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Java Jackson serializer including FQCN

I'm trying to create a generic Jackon polymorphic serializer that is able to serialize and deserialize to and from JSON with this format including the fqcn of the class of the object:
{
"fqcn": "full qualified class name of the object",
"data": "serialized object"
}
This wrapper should be applied to any object, so for example this will be the JSON representation of a HashMap> object:
{
"fqcn": "java.util.HashMap",
"data": {
"key1": {
"fqcn": "java.util.ArrayList",
"data": [
{
"fqcn": "java.lang.String",
"data": "value1"
},
{
"fqcn": "java.lang.String",
"data": "value2"
}
]
},
"key2": {
...
}
}
}
I could use a MixIn annotation all objects with #JsonTypeInfo
#JsonTypeInfo(use = JsonTypeInfo.Id.CLASS, include = JsonTypeInfo.As.WRAPPER_OBJECT)
public interface ObjMixin {
}
---
ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
mapper.addMixIn(Object.class, ObjMixin.class);
However, the format does not match with the required format: {"fqcn": ..., "data": ...}
I've also tried to register a StdConverter to convert any objects to a wrapper like this:
public class ObjectWrapper {
private String fqcn;
private Object data;
public ObjectWrapper(Object obj) {
this.fqcn = obj.getClass.getCanonicalName();
this.data = obj;
}
}
However it is not possible to create a StdDelegatingSerializer for Object.class.
With a custom StdSerializer like the following I am getting StackOverflowError:
#Override
public void serialize(Object obj, JsonGenerator jsonGen, SerializerProvider serializerProvider) throws IOException {
jsonGen.writeStartObject();
jsonGen.writeStringField("fqcn", obj.getClass().getCanonicalName());
jsonGen.writeFieldName("data");
if (obj instanceof Iterable) {
jsonGen.writeStartArray();
// Recursive serialization of all elements in the iterable
jsonGen.writeEndArray();
} else if (obj instanceof Map) {
jsonGen.writeStartObject();
// Recursive serialization of all elements in the map
jsonGen.writeEndObject();
} else {
// Infinite recursion here because I'm defining this serializer for Object.class
serializerProvider.defaultSerializeValue(obj, jsonGen);
}
}
Does anyone know any other solution to be able to achieve this?

You could use a custom serializer and custom serializer provider to wrap every object you want to serialize into this wrapper object (EDIT: that did not work recusrively, updated the code to not use the wrapper object but write the fields instead):
public class FQCNTest {
#Test
public void doTest() throws JsonProcessingException {
final ObjectMapper om = getObjectMapper();
final Object obj = getTestObject();
final String json = om.writeValueAsString(obj);
System.out.println(json); // {"fqcn":"java.util.HashMap","data":{"k":{"fqcn":"java.lang.String","data":"v"}}}
final Object obj2 = getTestValue();
final String json2 = om.writeValueAsString(obj2);
System.out.println(json2); // {"fcqn":"java.lang.String","data":"hello"}
final Object obj3 = null;
final String json3 = om.writeValueAsString(obj3);
System.out.println(json3); // null
}
private ObjectMapper getObjectMapper() {
final ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
final SerializerProvider sp = mapper.getSerializerProviderInstance();
mapper.setSerializerProvider(new CustomSerializerProvider(sp, mapper.getSerializerFactory()));
return mapper;
}
private Object getTestObject() {
final HashMap<Object, Object> hashMap = new HashMap<>();
hashMap.put("k", "v");
return hashMap;
}
private Object getTestValue() {
return "hello";
}
}
class CustomSerializerProvider extends DefaultSerializerProvider {
private final SerializerProvider defaultInstance;
protected CustomSerializerProvider(final SerializerProvider defaultInstance, final SerializerFactory f) {
super(defaultInstance, defaultInstance.getConfig(), f);
this.defaultInstance = defaultInstance;
}
#Override
public WritableObjectId findObjectId(final Object forPojo, final ObjectIdGenerator<?> generatorType) {
return defaultInstance.findObjectId(forPojo, generatorType);
}
#Override
public JsonSerializer<Object> serializerInstance(final Annotated annotated, final Object serDef) throws JsonMappingException {
return new CustomSerializer();
}
#Override
public Object includeFilterInstance(final BeanPropertyDefinition forProperty, final Class<?> filterClass) {
try {
return defaultInstance.includeFilterInstance(forProperty, filterClass);
} catch (final JsonMappingException e) {
throw new RuntimeException(e);
}
}
#Override
public boolean includeFilterSuppressNulls(final Object filter) throws JsonMappingException {
return defaultInstance.includeFilterSuppressNulls(filter);
}
#Override
public DefaultSerializerProvider createInstance(final SerializationConfig config, final SerializerFactory jsf) {
return this;
}
#Override
public void serializeValue(final JsonGenerator gen, final Object value) throws IOException {
new CustomSerializer().serialize(value, gen, this);
}
#Override
public void serializeValue(final JsonGenerator gen, final Object value, final JavaType rootType) throws IOException {
super.serializeValue(gen, value, rootType);
}
#Override
public void serializeValue(final JsonGenerator gen, final Object value, final JavaType rootType, final JsonSerializer<Object> ser) throws IOException {
super.serializeValue(gen, value, rootType, ser);
}
}
class CustomSerializer extends StdSerializer<Object> {
protected CustomSerializer() {
super(Object.class);
}
#Override
public void serialize(final Object value, final JsonGenerator gen, final SerializerProvider provider) throws IOException {
if (value == null) {
provider.defaultSerializeValue(value, gen);
return;
}
final Class<?> clazz = value.getClass();
final JsonSerializer<Object> serForClazz = provider.findValueSerializer(clazz);
gen.writeStartObject();
gen.writeStringField("fqcn", clazz.getCanonicalName());
gen.writeFieldName("data");
if (value instanceof Iterable) {
gen.writeStartArray();
for (final Object e : ((Iterable<?>) value)) {
final JsonSerializer<Object> ser = new CustomSerializer();
ser.serialize(e, gen, provider);
}
gen.writeEndArray();
} else if (value instanceof Map) {
gen.writeStartObject();
// Recursive serialization of all elements in the map
for (final Map.Entry<?, ?> e : ((Map<?, ?>) value).entrySet()) {
final String key = e.getKey().toString(); // need to handle keys better
final Object mapValue = e.getValue();
gen.writeFieldName(key);
final JsonSerializer<Object> ser = new CustomSerializer();
ser.serialize(mapValue, gen, provider);
}
gen.writeEndObject();
} else {
serForClazz.serialize(value, gen, provider);
}
gen.writeEndObject();
}
}
Note: this code may contain too much stuff that is not necessary, I just took it far enough to make it work for the specific example. (and did not test deserialization, that may be a totally different thing)

Serialize List to xml with Jackson without Annotation?

I'm looking for a way to (de-)serialize a List of items without using Annotations in Jackson. Is this possible? What I'm doing up to now is trying to replace the <item>-tag with a tag telling about the item's class, but no avail. And even if this worked, I'm not sure whether Jackson would offer a way to process this tag information.
To give a better of what I'm aiming at, here's a sample:
public class JacksonTest {
private static class ListElement {
private boolean value;
// getters, setters, constructors omitted
}
#Test
public void testDeSerialization() throws Exception {
final List<ListElement> existing = Arrays.asList(new ListElement(true));
final ObjectMapper mapper = new XmlMapper();
final JavaType listJavaType = mapper.getTypeFactory().constructCollectionType(List.class, ListElement.class);
final String listString = mapper.writerFor(listJavaType).writeValueAsString(existing);
System.out.println(listString);
// "<List><item><value>true</value></item></List>"
}
}
So, the result is <List><item><value>true</value></item></List>, while I want the <item>-tag to be replaced with the (qualified) class name or offering a type-attribute.
Of course, even this would not help if there's no way in Jackson to process this class name.
Do I have reached a dead end here or is there a way to go?

You can define your own JsonSerializer (also used for XML) and add it to a JacksonXmlModule.
ToXmlGenerator has a setNextName function that allows you to override the default item name
private class MyListSerializer extends JsonSerializer<List> {
#Override
public void serialize(List list, JsonGenerator jsonGenerator, SerializerProvider serializerProvider)
throws IOException {
for (Object obj : list) {
if (jsonGenerator instanceof ToXmlGenerator) {
ToXmlGenerator xmlGenerator = (ToXmlGenerator) jsonGenerator;
String className = obj.getClass().getSimpleName();
xmlGenerator.setNextName(new QName(className));
}
jsonGenerator.writeObject(obj);
// this is overridden at the next iteration
// and ignored at the last
jsonGenerator.writeFieldName("dummy");
}
}
#Override
public Class<List> handledType() {
return List.class;
}
}
#Test
public void testDeSerialization() throws Exception {
final List<ListElement> existing = Arrays.asList(new ListElement(true));
JacksonXmlModule module = new JacksonXmlModule();
module.addSerializer(new MyListSerializer());
final ObjectMapper mapper = new XmlMapper(module);
final JavaType listJavaType = mapper.getTypeFactory().constructCollectionType(List.class, ListElement.class);
final ObjectWriter writer = mapper.writerFor(listJavaType);
final String listString = writer.writeValueAsString(existing);
System.out.println(listString);
// "<List><ListElement><value>true</value></ListElement></List>"
}

Okay, after some tinkering and debugging with Evertude's proposal I've figured out a solution. I'm not really happy with the serialization part and honestly I don't know why I was supposed to do it this way. When debugging I've noticed that XmlGenerator::setNextName is required to be called once but does not have any effect on the next call, so I had to implement a switch there and set the field name for the next item in the loop directly.
I'ld be glad if somebody has an idea what I'm doing wrong, but at least my attempt is working for now:
#Test
public void testDeSerialization() throws Exception {
final List<ListElement> existing = Arrays.asList(new ListElement(true), new ListElement(false));
JacksonXmlModule module = new JacksonXmlModule();
module.addSerializer(new MyListSerializer());
final ObjectMapper mapper = new XmlMapper(module);
final JavaType listJavaType = mapper.getTypeFactory().constructCollectionType(List.class, ListElement.class);
final ObjectWriter writer = mapper.writerFor(listJavaType);
final String listString = writer.writeValueAsString(existing);
module.addDeserializer(List.class, new MyListDeserializer());
List<ListElement> deserialized = mapper.readValue(listString, List.class);
assertEquals(existing, deserialized); // provided there're proper hash() and equals() methods
}
private class MyListSerializer extends JsonSerializer<List> {
#Override
public void serialize(List list, JsonGenerator jsonGenerator, SerializerProvider serializerProvider)
throws IOException {
boolean done = false;
for (Object obj : list) {
if (jsonGenerator instanceof ToXmlGenerator) {
ToXmlGenerator xmlGenerator = (ToXmlGenerator) jsonGenerator;
String className = obj.getClass().getSimpleName();
// weird switch
if (!done) xmlGenerator.setNextName(new QName(className));
else jsonGenerator.writeFieldName(className);
done = true;
}
jsonGenerator.writeObject(obj);
}
}
#Override
public Class<List> handledType() {
return List.class;
}
}
private class MyListDeserializer extends JsonDeserializer<List> {
#Override
public List deserialize(JsonParser p, DeserializationContext ctxt) throws IOException, JsonProcessingException {
List<Object> items = new ArrayList<>();
JsonToken nextToken;
while ((nextToken = p.nextToken()) != JsonToken.END_OBJECT) {
String currentName = p.currentName();
try {
String className = "my.test.project.JacksonCustomSerializer$" + currentName;
Class<?> loadClass = getClass().getClassLoader().loadClass(className);
p.nextToken();
items.add(p.readValueAs(loadClass));
} catch (ClassNotFoundException e) {
// some handling
}
}
return items;
}
#Override
public Class<List> handledType() {
return List.class;
}
}

JSon - custom key serialization of nested maps

I have a nested Map<StructureNode, Map<String, String>> for which I need a custom key serializer & deserializer (StructureNode contains references to other objects which are needed to function as key for this map). I used the following method for this:
Jackson Modules for Map Serialization
Giving the following result. Custom Serializer:
public class StructureNodeKeySerializer extends JsonSerializer<StructureNode> {
private static final ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
#Override
public void serialize(StructureNode value, JsonGenerator gen, SerializerProvider serializers) throws IOException {
StringWriter writer = new StringWriter();
mapper.writeValue(writer, value.copyUpwards());
gen.writeFieldName(writer.toString());
}
}
Custom deserializer:
public class StructureNodeKeyDeserializer extends KeyDeserializer {
private static final ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
#Override
public Object deserializeKey(String key, DeserializationContext ctxt) throws IOException {
return mapper.readValue(key, StructureNode.class);
}
}
Usage:
#JsonDeserialize(keyUsing = StructureNodeKeyDeserializer.class) #JsonSerialize(keyUsing = StructureNodeKeySerializer.class)
private Map<StructureNode, String> structureIds;
#JsonDeserialize(keyUsing = StructureNodeKeyDeserializer.class) #JsonSerialize(keyUsing = StructureNodeKeySerializer.class)
private Map<StructureNode, Map<String, String>> metadata;
This correctly serializes a Map<StructureNode, String>, but applied to a nested Map<StructureNode, Map<String, String>>, it gives the following error:
Exception in thread "main" com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonMappingException: java.lang.String cannot be cast to structure.StructureNode
Jackson seems to be using the same custom serialization method for the "sub-map". Is there a good way to solve this problem, without replacing the "sub-map" with another custom (non-Map) object?

You can fix this with
public static class Bean{
#JsonSerialize(using = MapStructureNodeKeySerializer.class)
public Map<StructureNode, Map<String, String>> metadata;
}
And implement your serializer a little bit differently:
public static class MapStructureNodeKeySerializer
extends JsonSerializer<Map<StructureNode, Object>> {
private static final ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
#Override
public void serialize(Map<StructureNode, Object> value, JsonGenerator gen,
SerializerProvider serializers) throws IOException {
gen.writeStartObject();
for(Map.Entry<StructureNode, Object> val: value.entrySet()){
// your custom serialization code here
StringWriter writer = new StringWriter();
mapper.writeValue(writer, val.getKey().copyUpwards());
gen.writeObjectField(writer.toString(), val.getValue());
}
gen.writeEndObject();
}
}
Or if you want to keep keyUsing = StructureNodeKeySerializer.class
public static class Bean{
#JsonSerialize(keyUsing = StructureNodeKeySerializer.class)
public Map<StructureNode, Map<String, String>> metadata;
}
You can implement it like:
public static class StructureNodeKeySerializer extends JsonSerializer {
private static final ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
#Override
public void serialize(Object value, JsonGenerator gen,
SerializerProvider serializers) throws IOException {
if (value instanceof StructureNode){ // <= type of 1-st level Map key
// your custom serialization code here
StringWriter writer = new StringWriter();
mapper.writeValue(writer, ((StructureNode)value).copyUpwards());
gen.writeFieldName(writer.toString());
}else if(value instanceof String){ // <= type of 2-nd level Map key
gen.writeFieldName((String) value);
}
}
}

If you want to serialize it more generically as keySerializer, you can rewrite the else clause as follows
if (value instanceof StructureNode) {
// ...
} else {
serializers
.findKeySerializer(value.class, null)
.serialize(value, gen, serializers);
}

Jackson XML: how to serialize empty/null collections as empty node

I'm using Jackson XML 2.8.9 and unfortunately I cannot find any way to serialize empty/null collections as empty nodes.
Method responsible for serializing to XML:
protected byte[] toXml(final Collection<ReportView> reports) throws IOException
{
final XmlMapper mapper = new XmlMapper();
// place for code which will solve my problem
return mapper.writerWithDefaultPrettyPrinter().withRootName("report").writeValueAsBytes(reports);
}
I tried to use:
serialization inclusion:
mapper.setSerializationInclusion(JsonInclude.Include.ALWAYS);
serialization provider:
final XmlSerializerProvider provider = new XmlSerializerProvider(new XmlRootNameLookup());
provider.setNullValueSerializer(new JsonSerializer<Object>()
{
#Override
public void serialize(final Object value, final JsonGenerator jgen, final SerializerProvider provider) throws IOException
{
jgen.writeString("");
}
});
mapper.setSerializerProvider(provider);
Jackson 2.9.0 EMPTY_ELEMENT_AS_NULL feature:
mapper.configure(FromXmlParser.Feature.EMPTY_ELEMENT_AS_NULL, false);
Unfortunately nothing works. Does anybody know how to achieve it?
Test method:
#Test
public void testToXml() throws IOException
{
final Map<String, Object> payload = new LinkedHashMap<>();
payload.put("amp", "&");
payload.put("empty", Collections.emptyList());
final Date date = new Date();
final ReportView reportView = new ReportView(payload, date, "system");
// when
final byte[] xmlBytes = reportService.toXml(Arrays.asList(reportView));
// then
final StringBuilder expected = new StringBuilder();
expected.append("<report>");
expected.append(" <item>");
expected.append(" <payload>");
expected.append(" <amp>&</amp>");
expected.append(" <empty></empty>");
expected.append(" </payload>");
expected.append(" <timestamp>" + date.getTime() + "</timestamp>");
expected.append(" <changingUser>system</changingUser>");
expected.append(" </item>");
expected.append("</report>");
final String xmlText = new String(xmlBytes).replace("\n", "").replace("\r", "");
assertThat(xmlText).isEqualTo(expected.toString());
}
ReportView class:
public class ReportView {
private final Map<String, Object> payload;
private final Date timestamp;
private final String changingUser;
public ReportView(Map<String, Object> payload, Date timestamp, String changingUser) {
this.payload = payload;
this.timestamp= timestamp;
this.changingUser = changingUser;
}
public String getChangingUser() {
return changingUser;
}
public Date getTimestamp() {
return timestamp;
}
public Map<String, Object> getPayload() {
return payload;
}
}
I prepared a repository with example code: https://github.com/agabrys/bugs-reports/tree/master/jackson-xml/empty-elements-serialization
EDIT:
I extended the test toXml method and did some code cleanup.
I also tried to create a solution based on Module and SerializerModifier. Unfortunately both ended with failure. I created an issue in jackson-dataformat-xml backlog:
NPE after overriding map serializer with custom implementation (XmlBeanSerializerModifier.modifyMapSerializer)
EDIT:
I've got a hint how to solve problem with exception (see NPE after overriding map serializer with custom implementation (XmlBeanSerializerModifier.modifyMapSerializer)) but still it does not solve problem with missing empty/null values.

I needed to tackle the same issue, and here's how I got it working:
First I create a serializer that serializes nulls as empty string:
public class NullAsEmptyStringSerializer extends JsonSerializer<Object> {
static final JsonSerializer<Object> INSTANCE = new NullAsEmptyStringSerializer();
private static final String EMPTY_STRING = "";
private final StringSerializer stringSerializer = new StringSerializer();
#Override
public void serialize(Object value, JsonGenerator gen, SerializerProvider serializers)
throws IOException {
stringSerializer.serialize(EMPTY_STRING, gen, serializers);
}
}
Then I create a serializer modifier, that overwrites the null serializer of the bean properties with my new serializer:
public class NullToEmptyPropertySerializerModifier extends BeanSerializerModifier {
#Override
public List<BeanPropertyWriter> changeProperties(SerializationConfig config,
BeanDescription beanDesc, List<BeanPropertyWriter> beanProperties) {
for (BeanPropertyWriter beanProperty : beanProperties) {
beanProperty.assignNullSerializer(NullAsEmptyStringSerializer.INSTANCE);
}
return beanProperties;
}
}
And finally, I configure the xml mapper to use my modifier:
NullToEmptyPropertySerializerModifier modifier = new NullToEmptyPropertySerializerModifier();
SerializerFactory serializerFactory = BeanSerializerFactory.instance.withSerializerModifier(modifier);
XmlMapper xmlMapper = new XmlMapper();
xmlMapper.setSerializerFactory(serializerFactory);
Trying to see if it's working for strings and objects (Person and Dog are dummy data holder objects):
Dog dog = new Dog("bobby");
Person person = new Person("utku", null, 29, null);
String serialized = xmlMapper.writeValueAsString(person);
System.out.println(serialized);
Gives the following output:
<Person><name>utku</name><address></address><age>29</age><dog></dog></Person>

How do I make Jackson ObjectMapper use my custom deserializer (applied with contentUsing)?

I am having trouble getting jackson to respect my custom JsonDeserializer. The situation is, I have a class MyClass that contains a list of another class, OtherClass, that is outside of my control (so I can't annotate it). This OtherClass class is an interface with multiple implementations. I don't care what the original OtherClass was, I want them to always deserialize as BasicOtherClass.
Here is what I have:
#Getter
public class MyClass {
#JsonProperty("otherclasses")
#JsonSerialize(contentUsing=OtherClassSerializer.class)
#JsonDeserialize(contentUsing=OtherClassDeserializer.class)
private List<OtherClass> otherClasses;
public MyClass(
#JsonProperty("otherclasses")
#JsonDeserialize(contentUsing=OtherClassDeserializer.class)
List<OtherClass> otherClasses) {
this.otherClass = otherClass;
}
}
public static class OtherClassSerializer extends JsonSerializer<OtherClass> {
#Override
public void serialize(OtherClass otherClass, JsonGenerator gen, SerializerProvider serializers)
throws IOException, JsonProcessingException {
gen.writeStartObject();
gen.writeStringField("name", otherClass.getName());
gen.writeStringField("value", otherClass.getValue());
gen.writeEndObject();
}
/** This method is required when default typing is enabled */
#Override
public void serializeWithType(
OtherClass otherClass, JsonGenerator gen, SerializerProvider serializers, TypeSerializer typeSer)
throws JsonProcessingException, IOException {
typeSer.writeTypePrefixForScalar(value, gen, OtherClass.class);
serialize(value, gen, serializers);
typeSer.writeTypeSuffixForScalar(value, gen);
}
}
public static class OtherClassDeserializer extends JsonDeserializer<Header> {
#Override
public Header deserialize(JsonParser p, DeserializationContext ctxt) throws IOException,
JsonProcessingException {
if (p.getCurrentToken() != JsonToken.START_OBJECT) {
throw new IllegalStateException("Failed to parse OtherClass from json");
}
String name = null;
String value = null;
while (p.nextToken() != JsonToken.END_OBJECT) {
String key = p.getText();
p.nextToken();
String val = p.getText();
if (key.equals("name")) {
name = val;
} else if (key.equals("value")) {
value = val;
}
}
return new BasicOtherClass(name, value);
}
}
This is what I am trying to get to work:
ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper().enableDefaultTyping(ObjectMapper.DefaultTyping.NON_FINAL);
OtherClass otherClass = new BufferedOtherClass("name value");
MyClass myClass = new MyClass(Lists.newArrayList(otherClass));
String json = mapper.writeValueAsString(myClass);
// json == ["com.bschlenk.MyClass", {"otherclass": ["java.util.ArrayList", [["com.other.OtherClass", {"name": "name", "value", "value"}]]]}]
But when I try to read that json back into MyClass, it fails:
MyClass parsed = mapper.readValue(json, MyClass.class);
// com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonMappingException:
// Can not construct instance of org.apache.http.Header, problem:
// abstract types either need to be mapped to concrete types,
// have custom deserializer,
// or be instantiated with additional type information
This works when I don't have type information enabled. However, it is other code that is serializing MyClass that I don't have control of, and it has type info on.
Is what I am trying to do even possible? Why doesn't mapper.readValue use my custom JsonDeserializer class? Is this by design?