Develop Reference

How to deserialize empty string as a null value in java?

I am coming to a problem where I am trying to deserialize empty string as null value with my code below. is there a way to deserialize it properly. I created a class EmptyStringDeserializer but I got stuck creating the custom deserializer. Below you can find my EmptyStringDeserializer to see what I did wrong.

You could enable ACCEPT_EMPTY_STRING_AS_NULL_OBJECT in your ObjectMapper:
ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
mapper.enable(DeserializationFeature.ACCEPT_EMPTY_STRING_AS_NULL_OBJECT);
Alternatively, you could define a custom deserializer:
public class CustomStringDeserializer extends JsonDeserializer<String> {
#Override
public String deserialize(JsonParser p, DeserializationContext ctxt)
throws IOException {
String value = StringDeserializer.instance.deserialize(p, ctxt);
if (value == null || value.trim().isEmpty()) {
return null;
}
return value;
}
}
And register it to a module in your ObjectMapper:
SimpleModule module = new SimpleModule();
module.addDeserializer(String.class, new CustomStringDeserializer());
ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
mapper.registerModule(module);
This deserializer will be used to deserialize all strings.

Your #JsonDeserialize should be on field level not on class level. Add on every String field.

Jackson, how can I use default deserializer in custom one [duplicate]

I have a problem in my custom deserializer in Jackson. I want to access the default serializer to populate the object I am deserializing into. After the population I will do some custom things but first I want to deserialize the object with the default Jackson behavior.
This is the code that I have at the moment.
public class UserEventDeserializer extends StdDeserializer<User> {
private static final long serialVersionUID = 7923585097068641765L;
public UserEventDeserializer() {
super(User.class);
}
#Override
#Transactional
public User deserialize(JsonParser jp, DeserializationContext ctxt)
throws IOException, JsonProcessingException {
ObjectCodec oc = jp.getCodec();
JsonNode node = oc.readTree(jp);
User deserializedUser = null;
deserializedUser = super.deserialize(jp, ctxt, new User());
// The previous line generates an exception java.lang.UnsupportedOperationException
// Because there is no implementation of the deserializer.
// I want a way to access the default spring deserializer for my User class.
// How can I do that?
//Special logic
return deserializedUser;
}
}
What I need is a way to initialize the default deserializer so that I can pre-populate my POJO before I start my special logic.
When calling deserialize from within the custom deserializer It seems the method is called from the current context no matter how I construct the serializer class. Because of the annotation in my POJO. This causes a Stack Overflow exception for obvious reasons.
I have tried initializing a BeanDeserializer but the process is extremely complex and I haven't managed to find the right way to do it. I have also tried overloading the AnnotationIntrospector to no avail, thinking that it might help me ignore the annotation in the DeserializerContext. Finally it seams I might have had some success using JsonDeserializerBuilders although this required me to do some magic stuff to get hold of the application context from Spring. I would appreciate any thing that could lead me to a cleaner solution for example how Can I construct a deserialization context without reading the JsonDeserializer annotation.

As StaxMan already suggested you can do this by writing a BeanDeserializerModifier and registering it via SimpleModule. The following example should work:
public class UserEventDeserializer extends StdDeserializer<User> implements ResolvableDeserializer
{
private static final long serialVersionUID = 7923585097068641765L;
private final JsonDeserializer<?> defaultDeserializer;
public UserEventDeserializer(JsonDeserializer<?> defaultDeserializer)
{
super(User.class);
this.defaultDeserializer = defaultDeserializer;
}
#Override public User deserialize(JsonParser jp, DeserializationContext ctxt)
throws IOException, JsonProcessingException
{
User deserializedUser = (User) defaultDeserializer.deserialize(jp, ctxt);
// Special logic
return deserializedUser;
}
// for some reason you have to implement ResolvableDeserializer when modifying BeanDeserializer
// otherwise deserializing throws JsonMappingException??
#Override public void resolve(DeserializationContext ctxt) throws JsonMappingException
{
((ResolvableDeserializer) defaultDeserializer).resolve(ctxt);
}
public static void main(String[] args) throws JsonParseException, JsonMappingException, IOException
{
SimpleModule module = new SimpleModule();
module.setDeserializerModifier(new BeanDeserializerModifier()
{
#Override public JsonDeserializer<?> modifyDeserializer(DeserializationConfig config, BeanDescription beanDesc, JsonDeserializer<?> deserializer)
{
if (beanDesc.getBeanClass() == User.class)
return new UserEventDeserializer(deserializer);
return deserializer;
}
});
ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
mapper.registerModule(module);
User user = mapper.readValue(new File("test.json"), User.class);
}
}

The DeserializationContext has a readValue() method you may use. This should work for both the default deserializer and any custom deserializers you have.
Just be sure to call traverse() on the JsonNode level you want to read to retrieve the JsonParser to pass to readValue().
public class FooDeserializer extends StdDeserializer<FooBean> {
private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
public FooDeserializer() {
this(null);
}
public FooDeserializer(Class<FooBean> t) {
super(t);
}
#Override
public FooBean deserialize(JsonParser jp, DeserializationContext ctxt) throws IOException, JsonProcessingException {
JsonNode node = jp.getCodec().readTree(jp);
FooBean foo = new FooBean();
foo.setBar(ctxt.readValue(node.get("bar").traverse(), BarBean.class));
return foo;
}
}

I found an answer at https://stackoverflow.com/a/51927577/14731 which is much more readable than the accepted answer.
public User deserialize(JsonParser jp, DeserializationContext ctxt)
throws IOException, JsonProcessingException {
User user = jp.readValueAs(User.class);
// some code
return user;
}
It really doesn't get easier than this.

If it is possible for you to declare extra User class then you can implement it just using annotations
// your class
#JsonDeserialize(using = UserEventDeserializer.class)
public class User {
...
}
// extra user class
// reset deserializer attribute to default
#JsonDeserialize
public class UserPOJO extends User {
}
public class UserEventDeserializer extends StdDeserializer<User> {
...
#Override
public User deserialize(JsonParser jp, DeserializationContext ctxt)
throws IOException, JsonProcessingException {
// specify UserPOJO.class to invoke default deserializer
User deserializedUser = jp.ReadValueAs(UserPOJO.class);
return deserializedUser;
// or if you need to walk the JSON tree
ObjectMapper mapper = (ObjectMapper) jp.getCodec();
JsonNode node = oc.readTree(jp);
// specify UserPOJO.class to invoke default deserializer
User deserializedUser = mapper.treeToValue(node, UserPOJO.class);
return deserializedUser;
}
}

There are couple of ways to do this, but to do it right involves bit more work. Basically you can not use sub-classing, since information default deserializers need is built from class definitions.
So what you can most likely use is to construct a BeanDeserializerModifier, register that via Module interface (use SimpleModule). You need to define/override modifyDeserializer, and for the specific case where you want to add your own logic (where type matches), construct your own deserializer, pass the default deserializer you are given.
And then in deserialize() method you can just delegate call, take the result Object.
Alternatively, if you must actually create and populate the object, you can do so and call overloaded version of deserialize() that takes third argument; object to deserialize into.
Another way that might work (but not 100% sure) would be to specify Converter object (#JsonDeserialize(converter=MyConverter.class)). This is a new Jackson 2.2 feature.
In your case, Converter would not actually convert type, but simplify modify the object: but I don't know if that would let you do exactly what you want, since the default deserializer would be called first, and only then your Converter.

Along the lines of what Tomáš Záluský has suggested, in cases where using BeanDeserializerModifier is undesirable you can construct a default deserializer yourself using BeanDeserializerFactory, although there is some extra setup necessary. In context, this solution would look like so:
public User deserialize(JsonParser jp, DeserializationContext ctxt)
throws IOException, JsonProcessingException {
ObjectCodec oc = jp.getCodec();
JsonNode node = oc.readTree(jp);
User deserializedUser = null;
DeserializationConfig config = ctxt.getConfig();
JavaType type = TypeFactory.defaultInstance().constructType(User.class);
JsonDeserializer<Object> defaultDeserializer = BeanDeserializerFactory.instance.buildBeanDeserializer(ctxt, type, config.introspect(type));
if (defaultDeserializer instanceof ResolvableDeserializer) {
((ResolvableDeserializer) defaultDeserializer).resolve(ctxt);
}
JsonParser treeParser = oc.treeAsTokens(node);
config.initialize(treeParser);
if (treeParser.getCurrentToken() == null) {
treeParser.nextToken();
}
deserializedUser = (User) defaultDeserializer.deserialize(treeParser, context);
return deserializedUser;
}

You are bound to fail if you try to create your custom deserializer from scratch.
Instead, you need to get hold of the (fully configured) default deserializer instance through a custom BeanDeserializerModifier, and then pass this instance to your custom deserializer class:
public ObjectMapper getMapperWithCustomDeserializer() {
ObjectMapper objectMapper = new ObjectMapper();
SimpleModule module = new SimpleModule();
module.setDeserializerModifier(new BeanDeserializerModifier() {
#Override
public JsonDeserializer<?> modifyDeserializer(DeserializationConfig config,
BeanDescription beanDesc, JsonDeserializer<?> defaultDeserializer)
if (beanDesc.getBeanClass() == User.class) {
return new UserEventDeserializer(defaultDeserializer);
} else {
return defaultDeserializer;
}
}
});
objectMapper.registerModule(module);
return objectMapper;
}
Note: This module registration replaces the #JsonDeserialize annotation, i.e. the User class or User fields should no longer be annotated with this annotation.
The custom deserializer should then be based on a DelegatingDeserializer so that all methods delegate, unless you provide an explicit implementation:
public class UserEventDeserializer extends DelegatingDeserializer {
public UserEventDeserializer(JsonDeserializer<?> delegate) {
super(delegate);
}
#Override
protected JsonDeserializer<?> newDelegatingInstance(JsonDeserializer<?> newDelegate) {
return new UserEventDeserializer(newDelegate);
}
#Override
public User deserialize(JsonParser p, DeserializationContext ctxt)
throws IOException {
User result = (User) super.deserialize(p, ctxt);
// add special logic here
return result;
}
}

I was not ok with using BeanSerializerModifier since it forces to declare some behavioral changes in central ObjectMapper rather than in custom deserializer itself and in fact it is parallel solution to annotating entity class with JsonSerialize. If you feel it the similar way, you might appreciate my answer here: https://stackoverflow.com/a/43213463/653539

Using BeanDeserializerModifier works well, but if you need to use JsonDeserialize there is a way to do it with AnnotationIntrospector
like this:
ObjectMapper originalMapper = new ObjectMapper();
ObjectMapper copy = originalMapper.copy();//to keep original configuration
copy.setAnnotationIntrospector(new JacksonAnnotationIntrospector() {
#Override
public Object findDeserializer(Annotated a) {
Object deserializer = super.findDeserializer(a);
if (deserializer == null) {
return null;
}
if (deserializer.equals(MyDeserializer.class)) {
return null;
}
return deserializer;
}
});
Now copied mapper will now ignore your custom deserializer (MyDeserializer.class) and use default implementation. You can use it inside deserialize method of your custom deserializer to avoid recursion by making copied mapper static or wire it if using Spring.

A simpler solution for me was to just add another bean of ObjectMapper and use that to deserialize the object (thanks to https://stackoverflow.com/users/1032167/varren comment) - in my case I was interested to either deserialize to its id (an int) or the whole object https://stackoverflow.com/a/46618193/986160
import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonAutoDetect;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.PropertyAccessor;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonParser;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonProcessingException;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.*;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.std.StdDeserializer;
import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;
import java.io.IOException;
public class IdWrapperDeserializer<T> extends StdDeserializer<T> {
private Class<T> clazz;
public IdWrapperDeserializer(Class<T> clazz) {
super(clazz);
this.clazz = clazz;
}
#Bean
public ObjectMapper objectMapper() {
ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
mapper.configure(DeserializationFeature.FAIL_ON_UNKNOWN_PROPERTIES, false);
mapper.configure(MapperFeature.DEFAULT_VIEW_INCLUSION, true);
mapper.configure(SerializationFeature.FAIL_ON_EMPTY_BEANS, false);
mapper.setVisibility(PropertyAccessor.ALL, JsonAutoDetect.Visibility.NONE);
mapper.setVisibility(PropertyAccessor.FIELD, JsonAutoDetect.Visibility.ANY);
return mapper;
}
#Override
public T deserialize(JsonParser jp, DeserializationContext dc) throws IOException, JsonProcessingException {
String json = jp.readValueAsTree().toString();
// do your custom deserialization here using json
// and decide when to use default deserialization using local objectMapper:
T obj = objectMapper().readValue(json, clazz);
return obj;
}
}
for each entity that needs to be going through custom deserializer we need to configure it in the global ObjectMapper bean of the Spring Boot App in my case (e.g for Category):
#Bean
public ObjectMapper objectMapper() {
ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
mapper.configure(DeserializationFeature.FAIL_ON_UNKNOWN_PROPERTIES, false);
mapper.configure(MapperFeature.DEFAULT_VIEW_INCLUSION, true);
mapper.configure(SerializationFeature.FAIL_ON_EMPTY_BEANS, false);
mapper.setVisibility(PropertyAccessor.ALL, JsonAutoDetect.Visibility.NONE);
mapper.setVisibility(PropertyAccessor.FIELD, JsonAutoDetect.Visibility.ANY);
SimpleModule testModule = new SimpleModule("MyModule")
.addDeserializer(Category.class, new IdWrapperDeserializer(Category.class))
mapper.registerModule(testModule);
return mapper;
}

Here is a short solution using default ObjectMapper
private static final ObjectMapper MAPPER = new ObjectMapper(); // use default mapper / mapper without customization
public MyObject deserialize(JsonParser p, DeserializationContext ctxt) throws IOException, JsonProcessingException {
MyObject object = MAPPER.readValue(p, MyObject.class);
// do whatever you want
return object;
}
And please: There is really no need to use any String value or something else. All needed information are given by JsonParser, so use it.

How java jackson deserializer handle both Boolean and Object on same field

I'm working with a 3rd party JSON API, it returns data like this:
{details: {...}, ...}
I use Java Jackson to deserialize this JSON string into a POJO object, the field declaration is :
#JsonProperty("details")
public Details getDetails(){...}
and Details is another class.
Everything is fine until I found that API may return data like this:
{details: false, ...}
If details is empty, it returns false!!! And jackson gave me this exception:
com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonMappingException: Can not instantiate value of type [simple type, class Details] from Boolean value; no single-boolean/Boolean-arg constructor/factory method (through reference chain: ...["details"])
So, how to handle this kind of JSON string? I only need this field to set to null if empty.

The error message from Jackson hints that the library has bulit in support for static factory methods. This is (perhaps) a simpler solution than a custom deserializer:
I created this example POJO, with a static factory method, annotated so that Jackson uses it:
public class Details {
public String name; // example property
#JsonCreator
public static Details factory(Map<String,Object> props) {
if (props.get("details") instanceof Boolean) return null;
Details details = new Details();
Map<String,Object> detailsProps = (Map<String,Object>)props.get("details");
details.name = (String)detailsProps.get("name");
return details;
}
}
test method:
public static void main(String[] args)
{
String fullDetailsJson = "{\"details\": {\"name\":\"My Details\"}} ";
String emptyDetailsJson = "{\"details\": false} ";
ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
try {
Details details = mapper.readValue(fullDetailsJson, Details.class);
System.out.println(details.name);
details = mapper.readValue(emptyDetailsJson, Details.class);
System.out.println(details);
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
result is as expected:
My Details
null

Make a custom JsonDeserializer to handle deserializing your Details object in which you either return null if you get false or pass the object to the default deserializer if it's an actual object. Pseudocode:
public class CustomDeserializer extends JsonDeserializer<Details>{
#Override
public Details deserialize(JsonParser jsonParser, DeserializationContext ctx){
//if object use default deserializer else return null
}
}
You'll also have to write an ObjectMapperProvider to register your deserializer like so:
#Provider
public class ObjectMapperProvider implements ContextResolver<ObjectMapper>{
private ObjectMapper mapper;
public ObjectMapperProvider(){
mapper = new ObjectMapper();
SimpleModule sm = new SimpleModule();
sm.addDeserializer(Details.class, new CustomDeserializer());
mapper.registerModule(sm);
}
public ObjectMapper getContext(Class<?> arg0){
return mapper;
}
}

how to call default parser (registered in mapper) from custom deserializer

I need to provide custom deserialization of the Map and then each Property object has to be serialized by default serializer. This map is part of another object:
class PropertiesHolder {
Map<String, Property> properties;
}
I've defined mixin for the PropertiesHolder class:
class PropertiesHolderMixIn {
#JsonSerialize(using=PropertiesSerializer.class)
#JsonDeserialize(using=PropertiesDeserializer.class)
Map<String, Property> properties;
}
I have also mixin for Property class. The ObjectMapper initialization:
ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
SimpleModule module = new SimpleModule();
module.setMixInAnnotation(Property.class, PropertyMixIn.class);
module.setMixInAnnotation(PropertiesHolder.class, PropertiesHolderMixIn.class);
mapper.registerModule(module);
My deserializer:
class PropertiesDeserializer extends JsonDeserializer<Map<String, Property>> {
public Map<String, Property> deserialize(JsonParser jp, DeserializationContext ctxt) throws ... {
ArrayNode node = (ArrayNode) jp.readValueAsTree();
for (int i = 0, size = node.size() ; i < size ; i++) {
ObjectNode jn = (ObjectNode) node.get(i);
String key = jn.get("propertyName").textValue();
String value = jn.get("propertyValue").toString();
... HERE I need to call registered deserializer for Property class over value ...
}
}
}
I've looked at How do I call the default deserializer from a custom deserializer in Jackson, but it doesn't work form me ... it ends with NPE. Also the solution described in the post creates deserializer for the outer class which for me is defined as mixin and I don't want to create deserializer for this class.
Please, point me to a solution. Where can I get default deserializer for the Property object?
Thanks

The problem is that you will need a fully constructed default deserializer; and this requires that one gets built, and then your deserializer gets access to it. DeserializationContext is not something you should either create or change; it will be provided by ObjectMapper
So all you need to write in the deserialize() method is:
ObjectMapper mapper = (ObjectMapper)jp.getCodec();
Property property = mapper.readValue(jn.get("propertyValue").toString(), Property.class));

Solution is this line of code:
ObjectMapper mapper = (ObjectMapper)jp.getCodec();
Call this method within "deserialize(...)" method. So the important (for me) code fragment is:
ObjectMapper mapper = (ObjectMapper)jp.getCodec();
Property property = mapper.readValue(jn.get("propertyValue").toString(), Property.class));
Found on this blog.

How do I call the default deserializer from a custom deserializer in Jackson

I have a problem in my custom deserializer in Jackson. I want to access the default serializer to populate the object I am deserializing into. After the population I will do some custom things but first I want to deserialize the object with the default Jackson behavior.
This is the code that I have at the moment.
public class UserEventDeserializer extends StdDeserializer<User> {
private static final long serialVersionUID = 7923585097068641765L;
public UserEventDeserializer() {
super(User.class);
}
#Override
#Transactional
public User deserialize(JsonParser jp, DeserializationContext ctxt)
throws IOException, JsonProcessingException {
ObjectCodec oc = jp.getCodec();
JsonNode node = oc.readTree(jp);
User deserializedUser = null;
deserializedUser = super.deserialize(jp, ctxt, new User());
// The previous line generates an exception java.lang.UnsupportedOperationException
// Because there is no implementation of the deserializer.
// I want a way to access the default spring deserializer for my User class.
// How can I do that?
//Special logic
return deserializedUser;
}
}
What I need is a way to initialize the default deserializer so that I can pre-populate my POJO before I start my special logic.
When calling deserialize from within the custom deserializer It seems the method is called from the current context no matter how I construct the serializer class. Because of the annotation in my POJO. This causes a Stack Overflow exception for obvious reasons.
I have tried initializing a BeanDeserializer but the process is extremely complex and I haven't managed to find the right way to do it. I have also tried overloading the AnnotationIntrospector to no avail, thinking that it might help me ignore the annotation in the DeserializerContext. Finally it seams I might have had some success using JsonDeserializerBuilders although this required me to do some magic stuff to get hold of the application context from Spring. I would appreciate any thing that could lead me to a cleaner solution for example how Can I construct a deserialization context without reading the JsonDeserializer annotation.

As StaxMan already suggested you can do this by writing a BeanDeserializerModifier and registering it via SimpleModule. The following example should work:
public class UserEventDeserializer extends StdDeserializer<User> implements ResolvableDeserializer
{
private static final long serialVersionUID = 7923585097068641765L;
private final JsonDeserializer<?> defaultDeserializer;
public UserEventDeserializer(JsonDeserializer<?> defaultDeserializer)
{
super(User.class);
this.defaultDeserializer = defaultDeserializer;
}
#Override public User deserialize(JsonParser jp, DeserializationContext ctxt)
throws IOException, JsonProcessingException
{
User deserializedUser = (User) defaultDeserializer.deserialize(jp, ctxt);
// Special logic
return deserializedUser;
}
// for some reason you have to implement ResolvableDeserializer when modifying BeanDeserializer
// otherwise deserializing throws JsonMappingException??
#Override public void resolve(DeserializationContext ctxt) throws JsonMappingException
{
((ResolvableDeserializer) defaultDeserializer).resolve(ctxt);
}
public static void main(String[] args) throws JsonParseException, JsonMappingException, IOException
{
SimpleModule module = new SimpleModule();
module.setDeserializerModifier(new BeanDeserializerModifier()
{
#Override public JsonDeserializer<?> modifyDeserializer(DeserializationConfig config, BeanDescription beanDesc, JsonDeserializer<?> deserializer)
{
if (beanDesc.getBeanClass() == User.class)
return new UserEventDeserializer(deserializer);
return deserializer;
}
});
ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
mapper.registerModule(module);
User user = mapper.readValue(new File("test.json"), User.class);
}
}

The DeserializationContext has a readValue() method you may use. This should work for both the default deserializer and any custom deserializers you have.
Just be sure to call traverse() on the JsonNode level you want to read to retrieve the JsonParser to pass to readValue().
public class FooDeserializer extends StdDeserializer<FooBean> {
private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;
public FooDeserializer() {
this(null);
}
public FooDeserializer(Class<FooBean> t) {
super(t);
}
#Override
public FooBean deserialize(JsonParser jp, DeserializationContext ctxt) throws IOException, JsonProcessingException {
JsonNode node = jp.getCodec().readTree(jp);
FooBean foo = new FooBean();
foo.setBar(ctxt.readValue(node.get("bar").traverse(), BarBean.class));
return foo;
}
}

I found an answer at https://stackoverflow.com/a/51927577/14731 which is much more readable than the accepted answer.
public User deserialize(JsonParser jp, DeserializationContext ctxt)
throws IOException, JsonProcessingException {
User user = jp.readValueAs(User.class);
// some code
return user;
}
It really doesn't get easier than this.

If it is possible for you to declare extra User class then you can implement it just using annotations
// your class
#JsonDeserialize(using = UserEventDeserializer.class)
public class User {
...
}
// extra user class
// reset deserializer attribute to default
#JsonDeserialize
public class UserPOJO extends User {
}
public class UserEventDeserializer extends StdDeserializer<User> {
...
#Override
public User deserialize(JsonParser jp, DeserializationContext ctxt)
throws IOException, JsonProcessingException {
// specify UserPOJO.class to invoke default deserializer
User deserializedUser = jp.ReadValueAs(UserPOJO.class);
return deserializedUser;
// or if you need to walk the JSON tree
ObjectMapper mapper = (ObjectMapper) jp.getCodec();
JsonNode node = oc.readTree(jp);
// specify UserPOJO.class to invoke default deserializer
User deserializedUser = mapper.treeToValue(node, UserPOJO.class);
return deserializedUser;
}
}

There are couple of ways to do this, but to do it right involves bit more work. Basically you can not use sub-classing, since information default deserializers need is built from class definitions.
So what you can most likely use is to construct a BeanDeserializerModifier, register that via Module interface (use SimpleModule). You need to define/override modifyDeserializer, and for the specific case where you want to add your own logic (where type matches), construct your own deserializer, pass the default deserializer you are given.
And then in deserialize() method you can just delegate call, take the result Object.
Alternatively, if you must actually create and populate the object, you can do so and call overloaded version of deserialize() that takes third argument; object to deserialize into.
Another way that might work (but not 100% sure) would be to specify Converter object (#JsonDeserialize(converter=MyConverter.class)). This is a new Jackson 2.2 feature.
In your case, Converter would not actually convert type, but simplify modify the object: but I don't know if that would let you do exactly what you want, since the default deserializer would be called first, and only then your Converter.

Along the lines of what Tomáš Záluský has suggested, in cases where using BeanDeserializerModifier is undesirable you can construct a default deserializer yourself using BeanDeserializerFactory, although there is some extra setup necessary. In context, this solution would look like so:
public User deserialize(JsonParser jp, DeserializationContext ctxt)
throws IOException, JsonProcessingException {
ObjectCodec oc = jp.getCodec();
JsonNode node = oc.readTree(jp);
User deserializedUser = null;
DeserializationConfig config = ctxt.getConfig();
JavaType type = TypeFactory.defaultInstance().constructType(User.class);
JsonDeserializer<Object> defaultDeserializer = BeanDeserializerFactory.instance.buildBeanDeserializer(ctxt, type, config.introspect(type));
if (defaultDeserializer instanceof ResolvableDeserializer) {
((ResolvableDeserializer) defaultDeserializer).resolve(ctxt);
}
JsonParser treeParser = oc.treeAsTokens(node);
config.initialize(treeParser);
if (treeParser.getCurrentToken() == null) {
treeParser.nextToken();
}
deserializedUser = (User) defaultDeserializer.deserialize(treeParser, context);
return deserializedUser;
}

You are bound to fail if you try to create your custom deserializer from scratch.
Instead, you need to get hold of the (fully configured) default deserializer instance through a custom BeanDeserializerModifier, and then pass this instance to your custom deserializer class:
public ObjectMapper getMapperWithCustomDeserializer() {
ObjectMapper objectMapper = new ObjectMapper();
SimpleModule module = new SimpleModule();
module.setDeserializerModifier(new BeanDeserializerModifier() {
#Override
public JsonDeserializer<?> modifyDeserializer(DeserializationConfig config,
BeanDescription beanDesc, JsonDeserializer<?> defaultDeserializer)
if (beanDesc.getBeanClass() == User.class) {
return new UserEventDeserializer(defaultDeserializer);
} else {
return defaultDeserializer;
}
}
});
objectMapper.registerModule(module);
return objectMapper;
}
Note: This module registration replaces the #JsonDeserialize annotation, i.e. the User class or User fields should no longer be annotated with this annotation.
The custom deserializer should then be based on a DelegatingDeserializer so that all methods delegate, unless you provide an explicit implementation:
public class UserEventDeserializer extends DelegatingDeserializer {
public UserEventDeserializer(JsonDeserializer<?> delegate) {
super(delegate);
}
#Override
protected JsonDeserializer<?> newDelegatingInstance(JsonDeserializer<?> newDelegate) {
return new UserEventDeserializer(newDelegate);
}
#Override
public User deserialize(JsonParser p, DeserializationContext ctxt)
throws IOException {
User result = (User) super.deserialize(p, ctxt);
// add special logic here
return result;
}
}

I was not ok with using BeanSerializerModifier since it forces to declare some behavioral changes in central ObjectMapper rather than in custom deserializer itself and in fact it is parallel solution to annotating entity class with JsonSerialize. If you feel it the similar way, you might appreciate my answer here: https://stackoverflow.com/a/43213463/653539

Using BeanDeserializerModifier works well, but if you need to use JsonDeserialize there is a way to do it with AnnotationIntrospector
like this:
ObjectMapper originalMapper = new ObjectMapper();
ObjectMapper copy = originalMapper.copy();//to keep original configuration
copy.setAnnotationIntrospector(new JacksonAnnotationIntrospector() {
#Override
public Object findDeserializer(Annotated a) {
Object deserializer = super.findDeserializer(a);
if (deserializer == null) {
return null;
}
if (deserializer.equals(MyDeserializer.class)) {
return null;
}
return deserializer;
}
});
Now copied mapper will now ignore your custom deserializer (MyDeserializer.class) and use default implementation. You can use it inside deserialize method of your custom deserializer to avoid recursion by making copied mapper static or wire it if using Spring.

A simpler solution for me was to just add another bean of ObjectMapper and use that to deserialize the object (thanks to https://stackoverflow.com/users/1032167/varren comment) - in my case I was interested to either deserialize to its id (an int) or the whole object https://stackoverflow.com/a/46618193/986160
import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonAutoDetect;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.PropertyAccessor;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonParser;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonProcessingException;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.*;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.deser.std.StdDeserializer;
import org.springframework.context.annotation.Bean;
import java.io.IOException;
public class IdWrapperDeserializer<T> extends StdDeserializer<T> {
private Class<T> clazz;
public IdWrapperDeserializer(Class<T> clazz) {
super(clazz);
this.clazz = clazz;
}
#Bean
public ObjectMapper objectMapper() {
ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
mapper.configure(DeserializationFeature.FAIL_ON_UNKNOWN_PROPERTIES, false);
mapper.configure(MapperFeature.DEFAULT_VIEW_INCLUSION, true);
mapper.configure(SerializationFeature.FAIL_ON_EMPTY_BEANS, false);
mapper.setVisibility(PropertyAccessor.ALL, JsonAutoDetect.Visibility.NONE);
mapper.setVisibility(PropertyAccessor.FIELD, JsonAutoDetect.Visibility.ANY);
return mapper;
}
#Override
public T deserialize(JsonParser jp, DeserializationContext dc) throws IOException, JsonProcessingException {
String json = jp.readValueAsTree().toString();
// do your custom deserialization here using json
// and decide when to use default deserialization using local objectMapper:
T obj = objectMapper().readValue(json, clazz);
return obj;
}
}
for each entity that needs to be going through custom deserializer we need to configure it in the global ObjectMapper bean of the Spring Boot App in my case (e.g for Category):
#Bean
public ObjectMapper objectMapper() {
ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
mapper.configure(DeserializationFeature.FAIL_ON_UNKNOWN_PROPERTIES, false);
mapper.configure(MapperFeature.DEFAULT_VIEW_INCLUSION, true);
mapper.configure(SerializationFeature.FAIL_ON_EMPTY_BEANS, false);
mapper.setVisibility(PropertyAccessor.ALL, JsonAutoDetect.Visibility.NONE);
mapper.setVisibility(PropertyAccessor.FIELD, JsonAutoDetect.Visibility.ANY);
SimpleModule testModule = new SimpleModule("MyModule")
.addDeserializer(Category.class, new IdWrapperDeserializer(Category.class))
mapper.registerModule(testModule);
return mapper;
}

Here is a short solution using default ObjectMapper
private static final ObjectMapper MAPPER = new ObjectMapper(); // use default mapper / mapper without customization
public MyObject deserialize(JsonParser p, DeserializationContext ctxt) throws IOException, JsonProcessingException {
MyObject object = MAPPER.readValue(p, MyObject.class);
// do whatever you want
return object;
}
And please: There is really no need to use any String value or something else. All needed information are given by JsonParser, so use it.