How can I polymorphic deserialization Json String using Java and Jackson Library?

Question

I've some classes A, B, C they all inherit from class BaseClass.

I've a String json that contains the json representation of the A, B, C or BaseClass.

I want to have some way to deserialize this String to the BaseClass (polymorphic deserialization). Something like this

BaseClass base = ObjectMapper.readValue(jsonString, BaseClass.class);

jsonString could be Json String representation of any of A, B, C, or BaseClass.

Correlative

Answer 1

It's not clear what problem the original poster is having. I'm guessing that it's one of two things:

1. Deserialization problems with unbound JSON elements, because the JSON contains elements for which there is nothing in the Java to bind to; or

2. Want to implement polymorphic deserialization.

Here's a solution to the first problem.

import static org.codehaus.jackson.map.DeserializationConfig.Feature.FAIL_ON_UNKNOWN_PROPERTIES;

import org.codehaus.jackson.map.ObjectMapper;

public class Foo
{
  public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception
  {
    BaseClass base = new BaseClass();
    A a = new A();
    B b = new B();
    C c = new C();

    ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();

    String baseJson = mapper.writeValueAsString(base);
    System.out.println(baseJson); // {"baseName":"base name"}
    String aJson = mapper.writeValueAsString(a);
    System.out.println(aJson); // {"baseName":"base name","aName":"a name"}
    String bJson = mapper.writeValueAsString(b);
    System.out.println(bJson); // {"baseName":"base name","bName":"b name"}
    String cJson = mapper.writeValueAsString(c);
    System.out.println(cJson); // {"baseName":"base name","cName":"c name"}

    BaseClass baseCopy = mapper.readValue(baseJson, BaseClass.class);
    System.out.println(baseCopy); // baseName: base name

    // BaseClass aCopy = mapper.readValue(aJson, BaseClass.class);
    // throws UnrecognizedPropertyException: 
    // Unrecognized field "aName", not marked as ignorable
    // because the JSON contains elements for which no Java field
    // to bind to was provided.

    // Need to let Jackson know that not all JSON elements must be bound.
    // To resolve this, the class can be annotated with 
    // @JsonIgnoreProperties(ignoreUnknown=true) or the ObjectMapper can be
    // directly configured to not FAIL_ON_UNKNOWN_PROPERTIES
    mapper = new ObjectMapper();
    mapper.configure(FAIL_ON_UNKNOWN_PROPERTIES, false);

    BaseClass aCopy = mapper.readValue(aJson, BaseClass.class);
    System.out.println(aCopy); // baseName: base name
    BaseClass bCopy = mapper.readValue(bJson, BaseClass.class);
    System.out.println(bCopy); // baseName: base name
    BaseClass cCopy = mapper.readValue(cJson, BaseClass.class);
    System.out.println(cCopy); // baseName: base name
  }
}

class BaseClass
{
  public String baseName = "base name";
  @Override public String toString() {return "baseName: " + baseName;}
}

class A extends BaseClass
{
  public String aName = "a name";
  @Override public String toString() {return super.toString() + ", aName: " + aName;}
}

class B extends BaseClass
{
  public String bName = "b name";
  @Override public String toString() {return super.toString() + ", bName: " + bName;}
}

class C extends BaseClass
{
  public String cName = "c name";
  @Override public String toString() {return super.toString() + ", cName: " + cName;}
}

Here's a solution to the second problem.

import org.codehaus.jackson.annotate.JsonSubTypes;
import org.codehaus.jackson.annotate.JsonSubTypes.Type;
import org.codehaus.jackson.annotate.JsonTypeInfo;
import org.codehaus.jackson.map.ObjectMapper;

public class Foo
{
  public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception
  {
    BaseClass base = new BaseClass();
    A a = new A();
    B b = new B();
    C c = new C();

    ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();

    String baseJson = mapper.writeValueAsString(base);
    System.out.println(baseJson); // {"type":"BaseClass","baseName":"base name"}
    String aJson = mapper.writeValueAsString(a);
    System.out.println(aJson); // {"type":"a","baseName":"base name","aName":"a name"}
    String bJson = mapper.writeValueAsString(b);
    System.out.println(bJson); // {"type":"b","baseName":"base name","bName":"b name"}
    String cJson = mapper.writeValueAsString(c);
    System.out.println(cJson); // {"type":"c","baseName":"base name","cName":"c name"}

    BaseClass baseCopy = mapper.readValue(baseJson, BaseClass.class);
    System.out.println(baseCopy); // baseName: base name
    BaseClass aCopy = mapper.readValue(aJson, BaseClass.class);
    System.out.println(aCopy); // baseName: base name, aName: a name
    BaseClass bCopy = mapper.readValue(bJson, BaseClass.class);
    System.out.println(bCopy); // baseName: base name, bName: b name
    BaseClass cCopy = mapper.readValue(cJson, BaseClass.class);
    System.out.println(cCopy); // baseName: base name, cName: c name
  }
}

@JsonTypeInfo(  
    use = JsonTypeInfo.Id.NAME,  
    include = JsonTypeInfo.As.PROPERTY,  
    property = "type")  
@JsonSubTypes({  
    @Type(value = A.class, name = "a"),  
    @Type(value = B.class, name = "b"),  
    @Type(value = C.class, name = "c") }) 
class BaseClass
{
  public String baseName = "base name";
  @Override public String toString() {return "baseName: " + baseName;}
}

class A extends BaseClass
{
  public String aName = "a name";
  @Override public String toString() {return super.toString() + ", aName: " + aName;}
}

class B extends BaseClass
{
  public String bName = "b name";
  @Override public String toString() {return super.toString() + ", bName: " + bName;}
}

class C extends BaseClass
{
  public String cName = "c name";
  @Override public String toString() {return super.toString() + ", cName: " + cName;}
}

If instead, the goal is to deserialize to a subclass type without a JSON element specifically dedicated to indicate what the subclass type is, then that is also possible, so long as something in the JSON can be used to decide what the subclass type should be. I posted an example of this approach at http://programmerbruce.blogspot.com/2011/05/deserialize-json-with-jackson-into.html.

Goss

You just hit the spot. It's the second problem I'm concerning. Thank you! – Correlative

Sorry, I wasn't clear enough. I've edited the question to reflect my concern. – Correlative

I was actually looking for a solution to problem #1 - FAIL_ON_UNKNOWN_PROPERTIES == false was just what I needed :) – Locomobile

But in case I have a lot of child types, is there any way to annotate A, B, C without using @JsonSubTypes on BaseClass? – Everywhere

Answer 2

Have you looked at Google's Gson library? I think it does what you're looking for.

http://code.google.com/p/google-gson/

Swizzle

Actually it is a requirement to use Jackson Library. – Correlative

The current release of Gson does not have a built-in mechanism to handle polymorphic deserialization. The next release looks like it will have this feature. – Goss