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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?

Throw error if strings are not double quoted while using jackson objectmapper deserialization

I have a JSON:
{
"stringField" : 1234,
"booleanField": true,
"numberField": 1200.00
}
I use object mapper to deserialize the json into:-
#Data
class SomeClass {
String stringField;
boolean booleanField;
float numberField;
}
I would like the objectMapper to throw an error because, the values for String fields must be double quoted according to the json spec. How can i get objectMapper to throw an error?

You can write custom string deserializer.(i assume you are using spring)
#Configuration
public class JacksonConfiguration {
#Bean
SimpleModule jacksonDeserializerConfiguration() {
SimpleModule module = new SimpleModule();
module.addDeserializer(String.class, new StdDeserializer<String>(String.class) {
#Override
public String deserialize(JsonParser parser, DeserializationContext context)
throws IOException {
if (!parser.hasToken(JsonToken.VALUE_STRING)) {
//throw ex what do u want
throw new RuntimeException("String not include quote");
}
return StringDeserializer.instance.deserialize(parser, context);
}
});
return module;
}
}

This should fix your issue.
class SomeClass {
#JsonDeserialize(using=ForceStringDeserializer.class)
public String stringField;
public boolean booleanField;
public float numberField;
}
class ForceStringDeserializer extends JsonDeserializer<String> {
#Override
public String deserialize(JsonParser jsonParser, DeserializationContext deserializationContext) throws IOException {
if (jsonParser.getCurrentToken() != JsonToken.VALUE_STRING) {
throw deserializationContext.wrongTokenException(jsonParser, JsonToken.VALUE_STRING, "Attempted to parse Integer to String but this is forbidden");
}
return jsonParser.getValueAsString();
}
}

You just need to setup jackson objectmapper like this
JsonFactory factory = new JsonFactory();
factory.disable(JsonParser.Feature.ALLOW_UNQUOTED_FIELD_NAMES);
ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper(factory)
This should throw error during serialization/deserilaization

Map a JSON field (to a value) based on another field (which is a key) using Jackson

{
"key1": {
"parameter1": "String1",
"parameter2": "String2"
},
"key2": {
"parameter1": "String3",
"parameter2": "String4"
},
"key3": {
"parameter1": "String5",
"parameter2": "String6"
}
}
I have the above JSON (/Users/user1/Desktop/responseMap.json) which is basically a Map<String, MockResponse> where MockResponse is the below POJO:
public class MockResponse {
public String parameter1;
public String parameter2;
}
Now, I have another POJO - TestCase, and another JSON - testCase.json as below:
public class TestCase {
public String responseMapFileLocation;
public String mockResponseKey;
public MockResponse mockResponse;
}
testCase.json
{
"responseMapFileLocation": "/Users/user1/Desktop/responseMap.json",
"mockResponseKey": "key1",
"mockResponse": null
}
What I am able to do is first map testCase.json to TestCase using Jackson, then map responseMap.json to Map<String, MockResponse>, then in my code search for mockResponseKey in the map.
But what I want to do is when I map testCase.json to TestCase using Jackson, I want the value of variable mockResponse to set automatically based on the value of variable mockResponseKey using the first JSON map.

You need to write custom deserialiser for TestCase class. In custom deserialiser you can parse basic properties: responseMapFileLocation, mockResponseKey and load mockResponse from other file. To deserialiser MockResponse you can use new ObjectMapper instance. Below code shows how this concept could be implemented:
import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonParser;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.TreeNode;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.DeserializationContext;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonDeserializer;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonNode;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.annotation.JsonDeserialize;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.type.MapType;
import java.io.File;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.util.Map;
public class JsonApp {
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
File jsonFile = new File("./resource/test.json").getAbsoluteFile();
ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
System.out.println(mapper.readValue(jsonFile, TestCase.class));
}
}
class MockResponse {
public String parameter1;
public String parameter2;
}
#JsonDeserialize(using = TestCaseFromExternalFileDeserializer.class)
class TestCase {
public String responseMapFileLocation;
public String mockResponseKey;
public MockResponse mockResponse;
}
class TestCaseFromExternalFileDeserializer extends JsonDeserializer<TestCase> {
private final ObjectMapper mapper;
private final MapType mapType;
public TestCaseFromExternalFileDeserializer() {
mapper = new ObjectMapper();
mapType = mapper.getTypeFactory().constructMapType(Map.class, String.class, MockResponse.class);
}
#Override
public TestCase deserialize(JsonParser p, DeserializationContext ctxt) throws IOException {
TreeNode treeNode = p.readValueAsTree();
TestCase testCase = new TestCase();
testCase.responseMapFileLocation = ((JsonNode) treeNode.get("responseMapFileLocation")).asText();
testCase.mockResponseKey = ((JsonNode) treeNode.get("mockResponseKey")).asText();
parseMockResponse(testCase);
return testCase;
}
private void parseMockResponse(TestCase testCase) throws IOException {
Map<String, MockResponse> map = mapper.readValue(new File(testCase.responseMapFileLocation), mapType);
testCase.mockResponse = map.get(testCase.mockResponseKey);
}
}
You need to implement only toString method for each POJO class. Above code prints:
TestCase{responseMapFileLocation='./resource/responseMap.json', mockResponseKey='key1', mockResponse=MockResponse{parameter1='String1', parameter2='String2'}}
Both JSON files are in resource folder.
See also:
How use jackson ObjectMapper inside custom deserializer?
Jackson Streaming API - if you want to implement MockResponse deserialisation in faster way.

Tweaking the getter setter in your Test class and marking the field as private I was able to make it dynamic (Imports are from org.codehaus.jackson package)
class TestCase {
private String responseMapFileLocation;
private String mockResponseKey;
#JsonIgnore
private MockResponse mockResponse; //else value will be override in json value
public String getResponseMapFileLocation() {
return responseMapFileLocation;
}
public void setResponseMapFileLocation(String responseMapFileLocation) {
this.responseMapFileLocation = responseMapFileLocation;
}
public String getMockResponseKey() {
return mockResponseKey;
}
public void setMockResponseKey(String mockResponseKey1) throws IOException {
ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
Map<String, MockResponse> map = mapper.readValue(new File("C:\\Users\\Json1.json"), TypeFactory.mapType(HashMap.class, String.class, MockResponse.class));
this.mockResponse = map.get(mockResponseKey1);
this.mockResponseKey = mockResponseKey1;
}
public MockResponse getMockResponse() {
return mockResponse;
}
#Override
public String toString() {
return "TestCase [responseMapFileLocation=" + responseMapFileLocation + ", mockResponseKey=" + mockResponseKey
+ ", mockResponse=" + mockResponse + "]";
}
}
class MockResponse {
public String parameter1;
public String parameter2;
#Override
public String toString() {
return "MockResponse [parameter1=" + parameter1 + ", parameter2=" + parameter2 + "]";
}
}
and Running below code
public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
TestCase testCase = mapper.readValue(new File("C:\\UsersJson2.json"), TestCase.class);
System.out.println(testCase);
}
output will be
TestCase [responseMapFileLocation=/Users/user1/Desktop/responseMap.json, mockResponseKey=key1, mockResponse=MockResponse [parameter1=String1, parameter2=String2]]

What you are asking for is not possible with just Jackson. Jackson is primarily a marshalling/unmarshalling tool, converting JSONs to Objects and vice versa. In other words, the value of the object must be known at the time of unmarshalling.
However you can unmarshal your json as a HashMap using the code:
new JSONObject(map);
search for the MockResponse-as-a-string using the mockResponseKey and then unmarshal that code into a new MockResponse.

Jackson - Transform field value on serialization

In a Spring Boot applicaion with AngularJS frontend, a "Pin" field value has to be blackened on serialization, i.e., if the Pin field value is null in the POJO, the according JSON field has to remain blank; if the field value contains data, it has to be replaced with a "***" string.
Does Jackson provide a feature to get this done?

You can do it easily like following without any Custom Serializer
public class Pojo {
#JsonIgnore
private String pin;
#JsonProperty("pin")
public String getPin() {
if(pin == null) {
return "";
} else {
return "***";
}
}
#JsonProperty("pin")
public void setPin(String pin) {
this.pin = pin;
}
#JsonIgnore
public String getPinValue() {
return pin;
}
}
You can use Pojo.getPinValue() to get the exact value.

Try the following example.
public class Card {
public int id;
public String pin;
}
public class CardSerializer extends StdSerializer<Card> {
public CardSerializer() {
this(null);
}
public CardSerializer(Class<Card> t) {
super(t);
}
#Override
public void serialize(Card value, JsonGenerator jgen, SerializerProvider provider)
throws IOException, JsonProcessingException {
jgen.writeStartObject();
jgen.writeNumberField("id", value.id);
jgen.writeStringField("pin", "****");
jgen.writeEndObject();
}
}
Then you need to register your customer serializer with the ObjectMapper
Card card = new Card(1, "12345");
ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
 
SimpleModule module = new SimpleModule();
module.addSerializer(Card.class, new CardSerializer());
mapper.registerModule(module);
String serialized = mapper.writeValueAsString(card);
There are some improvements you can do here like registering the serializer directly on the class, but you can read more about it here Section 4 - http://www.baeldung.com/jackson-custom-serialization

How do I use a custom Serializer with Jackson?

I have two Java classes that I want to serialize to JSON using Jackson:
public class User {
public final int id;
public final String name;
public User(int id, String name) {
this.id = id;
this.name = name;
}
}
public class Item {
public final int id;
public final String itemNr;
public final User createdBy;
public Item(int id, String itemNr, User createdBy) {
this.id = id;
this.itemNr = itemNr;
this.createdBy = createdBy;
}
}
I want to serialize an Item to this JSON:
{"id":7, "itemNr":"TEST", "createdBy":3}
with User serialized to only include the id. I will also be able to serilize all user objects to JSON like:
{"id":3, "name": "Jonas", "email": "jonas#example.com"}
So I guess that I need to write a custom serializer for Item and tried with this:
public class ItemSerializer extends JsonSerializer<Item> {
#Override
public void serialize(Item value, JsonGenerator jgen,
SerializerProvider provider) throws IOException,
JsonProcessingException {
jgen.writeStartObject();
jgen.writeNumberField("id", value.id);
jgen.writeNumberField("itemNr", value.itemNr);
jgen.writeNumberField("createdBy", value.user.id);
jgen.writeEndObject();
}
}
I serialize the JSON with this code from Jackson How-to: Custom Serializers:
ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
SimpleModule simpleModule = new SimpleModule("SimpleModule",
new Version(1,0,0,null));
simpleModule.addSerializer(new ItemSerializer());
mapper.registerModule(simpleModule);
StringWriter writer = new StringWriter();
try {
mapper.writeValue(writer, myItem);
} catch (JsonGenerationException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
} catch (JsonMappingException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
} catch (IOException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
But I get this error:
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: JsonSerializer of type com.example.ItemSerializer does not define valid handledType() (use alternative registration method?)
at org.codehaus.jackson.map.module.SimpleSerializers.addSerializer(SimpleSerializers.java:62)
at org.codehaus.jackson.map.module.SimpleModule.addSerializer(SimpleModule.java:54)
at com.example.JsonTest.main(JsonTest.java:54)
How can I use a custom Serializer with Jackson?
This is how I would do it with Gson:
public class UserAdapter implements JsonSerializer<User> {
#Override
public JsonElement serialize(User src, java.lang.reflect.Type typeOfSrc,
JsonSerializationContext context) {
return new JsonPrimitive(src.id);
}
}
GsonBuilder builder = new GsonBuilder();
builder.registerTypeAdapter(User.class, new UserAdapter());
Gson gson = builder.create();
String json = gson.toJson(myItem);
System.out.println("JSON: "+json);
But I need to do it with Jackson now, since Gson doesn't have support for interfaces.

You can put #JsonSerialize(using = CustomDateSerializer.class) over any date field of object to be serialized.
public class CustomDateSerializer extends SerializerBase<Date> {
public CustomDateSerializer() {
super(Date.class, true);
}
#Override
public void serialize(Date value, JsonGenerator jgen, SerializerProvider provider)
throws IOException, JsonProcessingException {
SimpleDateFormat formatter = new SimpleDateFormat("EEE MMM dd yyyy HH:mm:ss 'GMT'ZZZ (z)");
String format = formatter.format(value);
jgen.writeString(format);
}
}

As mentioned, #JsonValue is a good way. But if you don't mind a custom serializer, there's no need to write one for Item but rather one for User -- if so, it'd be as simple as:
public void serialize(Item value, JsonGenerator jgen,
SerializerProvider provider) throws IOException,
JsonProcessingException {
jgen.writeNumber(id);
}
Yet another possibility is to implement JsonSerializable, in which case no registration is needed.
As to error; that is weird -- you probably want to upgrade to a later version. But it is also safer to extend org.codehaus.jackson.map.ser.SerializerBase as it will have standard implementations of non-essential methods (i.e. everything but actual serialization call).

I tried doing this too, and there is a mistake in the example code on the Jackson web page that fails to include the type (.class) in the call to addSerializer() method, which should read like this:
simpleModule.addSerializer(Item.class, new ItemSerializer());
In other words, these are the lines that instantiate the simpleModule and add the serializer (with the prior incorrect line commented out):
ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
SimpleModule simpleModule = new SimpleModule("SimpleModule",
new Version(1,0,0,null));
// simpleModule.addSerializer(new ItemSerializer());
simpleModule.addSerializer(Item.class, new ItemSerializer());
mapper.registerModule(simpleModule);
FYI: Here is the reference for the correct example code: http://wiki.fasterxml.com/JacksonFeatureModules

Use #JsonValue:
public class User {
int id;
String name;
#JsonValue
public int getId() {
return id;
}
}
#JsonValue only works on methods so you must add the getId method.
You should be able to skip your custom serializer altogether.

I wrote an example for a custom Timestamp.class serialization/deserialization, but you could use it for what ever you want.
When creating the object mapper do something like this:
public class JsonUtils {
public static ObjectMapper objectMapper = null;
static {
objectMapper = new ObjectMapper();
SimpleModule s = new SimpleModule();
s.addSerializer(Timestamp.class, new TimestampSerializerTypeHandler());
s.addDeserializer(Timestamp.class, new TimestampDeserializerTypeHandler());
objectMapper.registerModule(s);
};
}
for example in java ee you could initialize it with this:
import java.time.LocalDateTime;
import javax.ws.rs.ext.ContextResolver;
import javax.ws.rs.ext.Provider;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.module.SimpleModule;
#Provider
public class JacksonConfig implements ContextResolver<ObjectMapper> {
private final ObjectMapper objectMapper;
public JacksonConfig() {
objectMapper = new ObjectMapper();
SimpleModule s = new SimpleModule();
s.addSerializer(Timestamp.class, new TimestampSerializerTypeHandler());
s.addDeserializer(Timestamp.class, new TimestampDeserializerTypeHandler());
objectMapper.registerModule(s);
};
#Override
public ObjectMapper getContext(Class<?> type) {
return objectMapper;
}
}
where the serializer should be something like this:
import java.io.IOException;
import java.sql.Timestamp;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonGenerator;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonProcessingException;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonSerializer;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.SerializerProvider;
public class TimestampSerializerTypeHandler extends JsonSerializer<Timestamp> {
#Override
public void serialize(Timestamp value, JsonGenerator jgen, SerializerProvider provider) throws IOException, JsonProcessingException {
String stringValue = value.toString();
if(stringValue != null && !stringValue.isEmpty() && !stringValue.equals("null")) {
jgen.writeString(stringValue);
} else {
jgen.writeNull();
}
}
#Override
public Class<Timestamp> handledType() {
return Timestamp.class;
}
}
and deserializer something like this:
import java.io.IOException;
import java.sql.Timestamp;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonGenerator;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonParser;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonProcessingException;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.DeserializationContext;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonDeserializer;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.SerializerProvider;
public class TimestampDeserializerTypeHandler extends JsonDeserializer<Timestamp> {
#Override
public Timestamp deserialize(JsonParser jp, DeserializationContext ds) throws IOException, JsonProcessingException {
SqlTimestampConverter s = new SqlTimestampConverter();
String value = jp.getValueAsString();
if(value != null && !value.isEmpty() && !value.equals("null"))
return (Timestamp) s.convert(Timestamp.class, value);
return null;
}
#Override
public Class<Timestamp> handledType() {
return Timestamp.class;
}
}

These are behavior patterns I have noticed while trying to understand Jackson serialization.
1) Assume there is an object Classroom and a class Student. I've made everything public and final for ease.
public class Classroom {
public final double double1 = 1234.5678;
public final Double Double1 = 91011.1213;
public final Student student1 = new Student();
}
public class Student {
public final double double2 = 1920.2122;
public final Double Double2 = 2324.2526;
}
2) Assume that these are the serializers we use for serializing the objects into JSON. The writeObjectField uses the object's own serializer if it is registered with the object mapper; if not, then it serializes it as a POJO. The writeNumberField exclusively only accepts primitives as arguments.
public class ClassroomSerializer extends StdSerializer<Classroom> {
public ClassroomSerializer(Class<Classroom> t) {
super(t);
}
#Override
public void serialize(Classroom value, JsonGenerator jgen, SerializerProvider provider) throws IOException, JsonGenerationException {
jgen.writeStartObject();
jgen.writeObjectField("double1-Object", value.double1);
jgen.writeNumberField("double1-Number", value.double1);
jgen.writeObjectField("Double1-Object", value.Double1);
jgen.writeNumberField("Double1-Number", value.Double1);
jgen.writeObjectField("student1", value.student1);
jgen.writeEndObject();
}
}
public class StudentSerializer extends StdSerializer<Student> {
public StudentSerializer(Class<Student> t) {
super(t);
}
#Override
public void serialize(Student value, JsonGenerator jgen, SerializerProvider provider) throws IOException, JsonGenerationException {
jgen.writeStartObject();
jgen.writeObjectField("double2-Object", value.double2);
jgen.writeNumberField("double2-Number", value.double2);
jgen.writeObjectField("Double2-Object", value.Double2);
jgen.writeNumberField("Double2-Number", value.Double2);
jgen.writeEndObject();
}
}
3) Register only a DoubleSerializer with DecimalFormat output pattern ###,##0.000, in SimpleModule and the output is:
{
"double1" : 1234.5678,
"Double1" : {
"value" : "91,011.121"
},
"student1" : {
"double2" : 1920.2122,
"Double2" : {
"value" : "2,324.253"
}
}
}
You can see that the POJO serialization differentiates between double and Double, using the DoubleSerialzer for Doubles and using a regular String format for doubles.
4) Register DoubleSerializer and ClassroomSerializer, without the StudentSerializer. We expect that the output is such that if we write a double as an object, it behaves like a Double, and if we write a Double as a number, it behaves like a double. The Student instance variable should be written as a POJO and follow the pattern above since it does not register.
{
"double1-Object" : {
"value" : "1,234.568"
},
"double1-Number" : 1234.5678,
"Double1-Object" : {
"value" : "91,011.121"
},
"Double1-Number" : 91011.1213,
"student1" : {
"double2" : 1920.2122,
"Double2" : {
"value" : "2,324.253"
}
}
}
5) Register all serializers. The output is:
{
"double1-Object" : {
"value" : "1,234.568"
},
"double1-Number" : 1234.5678,
"Double1-Object" : {
"value" : "91,011.121"
},
"Double1-Number" : 91011.1213,
"student1" : {
"double2-Object" : {
"value" : "1,920.212"
},
"double2-Number" : 1920.2122,
"Double2-Object" : {
"value" : "2,324.253"
},
"Double2-Number" : 2324.2526
}
}
exactly as expected.
Another important note: If you have multiple serializers for the same class registered with the same Module, then the Module will select the serializer for that class that is most recently added to the list. This should not be used - it's confusing and I am not sure how consistent this is
Moral: if you want to customize serialization of primitives in your object, you must write your own serializer for the object. You cannot rely on the POJO Jackson serialization.

Jackson's JSON Views might be a simpler way of achieving your requirements, especially if you have some flexibility in your JSON format.
If {"id":7, "itemNr":"TEST", "createdBy":{id:3}} is an acceptable representation then this will be very easy to achieve with very little code.
You would just annotate the name field of User as being part of a view, and specify a different view in your serialisation request (the un-annotated fields would be included by default)
For example:
Define the views:
public class Views {
public static class BasicView{}
public static class CompleteUserView{}
}
Annotate the User:
public class User {
public final int id;
#JsonView(Views.CompleteUserView.class)
public final String name;
public User(int id, String name) {
this.id = id;
this.name = name;
}
}
And serialise requesting a view which doesn't contain the field you want to hide (non-annotated fields are serialised by default):
objectMapper.getSerializationConfig().withView(Views.BasicView.class);

In my case (Spring 3.2.4 and Jackson 2.3.1), XML configuration for custom serializer:
<mvc:annotation-driven>
<mvc:message-converters register-defaults="false">
<bean class="org.springframework.http.converter.json.MappingJackson2HttpMessageConverter">
<property name="objectMapper">
<bean class="org.springframework.http.converter.json.Jackson2ObjectMapperFactoryBean">
<property name="serializers">
<array>
<bean class="com.example.business.serializer.json.CustomObjectSerializer"/>
</array>
</property>
</bean>
</property>
</bean>
</mvc:message-converters>
</mvc:annotation-driven>
was in unexplained way overwritten back to default by something.
This worked for me:
CustomObject.java
#JsonSerialize(using = CustomObjectSerializer.class)
public class CustomObject {
private Long value;
public Long getValue() {
return value;
}
public void setValue(Long value) {
this.value = value;
}
}
CustomObjectSerializer.java
public class CustomObjectSerializer extends JsonSerializer<CustomObject> {
#Override
public void serialize(CustomObject value, JsonGenerator jgen,
SerializerProvider provider) throws IOException,JsonProcessingException {
jgen.writeStartObject();
jgen.writeNumberField("y", value.getValue());
jgen.writeEndObject();
}
#Override
public Class<CustomObject> handledType() {
return CustomObject.class;
}
}
No XML configuration (<mvc:message-converters>(...)</mvc:message-converters>) is needed in my solution.

The problem in your case is the ItemSerializer is missing the method handledType() which needs to be overridden from JsonSerializer
public class ItemSerializer extends JsonSerializer<Item> {
#Override
public void serialize(Item value, JsonGenerator jgen,
SerializerProvider provider) throws IOException,
JsonProcessingException {
jgen.writeStartObject();
jgen.writeNumberField("id", value.id);
jgen.writeNumberField("itemNr", value.itemNr);
jgen.writeNumberField("createdBy", value.user.id);
jgen.writeEndObject();
}
#Override
public Class<Item> handledType()
{
return Item.class;
}
}
Hence you are getting the explicit error that handledType() is not defined
Exception in thread "main" java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: JsonSerializer of type com.example.ItemSerializer does not define valid handledType()
Hope it helps someone. Thanks for reading my answer.

If your only requirement in your custom serializer is to skip serializing the name field of User, mark it as transient. Jackson will not serialize or deserialize transient fields.
[ see also: Why does Java have transient fields? ]

You have to override method handledType and everything will work
#Override
public Class<Item> handledType()
{
return Item.class;
}