Deserialize complex JSON to Java, classes nested multiple levels deep

Question

I am trying to make the Json output from Cucumber into a single Java object. This contains objects nested four levels deep, and I am having trouble deserializing it. I am presently using Jackson, but open to suggestions. Here is my Json code:

{
"line": 1,
"elements": [
  {
    "line": 3,
    "name": "Converteren centimeters naar voeten/inches",
    "description": "",
    "id": "applicatie-neemt-maten-in-cm-en-converteert-ze-naar-voet/inch,-en-vice-versa;converteren-centimeters-naar-voeten/inches",
    "type": "scenario",
    "keyword": "Scenario",
    "steps": [
      {
        "result": {
          "duration": 476796588,
          "status": "passed"
        },
        "line": 4,
        "name": "maak Maten-object aan met invoer in \"centimeters\"",
        "match": {
          "arguments": [
            {
              "val": "centimeters",
              "offset": 37
            }
          ],
          "location": "StepDefinition.maakMatenObjectAanMetInvoerIn(String)"
        },
        "keyword": "Given "
      },
      {
        "result": {
          "duration": 36319,
          "status": "passed"
        },
        "line": 5,
        "name": "ik converteer",
        "match": {
          "location": "StepDefinition.converteerMaten()"
        },
        "keyword": "When "
      },
      {
        "result": {
          "duration": 49138,
          "status": "passed"
        },
        "line": 6,
        "name": "uitvoer bevat maat in \"voeten/inches\"",
        "match": {
          "arguments": [
            {
              "val": "voeten/inches",
              "offset": 23
            }
          ],
          "location": "StepDefinition.uitvoerBevatMaatIn(String)"
        },
        "keyword": "Then "
      }
    ]
  },
  {
    "line": 8,
    "name": "Converteren voeten/inches naar centimeters",
    "description": "",
    "id": "applicatie-neemt-maten-in-cm-en-converteert-ze-naar-voet/inch,-en-vice-versa;converteren-voeten/inches-naar-centimeters",
    "type": "scenario",
    "keyword": "Scenario",
    "steps": [
      {
        "result": {
          "duration": 84175,
          "status": "passed"
        },
        "line": 9,
        "name": "maak Maten-object aan met invoer in \"voeten/inches\"",
        "match": {
          "arguments": [
            {
              "val": "voeten/inches",
              "offset": 37
            }
          ],
          "location": "StepDefinition.maakMatenObjectAanMetInvoerIn(String)"
        },
        "keyword": "Given "
      },
      {
        "result": {
          "duration": 23928,
          "status": "passed"
        },
        "line": 10,
        "name": "ik converteer",
        "match": {
          "location": "StepDefinition.converteerMaten()"
        },
        "keyword": "When "
      },
      {
        "result": {
          "duration": 55547,
          "status": "passed"
        },
        "line": 11,
        "name": "uitvoer bevat maat in \"centimeters\"",
        "match": {
          "arguments": [
            {
              "val": "centimeters",
              "offset": 23
            }
          ],
          "location": "StepDefinition.uitvoerBevatMaatIn(String)"
        },
        "keyword": "Then "
      }
    ]
  }
],
"name": "Applicatie neemt maten in cm en converteert ze naar voet/inch, en vice versa",
"description": "",
"id": "applicatie-neemt-maten-in-cm-en-converteert-ze-naar-voet/inch,-en-vice-versa",
"keyword": "Feature",
"uri": "sample.feature"
}

I have tried a number of different approaches. First I used nested inner classes, but it appeared you had to make them static, which I feared would not work since I have multiple instances of the same object within one (multiple "element"-objects in the root, for example). Then I tried putting them in separate classes, with Json annotations. Here's where that got me (omitting setters):

public class CucumberUitvoer {
    private String name;
    private String description;
    private String id;
    private String keyword;
    private String uri;
    private int line;
    @JsonProperty("elements")
    private List<FeatureObject> elements;

    public CucumberUitvoer(){}
}

public class FeatureObject {
    private String name;
    private String description;
    private String id;
    private String type;
    private String keyword;
    private int line;
    @JsonProperty("steps")
    private List<StepObject> steps;

    public FeatureObject() {
    }
}

public class StepObject {
    @JsonProperty("result")
    private ResultObject result;
    private String name;
    private String given;
    private String location;
    private String keyword;
    private int line;
    @JsonProperty("match")
    private MatchObject match;

    public StepObject(){}
}

public class ResultObject {
    private int duration;
    private String status;

    public ResultObject(){}
}

public class MatchObject {
    @JsonProperty("arguments")
    private List<ArgumentObject> arguments;
    private String location;

    public MatchObject(){}
}

public class ArgumentObject {
    private String val;
    private String offset;

    public ArgumentObject(){}
}

For clarification, here's a class diagram of how the nesting works.

This solution gives me the following error:

com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonMappingException: Can not deserialize instance of nl.icaprojecten.TestIntegratieQuintor.JSONInterpreter.CucumberUitvoer out of START_ARRAY token

Here is the code doing the actual mapping:

ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
    mapper.configure(DeserializationFeature.FAIL_ON_UNKNOWN_PROPERTIES, false);

    CucumberUitvoer obj1 = null;
    try {
        obj1 = mapper.readValue(json, CucumberUitvoer.class);
    } catch (IOException e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    }

Is there a quick fix to this approach to make it work, or should I try something entirely different?

Answer 1

Ok I spent some time debugging and trying to figure out what was the problem, and finally was something pretty obvious.

implements Serializable

Thats the line I added to MatchObject and worked.

When we try to deserialize some object first we have to make those classes implements the interface Serializable

Answer 2

I just tried your sample code and oddly, it works.

Can you please double check your imports, if the JSON is coming in as provided and the getters, setters, constructors are actually there?

Answer 3

You can get the idea from this code to deserialize,

public class testCustomDeSerializer extends JsonDeserializer<test> {

public testCustomDeSerializer() {
    this(null);
}

public TestCustomDeSerializer(Class t) {
   // super(t);
}

@Override
public Test deserialize(JsonParser p, DeserializationContext ctx) throws IOException, JsonProcessingException {
    ObjectCodec objectCodec = p.getCodec();
    JsonNode node = objectCodec.readTree(p);

    ObjectMapper objectMapper =  new ObjectMapper();
    Test test= new Test();


    test.setId(node.get("line").asText());

    List<elements> elementList = new ArrayList<>();
    JsonNode elementsNode = node.get("elements");
    Iterator<JsonNode> slaidsIterator = elementsNode.elements();
    while (slaidsIterator.hasNext()) {
        Steps steps= new Steps();
        JsonNode slaidNode = slaidsIterator.next();
        JsonNode stepNode= (JsonNode) slaidNode.get("Steps");
        BoundingPoly in = objectMapper.readValue(stepNode.toString(), Steps.class);
        elementsNode.setSteps(in);
        /// continue

 return
        }

Hope it helps