I’ve been assigned the task of implementing for my specific product team a common RESTful API that is invoked as part of a cloud on-boarding process. The spec provided to me describes the data structures comprising the request and responses – all of which will be encoded in JSON. In an ideal world, I would leverage something like JAX-RS (using something like Jersey RI). But, alas, that would be too easy. Instead I must host this API somehow on top of my product’s existing service-based architecture framework. I went searching around for a JAXB equivalent for JSON – that would allow some type of JSON to Java binding. I was hoping I would find some type of JSON schema definition concept, an xjc and schemgen equivalent etc. I came up short on my search for such tools, but I did discover that Jackson and Jersey can support de/serialization from/to JSON of Java objects that are annotated using JAXB (java.xml.bind.annotation). This was a welcome discovery and it meant I could set about trying to model the specification’s data structures with XSD.
My plan was to create the XML schema up front, and then leverage xjc to create the set of JAXB-annotated Java classes that map to the elements/types defined in the schema. Everything was coming along nicely. Whenever I got stuck on the XSD front, I would simply try and model the concept using some basic java classes, then fire up the schemagen tool to view the schema it generated, and incorporate the techniques/result back in to my own XSD. I completed the XSD, and invoked xjc and out came my auto-generated JAXB-annotated classes. However, some of the classes and properties were not what I was expecting. Where had my java.util.Map based properties gone?
If you take a simple sample like the following – a Person object with a map property of all their worldly gadgets (iPad/iPhones etc):
Person.java
import java.util.Map;
public class Person
{
private String name;
private Map<String, Gadget> gadgets;
public void setName(String name)
{
this.name = name;
}
public String getName()
{
return name;
}
public void setGadgets(Map<String, Gadget> gadgets)
{
this.gadgets = gadgets;
}
public Map<String, Gadget> getGadgets()
{
return gadgets;
}
}
Gadget.java
public class Gadget
{
private String make;
public void setMake(String make)
{
this.make = make;
}
public String getMake()
{
return make;
}
}
Running schemagen on the above, you get the following schema:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<xs:schema version="1.0" xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
<xs:complexType name="gadget">
<xs:sequence>
<xs:element name="make" type="xs:string" minOccurs="0"/>
</xs:sequence>
</xs:complexType>
<xs:complexType name="person">
<xs:sequence>
<xs:element name="gadgets">
<xs:complexType>
<xs:sequence>
<xs:element name="entry" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded">
<xs:complexType>
<xs:sequence>
<xs:element name="key" minOccurs="0" type="xs:string"/>
<xs:element name="value" minOccurs="0" type="gadget"/>
</xs:sequence>
</xs:complexType>
</xs:element>
</xs:sequence>
</xs:complexType>
</xs:element>
<xs:element name="name" type="xs:string" minOccurs="0"/>
</xs:sequence>
</xs:complexType>
</xs:schema>
If I then feed the above schema back to xjc, the JAXB-annotated classes that get generated look like the following (javadoc removed to save on space):
Person.java
import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.List;
import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlAccessType;
import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlAccessorType;
import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlElement;
import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlType;
@XmlAccessorType(XmlAccessType.FIELD)
@XmlType(name = "person", propOrder = {
"gadgets",
"name"
})
public class Person {
@XmlElement(required = true)
protected Person.Gadgets gadgets;
protected String name;
public Person.Gadgets getGadgets() {
return gadgets;
}
public void setGadgets(Person.Gadgets value) {
this.gadgets = value;
}
public String getName() {
return name;
}
public void setName(String value) {
this.name = value;
}
@XmlAccessorType(XmlAccessType.FIELD)
@XmlType(name = "", propOrder = {
"entry"
})
public static class Gadgets {
protected List<Person.Gadgets.Entry> entry;
public List<Person.Gadgets.Entry> getEntry() {
if (entry == null) {
entry = new ArrayList<Person.Gadgets.Entry>();
}
return this.entry;
}
@XmlAccessorType(XmlAccessType.FIELD)
@XmlType(name = "", propOrder = {
"key",
"value"
})
public static class Entry {
protected String key;
protected Gadget value;
public String getKey() {
return key;
}
public void setKey(String value) {
this.key = value;
}
public Gadget getValue() {
return value;
}
public void setValue(Gadget value) {
this.value = value;
}
}
}
}
Gadget.java
import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlAccessType;
import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlAccessorType;
import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlType;
@XmlAccessorType(XmlAccessType.FIELD)
@XmlType(name = "gadget", propOrder = {
"make"
})
public class Gadget {
protected String make;
public String getMake() {
return make;
}
public void setMake(String value) {
this.make = value;
}
}
As can be seen above in the generated Person class, the Map was not reinstated. Instead a new Person.Gadgets class was created containing a list of the new Person.Gadgets.Entry class. To be fair, the xjc tool treated the schema at face value. How was it to know that this structure should be modelled by a Map. Ideally, it would be nice if only a few instructions in a bindings file (supplied to xjc tool along with the schema file) were sufficient to auto-generate all required JAXB-annotated classes with full Map support. Unfortunately this is not the case. Instead a bindings file must be created that targets appropriate elements in the schema and overrides their baseType with a fully-qualified custom Map subclass. Custom java files must be hand-created for the Map subclass, and also an XmlAdapter subclass which contains the logic to unmarshal/marshal to/from the Map subclass.
What proceeds is a fully-worked example based on the Person / Gadget scenario above that restores Map support for set/getGadgets() methods of the Person class. It also has a few extra features thrown in including subclassing of Gadget. Credit for this technique must go to Aaron Anderson @ adventuresintechology.blogspot.com.
First, the xml schema.
schema.xsd
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xs:schema xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" elementFormDefault="qualified"
targetNamespace="http://todayguesswhat.blogspot.com/test" xmlns:test="http://todayguesswhat.blogspot.com/test">
<xs:element name="Person">
<xs:complexType>
<xs:sequence>
<xs:element name="name" type="xs:string"/>
<xs:element name="gadgets" type="test:GadgetMapModeller" minOccurs="0"/>
</xs:sequence>
</xs:complexType>
</xs:element>
<xs:complexType name="GadgetMapModeller">
<xs:sequence>
<xs:element name="entry" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded">
<xs:complexType>
<xs:sequence>
<xs:element name="key" type="xs:string"/>
<xs:element name="value" type="test:Gadget"/>
</xs:sequence>
</xs:complexType>
</xs:element>
</xs:sequence>
</xs:complexType>
<xs:complexType name="Gadget">
<xs:sequence>
<xs:element name="make" type="xs:string"/>
<xs:element name="model" type="xs:string"/>
<xs:element name="year" type="xs:int"/>
</xs:sequence>
</xs:complexType>
<xs:complexType name="Computer">
<xs:complexContent>
<xs:extension base="test:Gadget">
<xs:sequence>
<xs:element name="speed" type="xs:int"/>
<xs:element name="cpu" type="xs:string"/>
</xs:sequence>
</xs:extension>
</xs:complexContent>
</xs:complexType>
</xs:schema>
The important bindings file that overrides the generated type of the gadgets element to the new Map subclass – GadgetMap<String, Gadget>
bindings.xml
<jaxb:bindings xmlns:jaxb="http://java.sun.com/xml/ns/jaxb" xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" version="2.1">
<jaxb:bindings schemaLocation="schema.xsd">
<jaxb:bindings node="//xs:element[@name='Person']//xs:element[@name='gadgets']">
<jaxb:property>
<jaxb:baseType name="com.blogspot.todayguesswhat.test.model.GadgetMap<String,Gadget>" />
</jaxb:property>
</jaxb:bindings>
</jaxb:bindings>
</jaxb:bindings>
The new Map subclass with XmlJavaTypeAdapter JAXB annotation defining the name of the adapter for unmarshalling/marshalling to/from this type.
GadgetMap.java
package com.blogspot.todayguesswhat.test.model;
import java.util.HashMap;
import javax.xml.bind.annotation.adapters.XmlJavaTypeAdapter;
@XmlJavaTypeAdapter(GadgetMapAdapter.class)
public class GadgetMap<String,Gadget> extends HashMap<String,Gadget>
{
}
The XmlAdapter that does the important conversion from one type to another:
GadgetMapAdapter.java
package com.blogspot.todayguesswhat.test.model;
import java.util.Map;
import javax.xml.bind.annotation.adapters.XmlAdapter;
public class GadgetMapAdapter extends XmlAdapter<GadgetMapModeller, GadgetMap<String,Gadget>>
{
@Override
public GadgetMap<String,Gadget> unmarshal(GadgetMapModeller modeller)
{
GadgetMap<String,Gadget> map = new GadgetMap<String,Gadget>();
for (GadgetMapModeller.Entry e : modeller.getEntry())
{
map.put(e.getKey(), e.getValue());
}
return map;
}
@Override
public GadgetMapModeller marshal(GadgetMap<String,Gadget> map)
{
GadgetMapModeller modeller = new GadgetMapModeller();
for (Map.Entry<String,Gadget> entry : map.entrySet())
{
GadgetMapModeller.Entry e = new GadgetMapModeller.Entry();
e.setKey(entry.getKey());
e.setValue(entry.getValue());
modeller.getEntry().add(e);
}
return modeller;
}
}
A few test classes.
MarshalTest.java
package com.blogspot.todayguesswhat.test.model;
import java.util.List;
import javax.xml.bind.JAXBContext;
import javax.xml.bind.Marshaller;
public class MarshalTest
{
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception
{
JAXBContext jc = JAXBContext.newInstance(Person.class);
ObjectFactory factory = new ObjectFactory();
Person person = factory.createPerson();
person.setName("Matt Shannon");
GadgetMap<String, Gadget> map = new GadgetMap<String, Gadget>();
Gadget gadget1 = new Gadget();
gadget1.setMake("Apple");
gadget1.setModel("iPod");
gadget1.setYear(2002);
Computer gadget2 = new Computer();
gadget2.setMake("Lenovo");
gadget2.setModel("Thinkpad X230");
gadget2.setYear(2012);
gadget2.setCpu("Intel i5-3320M");
gadget2.setSpeed(2600);
map.put("my ipad", gadget1);
map.put("my laptop", gadget2);
person.setGadgets(map);
Marshaller marshaller = jc.createMarshaller();
marshaller.setProperty(Marshaller.JAXB_FORMATTED_OUTPUT, true);
marshaller.marshal(person, System.out);
}
}
UnmarshalTest.java
package com.blogspot.todayguesswhat.test.model;
import java.io.File;
import java.util.Map;
import javax.xml.bind.JAXBContext;
import javax.xml.bind.Unmarshaller;
public class UnmarshalTest
{
public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception
{
JAXBContext jc = JAXBContext.newInstance(Person.class);
Unmarshaller u = jc.createUnmarshaller();
Person person = (Person) u.unmarshal(new File(args[0]));
logPerson(person);
}
public static void logPerson(Person p)
{
if (p != null)
{
System.out.println("Person [name=" + p.getName() + "]");
GadgetMap<String, Gadget> map = p.getGadgets();
if (map != null)
{
for (Map.Entry<String,Gadget> entry : map.entrySet())
{
Gadget g = entry.getValue();
System.out.println(" " + entry.getKey() + " : " + gadgetToString(g));
}
}
}
}
public static String gadgetToString(Gadget g)
{
String result = null;
if (g != null)
{
result = "[make="+g.getMake()+"][model="+g.getModel()+"][year="+g.getYear()+"]";
if (g instanceof Computer)
{
Computer c = (Computer) g;
result = result + "[cpu="+c.getCpu()+"][speed="+c.getSpeed()+"]";
}
}
return result;
}
}
An XML file leveraged by the unmarshalling test
person.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<Person xmlns="http://todayguesswhat.blogspot.com/test">
<name>Louise</name>
<gadgets>
<entry>
<key>work laptop</key>
<value xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:type="Computer">
<make>Lenovo</make>
<model>Thinkpad X120e</model>
<year>2011</year>
<speed>1600</speed>
<cpu>AMD E-350</cpu>
</value>
</entry>
<entry>
<key>my phone</key>
<value>
<make>Apple</make>
<model>iPhone 3g</model>
<year>2008</year>
</value>
</entry>
</gadgets>
</Person>
And some windows bat files to invoke the various commands
clean.bat
@ECHO off
SET PROJECT_GENSRC=%~dp0\gensrc
IF EXIST "%PROJECT_GENSRC%" RMDIR /s /q "%PROJECT_GENSRC%"
SET PROJECT_JAVADOC=%~dp0\javadoc
IF EXIST "%PROJECT_JAVADOC%" RMDIR /s /q "%PROJECT_JAVADOC%"
SET PROJECT_CLASSES=%~dp0\classes
IF EXIST "%PROJECT_CLASSES%" RMDIR /s /q "%PROJECT_CLASSES%"
pause.
jaxb.bat
@ECHO off
SET JAVA_HOME=C:\Oracle\Middleware\jdk160_24
SET JAXBCMD=%JAVA_HOME%\bin\xjc.exe
SET PROJECT_GENSRC=%~dp0\gensrc
IF EXIST "%PROJECT_GENSRC%" RMDIR /s /q "%PROJECT_GENSRC%"
MKDIR "%PROJECT_GENSRC%"
"%JAXBCMD%" -no-header -d "%PROJECT_GENSRC%" -p com.blogspot.todayguesswhat.test.model -xmlschema "%~dp0\schema.xsd" -b "%~dp0\bindings.xml"
pause.
compile.bat
@ECHO off
SET JAVA_HOME=C:\Oracle\Middleware\jdk160_24
SET JAVACMPCMD=%JAVA_HOME%\bin\javac.exe
SET SRC_BASE_PKG=src\com\blogspot\todayguesswhat\test\model
SET GENSRC_BASE_PKG=gensrc\com\blogspot\todayguesswhat\test\model
SET PROJECT_CLASSES=%~dp0\classes
IF EXIST "%PROJECT_CLASSES%" RMDIR /s /q "%PROJECT_CLASSES%"
MKDIR "%PROJECT_CLASSES%"
"%JAVACMPCMD%" -d "%PROJECT_CLASSES%" %SRC_BASE_PKG%\*.java %GENSRC_BASE_PKG%\*.java
pause.
javadoc.bat
@ECHO off
SET JAVA_HOME=C:\Oracle\Middleware\jdk160_24
SET JAVADOCCMD=%JAVA_HOME%\bin\javadoc.exe
SET PROJECT_SRC=%~dp0\src
SET PROJECT_GENSRC=%~dp0\gensrc
SET PROJECT_JAVADOC=%~dp0\javadoc
IF EXIST "%PROJECT_JAVADOC%" RMDIR /s /q "%PROJECT_JAVADOC%"
MKDIR "%PROJECT_JAVADOC%"
"%JAVADOCCMD%" -sourcepath "%PROJECT_GENSRC%;%PROJECT_SRC%" -d "%PROJECT_JAVADOC%" -subpackages com.blogspot.todayguesswhat.test.model -protected
pause.
run-marshal-test.bat
@ECHO off
MODE 120,50
SET JAVA_HOME=C:\Oracle\Middleware\jdk160_24
SET JAVACMD=%JAVA_HOME%\bin\java.exe
SET PROJECT_CLASSES=%~dp0\classes
"%JAVACMD%" -classpath "%PROJECT_CLASSES%" com.blogspot.todayguesswhat.test.model.MarshalTest
pause.
run-unmarshal-test.bat
@ECHO off
MODE 120,50
SET JAVA_HOME=C:\Oracle\Middleware\jdk160_24
SET JAVACMD=%JAVA_HOME%\bin\java.exe
SET PROJECT_CLASSES=%~dp0\classes
"%JAVACMD%" -classpath "%PROJECT_CLASSES%" com.blogspot.todayguesswhat.test.model.UnmarshalTest "%~dp0\person.xml"
pause.
Click here to download a zip of this JAXB sample.
