{ 'key:key1' : 'value1' }"));
}
I simply can't get annotating an accessor method of Container to DTRT at all easily, not in combination with #JsonValue. Given that #JsonValue on the container is basically designating a converter anyway (that is implemented by calling the annotated method), this is effectively what you're after, although not as pleasant as it seems it should be. (tried with Jackson 2.6.2)
(Something I learned from this: key serializers aren't like normal serializers, even though they implement JsonSerializer just the same. They need to call writeFieldName on the JsonGenerator, not writeString, for example. On the deserialization side, the distinction between JsonDeserializer and KeyDeserializer is spelled out, but not on the serialization side. You can make a key serializer from SomeKey with #JsonValue, but not by annotating SomeKey with #JsonSerialize(using=...), which surprised me).

Have you tried using #JsonSerialize(using = SomeKeySerializer.class) instead of keyUsing?
Doc for using() says:
Serializer class to use for serializing associated value.
...while for keyUsing you get:
Serializer class to use for serializing Map keys of annotated property
Tested it out myself and it works...
public class Demo {
public static class Container {
private final Map<String, String> data = new HashMap<>();
#JsonValue
#JsonSerialize(using = SomeKeySerializer.class)
public Map<String, String> data() {
return data;
}
}
public static class SomeKeySerializer extends JsonSerializer<Map> {
#Override
public void serialize(Map value, JsonGenerator jgen, SerializerProvider provider) throws IOException, JsonProcessingException {
jgen.writeStartObject();
jgen.writeObjectField("aKeyInTheMap", "theValueForThatKey");
jgen.writeEndObject();
}
}
public static void main(String[] args) throws JsonProcessingException {
ObjectMapper objectMapper = new ObjectMapper();
objectMapper.enable(SerializationFeature.INDENT_OUTPUT);
String s = objectMapper.writeValueAsString(new Container());
System.out.println(s);
}
}
This is the output when I'm NOT using com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonValue
{
"data" : {
"aKeyInTheMap" : "theValueForThatKey"
}
}
And this is the output when I'm using com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonValue
{
"aKeyInTheMap" : "theValueForThatKey"
}

Jackson Modules for Map Serialization

I have a Class that contains a Map (with non String key) and some other fields.
public class MyClass() {
private Map<KeyObject, OtherObject> map;
private String someField;
public MyClass(Map<KeyObject, OtherObject> map, String someField) {
this.map = map;
this.someField = someField;
}
// Getters & Setters
}
I would like to serialize and deserialize this class using Jackson.
I saw a different ways of doing that and decided to try using jackson modules.
I followed this post and extended JsonDeserializer and JsonSerializer. The problem is that those classes should be typed, so it should look like
public class keyDeserializer extends JsonDeserializer<Map<KeyObject, OtherObject>> {
...
}
The same for the KeySerializer.
Then adding to the module:
module.addSerializer(new keySerializer());
module.addDeserializer(Map.class, new keyDeserializer());
But this is wrong apparently since I'm getting an exception:
keySerializer does not define valid handledType() -- must either register with method that takes type argument or make serializer extend 'org.codehaus.jackson.map.ser.std.SerializerBase'
I could have my serializer and deserializer to be typed to MyClass, but then I had to manually parse all of it, which is not reasonable.
UPDATE:
I managed to bypass the module creation in the code by using annotations
#JsonDeserialize(using = keyDeserializer.class)
#JsonSerialize(using = keySerializer.class)
private Map<KeyObject, OtherObject> map;
But then I have to serialize/deserialize the whole map structure on my own from the toString() output. So tried a different annotation:
#JsonDeserialize(keyUsing = MyKeyDeserializer.class)
private Map<KeyObject, OtherObject> map;
Where MyKeyDeserializer extends org.codehaus.jackson.map.KeyDeserializer and overriding the method
public Object deserializeKey(String key, DeserializationContext ctxt) throws IOException, JsonProcessingException {...}
Then manually deserializing my key but again from the toString() output of my key class.
This is not optimal (this dependency on the toString() method). Is there a better way?

Ended up using this serializer:
public class MapKeySerializer extends SerializerBase<Object> {
private static final SerializerBase<Object> DEFAULT = new StdKeySerializer();
private static final ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
protected MapKeySerializer() {
super(Object.class);
}
#Override
public JsonNode getSchema(SerializerProvider provider, Type typeHint) throws JsonMappingException {
return DEFAULT.getSchema(provider, typeHint);
}
#Override
public void serialize(Object value, JsonGenerator jgen, SerializerProvider provider) throws IOException, JsonGenerationException {
if (null == value) {
throw new JsonGenerationException("Could not serialize object to json, input object to serialize is null");
}
StringWriter writer = new StringWriter();
mapper.writeValue(writer, value);
jgen.writeFieldName(writer.toString());
}
}
And this Deserializer:
public class MapKeyDeserializer extends KeyDeserializer {
private static final ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
#Override
public Object deserializeKey(String key, DeserializationContext ctxt) throws IOException, JsonProcessingException {
return mapper.readValue(key, MyObject.class);
}
}
Annotated my Map:
#JsonDeserialize(keyUsing = MapKeyDeserializer.class)
#JsonSerialize(keyUsing = MapKeySerializer.class)
private Map<KeyObject, OtherObject> map;
This is the solution that worked for me, hope this helps other.

Dynamic addition of fasterxml Annotation?

Is there a way to set #JsonProperty annotation dynamically like:
class A {
#JsonProperty("newB") //adding this dynamically
private String b;
}
or can I simply rename field of an instance? If so, suggest me an idea.
Also, in what way an ObjectMapper can be used with serialization?

Assume that your POJO class looks like this:
class PojoA {
private String b;
// getters, setters
}
Now, you have to create MixIn interface:
interface PojoAMixIn {
#JsonProperty("newB")
String getB();
}
Simple usage:
PojoA pojoA = new PojoA();
pojoA.setB("B value");
System.out.println("Without MixIn:");
ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
System.out.println(mapper.writerWithDefaultPrettyPrinter().writeValueAsString(pojoA));
System.out.println("With MixIn:");
ObjectMapper mapperWithMixIn = new ObjectMapper();
mapperWithMixIn.addMixInAnnotations(PojoA.class, PojoAMixIn.class);
System.out.println(mapperWithMixIn.writerWithDefaultPrettyPrinter().writeValueAsString(pojoA));
Above program prints:
Without MixIn:
{
"b" : "B value"
}
With MixIn:
{
"newB" : "B value"
}

this is a very late answer but, if it helps you or others, you should be able to change annotations at runtime. Check this link:
https://www.baeldung.com/java-reflection-change-annotation-params
Modifying annotations might be a bit messy and I prefer other options.
Mixin's are a good static option but if you need to change properties at runtime you can use a custom serializer (or deserializer). Then register your serializer with the ObjectMapper of your choosing (writing formats like json / xml are now provided for free via Jackson). Here are some additional examples:
custom serializer:
https://www.baeldung.com/jackson-custom-serialization
custom deserializer:
https://www.baeldung.com/jackson-deserialization
i.e.:
class A {
// #JsonProperty("newB") //adding this dynamically
String b;
}
class ASerializer extends StdSerializer<A> {
public ASerializer() {
this(null);
}
public ASerializer(Class<A> a) {
super(a);
}
#Override
public void serialize(A a, JsonGenerator gen, SerializerProvider provider) throws IOException {
if (a == null) {
gen.writeNull();
} else {
gen.writeStartObject();
gen.writeStringField("newB", a.b);
gen.writeEndObject();
}
}
}
#Test
public void test() throws JsonProcessingException {
A a = new A();
a.b = "bbb";
String exp = "{\"newB\":\"bbb\"}";
ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
SimpleModule module = new SimpleModule();
module.addSerializer(A.class, new ASerializer());
mapper.registerModule(module);
assertEquals(exp, mapper.writeValueAsString(a));
}

Customize jackson unmarshalling behavior

I am using Jackson fasterxml for unmarshalling JSON. In my object there are two kinds of properties:Input properties and Calculated properties. In the input JSON, I get only input values.
The calculated values are actually dependent on input values. I have to populate these values before the object gets referred. So I am just checking if there are any hooks provided by Jackson so that I can do my calculations there. For example JAXB provides afterUnmarshal method to customize the unmarshaling behavior:
void afterUnmarshal(Unmarshaller u, Object parent)
But I could not find similar information about customizing Jackson. Are any such framework hooks provided by Jackson to customize the unmarshaling behavior?

I'd rather recommend to keep your model objects immutable by using constructor creators. That is, all the JSON values are passed to a constructor which would initialize the other calculated properties.
Anyway, if you want to customize an object after deserialization (without writing a deserializer for every type) you can modify the deserializer in a way that at the end it calls a special method(s) of a newly constructed instance. Here is an example which would work for all the classes that implements a special interface (one can consider using an annotation to mark the post construct methods).
public class JacksonPostConstruct {
public static interface PostConstructor {
void postConstruct();
}
public static class Bean implements PostConstructor {
private final String field;
#JsonCreator
public Bean(#JsonProperty("field") String field) {
this.field = field;
}
public void postConstruct() {
System.out.println("Post construct: " + toString());
}
#Override
public String toString() {
return "Bean{" +
"field='" + field + '\'' +
'}';
}
}
private static class PostConstructDeserializer extends DelegatingDeserializer {
private final JsonDeserializer<?> deserializer;
public PostConstructDeserializer(JsonDeserializer<?> deserializer) {
super(deserializer);
this.deserializer = deserializer;
}
#Override
protected JsonDeserializer<?> newDelegatingInstance(JsonDeserializer<?> newDelegatee) {
return deserializer;
}
#Override
public Object deserialize(JsonParser jp, DeserializationContext ctxt) throws IOException {
Object result = _delegatee.deserialize(jp, ctxt);
if (result instanceof PostConstructor) {
((PostConstructor) result).postConstruct();
}
return result;
}
}
public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
SimpleModule module = new SimpleModule();
module.setDeserializerModifier(new BeanDeserializerModifier() {
#Override
public JsonDeserializer<?> modifyDeserializer(DeserializationConfig config,
BeanDescription beanDesc,
final JsonDeserializer<?> deserializer) {
return new PostConstructDeserializer(deserializer);
}
});
mapper.registerModule(module);
String json = "{\"field\":\"value\"}";
System.out.println(mapper.readValue(json, Bean.class));
}
}
Output:
Post construct: Bean{field='value'}
Bean{field='value'}

Let's assume that your JSON looks like this:
{
"input1" : "Input value",
"input2" : 3
}
And your POJO class looks like this:
class Entity {
private String input1;
private int input2;
private String calculated1;
private long calculated2;
...
}
In this case you can write a custom deserializer for your Entity class:
class EntityJsonDeserializer extends JsonDeserializer<Entity> {
#Override
public Entity deserialize(JsonParser jp, DeserializationContext ctxt) throws IOException,
JsonProcessingException {
InnerEntity innerEntity = jp.readValueAs(InnerEntity.class);
Entity entity = new Entity();
entity.setInput1(innerEntity.input1);
entity.setInput2(innerEntity.input2);
entity.recalculate();
return entity;
}
public static class InnerEntity {
public String input1;
public int input2;
}
}
In above class you can see that Entity has a recalculate method. It could look like this:
public void recalculate() {
calculated1 = input1 + input2;
calculated2 = input1.length() + input2;
}
You can also move this logic to your deserializer class.
Now, you have to inform Jackson that you want to use your custom deserializer:
#JsonDeserialize(using = EntityJsonDeserializer.class)
class Entity {
...
}
The example below shows how to use these classes:
ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
System.out.println(mapper.readValue(json, Entity.class));
This program prints:
Entity [input1=Input value, input2=3, calculated1=Input value3, calculated2=14]