How to map a simple ArrayList to a VO using Dozer

Question

I'm using Dozer to convert my objects. But I've a problem to map a simple List... I retrieve a ResultSet from Hibernate as an Object List and I want to map it to my complex type object.

So, my source is like :

List < Object > list = new ArrayList< Object > ();
list.add("Name");
list.add("Address");

And my Value Object is :

public class MyClass 
{ 
    public String name; 
    public String address; 
}

I just want to map list[0] ==> MyClass.name and list[1] ==> MyClass.address properties but I don't find how...

Thanks for your help !

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Aug 29 '12 at 16:55

For some reason Dozer does Not support this (the ideal situation):

<mapping>
    <class-a>MyClass</class-a>
    <class-b>java.util.List</class-b>       
    <field>          
        <a is-accessible="true">name</a>
        <b>this[0]</b>
    </field>        
</mapping>

It would only map to name the whole string representation of the List, so your name property would end up with the value [Name, Address].

Your best option would be to put your List in a holder class and map it like this:

<mapping>
    <class-a>MyClass</class-a>
    <class-b>MyHolder</class-b>     
    <field>          
        <a is-accessible="true">name</a>
        <b>holded[0]</b>
    </field>
    <field>          
        <a is-accessible="true">address</a>
        <b>holded[1]</b>
    </field>    
</mapping>

MyHolder class just contains your List instance in the holded field and provide access to it with a getter method.

In the field mappings is-accessible="true" is required because MyClass properties are public and have no accessors. I recommend you to make those properties private and create accessor methods.

Ok, I also tried to use your first solution but without success :(. As you say, the property was filled by the value [Name, Address]. For your last solution, I think it's not sexy... I don't like to wrap uselessly an object, but I'm ok with you, it is the best option ! To finish, of course, in this example, the properties name & address are public, but it is only for the example :). Thanks to you. For information, I decided to use a Map instead of the List, which is easy to use with the "this" notation. — Ryu, Aug 30 '12 at 09:32

How to map a simple ArrayList to a VO using Dozer

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