Develop Reference

Specify jackson serialization as an object method

I am looking for a class to implement its own json serialization in a method. I guess it could extend JsonSerializer<Itself>, but that's a little heavy. Is there any other way?
This is what I am looking for.
public class MyClass {
private int fieldA;
private String fieldB;
#JsonSerializer
public void serialize(JsonGenerator gen, SerializationProvider prov){
gen.writeField(...)
}
}
Is there such functionality?

I've adapted the answer. I guess it's closer to what you are looking for?
import java.io.IOException;
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;
#JsonSerialize(using = MyClass2.class)
class MyClass2 extends StdSerializer<MyClass2> {
protected int fieldA;
protected String fieldB;
public MyClass2() {
super(MyClass2.class);
}
public void setFieldA(int fieldA) {
this.fieldA = fieldA;
}
public void setFieldB(String fieldB) {
this.fieldB = fieldB;
}
#Override
public void serialize(MyClass2 value, JsonGenerator gen, SerializerProvider serializers) throws IOException {
gen.writeStartObject();
gen.writeNumberField("fieldA", value.fieldA);
gen.writeStringField("fieldB", value.fieldB);
gen.writeEndObject();
}
}
A simple main class to test serialization:
import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonProcessingException;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
public class TestAutoSerializer2 {
public TestAutoSerializer2() {
super();
}
public void testInnerSerializer2() {
MyClass2 myClass2 = new MyClass2();
myClass2.setFieldA(100);
myClass2.setFieldB("StackOverflow");
String serialized;
try {
serialized = new ObjectMapper().writeValueAsString(myClass2);
System.out.println(getClass().getName()+" serialized to "+serialized);
} catch (JsonProcessingException e) {
System.out.println("Cannot serialize");
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
public static void main(String[] args) {
TestAutoSerializer2 tester = new TestAutoSerializer2();
tester.testInnerSerializer2();
}
}

Jackson, deserialize property based on another property (dependent property)

Using Jackson, is there a way to deserialize a proprty that depends on the value of another property?
if i have this json {"foo":"a","bar":"b"} i'd like to deserialize it to the Test class below as Test [foo=a, bar=b_a], where bar is the value of the json property "bar" and the value of the property "foo".
Of course this is a trivial example, the real deal would be to deserialize a datamodel entity: {"line":"C12", "machine": {"line":"C12", "code":"A"}} machine.line and line are always the same, and i'd like to express it like this: {"line":"C12", "machine": "A"}
import java.io.IOException;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonParser;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonProcessingException;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.DeserializationContext;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.annotation.JsonDeserialize;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.std.StdDeserializer;
public abstract class Main{
private static class Test {
#JsonProperty
private String foo;
#JsonProperty
#JsonDeserialize(using = CustomDeserializer.class)
private String bar;
// ...other fields to be deserialized with default behaviour
private Test() {
}
public Test(String a, String bar) {
this.foo = a;
this.bar = bar;
}
#Override
public String toString() {
return "Test [foo=" + foo + ", bar=" + bar + "]";
}
}
private static class CustomDeserializer extends StdDeserializer<String> {
protected CustomDeserializer() {
super(String.class);
}
#Override
public String deserialize(JsonParser p, DeserializationContext ctxt)
throws IOException, JsonProcessingException {
String foo = //how to get foo property?
String value = p.getValueAsString();
if (!foo.isEmpty()) {
return value + "_" + foo;
} else {
return value;
}
}
}
public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
Test foo2 = mapper.readValue("{\"foo\":\"a\",\"bar\":\"b\"}", Test.class);
System.out.println(foo2); // Test [foo=a, bar=b_a]
}
}

One way to solve your problem is specify a custom deserializer that involves your Test class instead of your string field because the deserialization of your property is based on the value of another property:
public class CustomDeserializer extends JsonDeserializer<Test> {}
#JsonDeserialize(using = CustomDeserializer.class)
public class Test {}
Then you can deserialize your object reading the JsonNode tree built from your input string:
public class CustomDeserializer extends JsonDeserializer<Test> {
#Override
public Test deserialize(JsonParser jp, DeserializationContext dc) throws IOException, JsonProcessingException {
JsonNode node = jp.getCodec().readTree(jp);
String foo = node.get("foo").asText();
String bar = node.get("bar").asText();
if (!foo.isEmpty()) {
bar = (bar + '_' + foo);
}
return new Test(foo, bar);
}
}
//your example
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) throws JsonProcessingException {
ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
Test foo2 = mapper.readValue("{\"foo\":\"a\",\"bar\":\"b\"}", Test.class);
System.out.println(foo2); // Test [foo=a, bar=b_a]
}
}

I got a similar problem today and I wanted to share my solution. So instead of using a #JsonDeserialize, I use a #JsonCreator on the parent object with a package private constructor to accept the "raw" properties and then I can process this data and return better objects.
import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonCreator;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
class Scratch {
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception{
final var testData = "{\"foo\":\"a\",\"bar\":\"b\"}";
final var mapper = new ObjectMapper();
final var testObj = mapper.readValue(testData, Test.class);
System.out.println(testObj); // Test[foo=a, bar=a_b]
}
record Test (
String foo,
String bar
){
#JsonCreator Test(
#JsonProperty("foo") String foo,
#JsonProperty("bar") String bar,
#JsonProperty("_dummy") String _dummy // extra param for the constructor overloading
) {
this(foo, deserializeBar(foo, bar));
}
private static String deserializeBar(String foo, String bar) {
if (foo == null || foo.isEmpty()) {
return bar;
}
return "%s_%s".formatted(foo, bar);
}
}
}

In the end, I've resorted using BeanDeserializerModifier
Please notice that the following code is not fully functioning because it relies on code I'm not allowed to share, but it should suffice to get the idea.
package com.example;
import java.lang.annotation.ElementType;
import java.lang.annotation.Retention;
import java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy;
import java.lang.annotation.Target;
import java.util.Comparator;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.LinkedList;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Map;
import java.util.Map.Entry;
import java.util.Set;
import org.reflections.Reflections;
import org.reflections.scanners.SubTypesScanner;
import org.reflections.scanners.TypeAnnotationsScanner;
import org.slf4j.Logger;
import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.BeanDescription;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.DeserializationConfig;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonDeserializer;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.BeanDeserializer;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.BeanDeserializerModifier;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.std.StdDeserializer;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.module.SimpleModule;
import com.google.inject.Inject;
import com.google.inject.assistedinject.Assisted;
import com.google.inject.assistedinject.AssistedInject;
public class JsonDelegateDeserializerModule extends SimpleModule {
// !! must be registered as guice factory
public interface JsonDelegateDeserializerFactory {
JsonDelegateDeserializerModule create(String packagePath);
}
#Target(ElementType.TYPE)
#Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
public #interface JsonDelegateDeserializer {
public Class<? extends StdDeserializer<?>> deserializer();
public Class<?> forType();
}
protected interface JsonDeserializerFactory {
// non metto nessun generic in TagHandler o guice non riesce piu a creare la
// factory!
#SuppressWarnings("rawtypes")
public JsonDeserializer create(JsonDeserializer baseDeserializer);
}
private static final Logger LOGGER = LoggerFactory.getLogger(JsonDelegateDeserializerModule.class);
#Inject
private FactoryInjector injector;
private final String packagePath;
#AssistedInject
protected JsonDelegateDeserializerModule(#Assisted String packagePath) {
super();
this.packagePath = packagePath;
}
#Override
public String getModuleName() {
return JsonDelegateDeserializerModule.class.getSimpleName() + "[" + packagePath + "]";
}
#Override
public Object getTypeId() {
return JsonDelegateDeserializerModule.class.getSimpleName() + "[" + packagePath + "]";
}
#Override
public void setupModule(SetupContext context) {
Reflections reflectios = new Reflections(packagePath, new SubTypesScanner(), new TypeAnnotationsScanner());
Map<Class<?>, JsonDeserializerFactory> classToDeserializerFactory = new HashMap<>();
Set<Class<?>> classesWithModifier = reflectios.getTypesAnnotatedWith(JsonDelegateDeserializer.class);
for (Class<?> classWithModifier : classesWithModifier) {
JsonDelegateDeserializer annotation = classWithModifier.getAnnotation(JsonDelegateDeserializer.class);
if (annotation != null) {
Class<? extends StdDeserializer<?>> deserializerType = annotation.deserializer();
Class<?> forType = annotation.forType();
try {
JsonDeserializerFactory factory = injector.getFactory(JsonDeserializerFactory.class,
deserializerType);
classToDeserializerFactory.put(forType, factory);
} catch (Exception e) {
LOGGER.error("Exception was thown while creating deserializer {} for type {}:", deserializerType,
forType, e);
throw new RuntimeException(e);
}
}
}
if (!classToDeserializerFactory.isEmpty()) {
setDeserializerModifier(new BeanDeserializerModifier() {
#Override
public JsonDeserializer<?> modifyDeserializer(DeserializationConfig config, BeanDescription beanDesc,
JsonDeserializer<?> deserializer) {
List<Class<?>> possibleTypesList = new LinkedList<>();
if (deserializer instanceof BeanDeserializer) {
for (Entry<Class<?>, JsonDeserializerFactory> entry : classToDeserializerFactory.entrySet()) {
Class<?> type = entry.getKey();
if (type.isAssignableFrom(deserializer.handledType())) {
possibleTypesList.add(type);
}
}
if (possibleTypesList.size() > 1) {
possibleTypesList.sort(new Comparator<Class<?>>() {
#Override
public int compare(Class<?> o1, Class<?> o2) {
if (o1.isAssignableFrom(o2)) {
return 1;
} else {
return -1;
}
}
});
}
Class<?> type = Utils.first(possibleTypesList);
if (type == null) {
return super.modifyDeserializer(config, beanDesc, deserializer);
} else {
JsonDeserializerFactory factory = classToDeserializerFactory.get(type);
JsonDeserializer<?> modifiedDeserializer = factory.create(deserializer);
return super.modifyDeserializer(config, beanDesc, modifiedDeserializer);
}
} else {
// è gia stato impostato un deserializzatore piu specifico, non imposato questo
return super.modifyDeserializer(config, beanDesc, deserializer);
}
}
});
}
super.setupModule(context);
}
}
then you can simply annotate the Mixin to add the custom deserializer
#JsonDelegateDeserializer(deserializer = LoadLineDeserializer.class, forType = Line.class)
public interface LineMixIn {
public static class LoadLineDeserializer extends DelegatingDeserializer {
#AssistedInject
public LoadLineDeserializer(#Assisted JsonDeserializer baseDeserializer, LineService lineService) {
super(baseDeserializer);
}
// ...
}
// ...
}

How to make Jackson to inject the Generic Class into a bean?

Lets suppose, that we have a bean like this:
public class Response<T> {
private T data;
private double executionDuration;
private boolean success;
private String version;
//HOW TO Make Jackson to inject this?
private Class<T> dataClass;
public Optional<T> getData() {
return Optional.ofNullable(data);
}
public double getExecutionDuration() {
return executionDuration;
}
public Class<T> getDataClass() {
return dataClass;
}
public String getVersion() {
return version;
}
public boolean isSuccess() {
return success;
}
}
The deserialization happens like this:
objectMapper.readValue(json, new TypeReference<Response<SomeClass>>() {});
Can I somehow make Jackson to inject the class "SomeClass" into my bean? Injecting the type reference itself would be also ok, I think.

If it is undesirable to save class info in json and use #JsonTypeInfo I would suggest to use #JacksonInject:
public class Response<T> {
private T data;
private double executionDuration;
private boolean success;
private String version;
#JacksonInject("dataClass")
private Class<T> dataClass;
public Optional<T> getData() {
return Optional.ofNullable(data);
}
public double getExecutionDuration() {
return executionDuration;
}
public Class<T> getDataClass() {
return dataClass;
}
public String getVersion() {
return version;
}
public boolean isSuccess() {
return success;
}
}
Deserialization would look like:
ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
InjectableValues.Std injectable = new InjectableValues.Std();
injectable.addValue("dataClass", SomeClass.class);
mapper.setInjectableValues(injectable);
final Response<Integer> response = mapper.readValue(json, new TypeReference<Response<SomeClass>>() { });

this worked for me;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.annotation.JsonDeserialize;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.annotation.JsonSerialize;
import lombok.Getter;
import lombok.NoArgsConstructor;
import lombok.Setter;
#Getter
#Setter
#NoArgsConstructor
public class Entity<T> {
private T data;
#JsonSerialize(converter = ClassToStringConverter.class)
#JsonDeserialize(converter = StringToClassConverter.class)
private Class<T> dataClass;
}
and
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.util.StdConverter;
public class ClassToStringConverter extends StdConverter<Class<?>, String> {
public String convert(Class<?> aClass) {
// class java.lang.Integer
return aClass.toString().split("\\s")[1];
}
}
and
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.util.StdConverter;
public class StringToClassConverter extends StdConverter<String, Class<?>> {
public Class<?> convert(String s) {
try {
return Class.forName(s);
} catch (ClassNotFoundException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
return null;
}
}
Main;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.type.TypeReference;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
import java.io.IOException;
public class Main {
public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
Entity<Integer> data = new Entity<Integer>();
data.setData(5);
data.setDataClass(Integer.class);
ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
String json = mapper.writeValueAsString(data);
Entity<Integer> jsonData = mapper.readValue(json, new TypeReference<Entity<Integer>>() {});
System.out.println(jsonData.getData());
System.out.println(jsonData.getDataClass().getCanonicalName());
}
}
But, maybe it will be better, to not save the class type, but use method to get type from data?
public Class<T> getType() {
return (Class<T>) data.getClass();
}

public class Response<T> {
private T data;
// other fields & methods
public Class getType() {
return Optional.ofNullable(data).map(Object::getClass).orElse(Void.class);
}
public Optional<Class> getSafeType() {
return Optional.ofNullable(data).map(Object::getClass);
}
}
Super simple, no need to tinker with Jackson, NPE safe...

Passing String value to Jackson Custom Deserializer in Java

I have created a Jackson Custom Deserializer to deserialize a JSON string :
public class TestMapper extends StdDeserializer<Test> {
public TestMapper() {
this(null);
}
public TestMapper(Class<?> vc) {
super(vc);
}
#Override
public Test deserialize(JsonParser jsonParser, DeserializationContext deserializationContext) throws IOException {
I want to pass a "String argument" to the deserialize method that I want to use during deserialization. Is there a way to do that?
I'm calling the deserializer as follows in my code:
new ObjectMapper().readValue(json, Test.class)
and the Test Class is :
#JsonDeserialize(using = TestMapper.class)
public class Test {

You need to create constructor which takes your extra argument which will be used during deserialisation:
import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonParser;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.DeserializationContext;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.std.StdDeserializer;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.module.SimpleModule;
import java.io.IOException;
public class JsonApp {
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
SimpleModule customModule = new SimpleModule();
customModule.addDeserializer(Test.class, new TestMapper("Extra value!!!"));
ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
mapper.registerModule(customModule);
Test test = new Test();
test.setValue("Value");
String json = mapper.writeValueAsString(test);
System.out.println(json);
System.out.println(mapper.readValue(json, Test.class));
}
}
class TestMapper extends StdDeserializer<Test> {
private String extraConfig;
public TestMapper() {
this(null);
}
public TestMapper(String extraConfig) {
super(Test.class);
this.extraConfig = extraConfig;
}
#Override
public Test deserialize(JsonParser jsonParser, DeserializationContext deserializationContext) throws IOException {
Test test = new Test();
test.setValue(extraConfig);
return test;
}
}
class Test {
private String value;
public String getValue() {
return value;
}
public void setValue(String value) {
this.value = value;
}
#Override
public String toString() {
return "Test{" +
"value='" + value + '\'' +
'}';
}
}
Above code prints:
{"value":"Value"}
Test{value='Extra value!!!'}
You should always provide to super constructor your POJO class, for example, Test.class. If you need more complex initialisation, take a look on ContextualDeserializer.
Also, take a look:
How to inject dependency into Jackson Custom deserializer
Jackson - deserialize inner list of objects to list of one higher level

Jackson Deserializer delegate to next applicable deserializer

I have an external service which I use to query some data. The data will be in one of two formats (first of which is kind of "legacy", but needs to be supported):
{
"foo": "John Smith"
}
or
{
"foo": {
"name": "John Smith",
"bar": "baz"
}
}
which I want to map to the following POJO:
#Data
#AllArgsConstructor
#NoArgsConstructor
public class Outer {
private Foo foo;
#Data
#AllArgsConstructor
#NoArgsConstructor
public static class Foo {
String name;
String bar;
}
}
Data in the second format (foo is an object) should be deserialized just like any other POJO, but given data in the first format (foo is string), to turn it into an instance of Foo, I want to call new Foo(<foo>, null). To do this, I have created a custom deserializer (#JsonComponent means that this deserializer will be registered with a kinda-global ObjectMapper by spring via Jackson Module interface):
#JsonComponent
public class FooDeserializer extends JsonDeserializer<Outer.Foo> {
#Override
public Outer.Foo deserialize(JsonParser parser, DeserializationContext context)
throws IOException {
JsonNode node = parser.getCodec().readTree(parser);
if (node.isTextual()) {
return new Foo(node.asText(), null);
}
return <delegate to next applicable deserializer>;
}
}
I'm having trouble figuring out how to do the "delegate to next applicable deserializer" part, as every solution I've tried (for example parser.getCodec().treeToValue(node, Outer.Foo.class)) ends up using the same custom deserializer again, causing infinite recursion. Is this even possible?

Credit to schummar answer :How do I call the default deserializer from a custom deserializer in Jackson. Following the above answer,
1. #JsonComponent annotation should be removed from the custom serializer as we need to construct the custom serializer using the default serializer, and this is not supported by #JsonComponent.
2. Register a SimpleModule to the ObjectMapper with a BeanDeserializerModifier and modify the serializer with our custom serializer constructed with the default serializer.
3. In the serialize method of the custom serializer, handle the special case, and delegate the serialization to the default serializer for normal case.
The following code demonstrates how to implement above points.
Main class
import java.io.IOException;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonParseException;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.BeanDescription;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.DeserializationConfig;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonDeserializer;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonMappingException;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.BeanDeserializerModifier;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.module.SimpleModule;
public class DelegateDeserializer {
public static void main(String[] args) throws JsonParseException, JsonMappingException, IOException {
ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
SimpleModule simpleModule = new SimpleModule();
simpleModule.setDeserializerModifier(new BeanDeserializerModifier() {
#Override
public JsonDeserializer<?> modifyDeserializer(DeserializationConfig config, BeanDescription beanDesc,
JsonDeserializer<?> deserializer) {
if (Outer.Foo.class.isAssignableFrom(beanDesc.getBeanClass())) {
return new FooDeserializer(deserializer, beanDesc.getBeanClass());
}
return deserializer;
}
});
mapper.registerModule(simpleModule);
Outer outer1 = mapper.readValue(getType1Json(), Outer.class);
Outer outer2 = mapper.readValue(getType2Json(), Outer.class);
System.out.println("deserialize json with object structure:");
System.out.println(outer1.getFoo().getName());
System.out.println(outer1.getFoo().getBar());
System.out.println("deserialize json with string field only:");
System.out.println(outer2.getFoo().getName());
System.out.println(outer2.getFoo().getBar());
}
private static String getType1Json() {
return " { "
+ " \"foo\": { "
+ " \"name\": \"John Smith\", "
+ " \"bar\": \"baz\" "
+ " } "
+ "} ";
}
private static String getType2Json() {
return " { "
+ " \"foo\": \"John Smith\" "
+ "} ";
}
}
FooDeserializer class
import java.io.IOException;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonParser;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonToken;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.DeserializationContext;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonDeserializer;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonMappingException;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonNode;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.ResolvableDeserializer;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.std.StdDeserializer;
import jackson.Outer.Foo;
public class FooDeserializer extends StdDeserializer<Outer.Foo> implements ResolvableDeserializer {
private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
private final JsonDeserializer<?> defaultDeserializer;
public FooDeserializer(JsonDeserializer<?> defaultDeserializer, Class<?> clazz) {
super(clazz);
this.defaultDeserializer = defaultDeserializer;
}
#Override
public Outer.Foo deserialize(JsonParser parser, DeserializationContext context) throws IOException {
if (parser.getCurrentToken() == JsonToken.VALUE_STRING) {
JsonNode node = parser.getCodec().readTree(parser);
if (node.isTextual()) {
return new Foo(node.asText(), null);
}
}
return (Foo) defaultDeserializer.deserialize(parser, context);
}
#Override
public void resolve(DeserializationContext ctxt) throws JsonMappingException {
((ResolvableDeserializer) defaultDeserializer).resolve(ctxt);
}
}
Outer class
public class Outer {
private Foo foo;
public Foo getFoo() {
return foo;
}
public void setFoo(Foo foo) {
this.foo = foo;
}
public static class Foo {
private String bar;
private String name;
public String getName() {
return name;
}
public void setName(String name) {
this.name = name;
}
public String getBar() {
return bar;
}
public void setBar(String bar) {
this.bar = bar;
}
public Foo() {
}
public Foo(String name, String bar) {
this.name = name;
this.bar = bar;
}
}
}