Google Gson - deserialize list<class> object? (generic type)

Question

I want to transfer a list object via Google Gson, but I don't know how to deserialize generic types.

What I tried after looking at this (BalusC's answer):

MyClass mc = new Gson().fromJson(result, new List<MyClass>() {}.getClass()); 

but then I get an error in Eclipse saying "The type new List<MyClass>() {} must implement the inherited abstract method..." and if I use a quick fix I get a monster of over 20 method stubs.

I am pretty sure that there is an easier solution, but I seem unable to find it!

Now I have this:

Type listType = new TypeToken<List<MyClass>>() {}.getType();  MyClass mc = new Gson().fromJson(result, listType); 

However, I do get the following exception at the fromJson line:

java.lang.NullPointerException at org.apache.harmony.luni.lang.reflect.ListOfTypes.length(ListOfTypes.java:47) at org.apache.harmony.luni.lang.reflect.ImplForType.toString(ImplForType.java:83) at java.lang.StringBuilder.append(StringBuilder.java:203) at com.google.gson.JsonDeserializerExceptionWrapper.deserialize(JsonDeserializerExceptionWrapper.java:56) at com.google.gson.JsonDeserializationVisitor.invokeCustomDeserializer(JsonDeserializationVisitor.java:88) at com.google.gson.JsonDeserializationVisitor.visitUsingCustomHandler(JsonDeserializationVisitor.java:76) at com.google.gson.ObjectNavigator.accept(ObjectNavigator.java:106) at com.google.gson.JsonDeserializationContextDefault.fromJsonArray(JsonDeserializationContextDefault.java:64) at com.google.gson.JsonDeserializationContextDefault.deserialize(JsonDeserializationContextDefault.java:49) at com.google.gson.Gson.fromJson(Gson.java:568) at com.google.gson.Gson.fromJson(Gson.java:515) at com.google.gson.Gson.fromJson(Gson.java:484) at com.google.gson.Gson.fromJson(Gson.java:434) 

I do catch JsonParseExceptions and result is not null.

I checked listType with the debugger and got the following:

• list Type
  • args = ListOfTypes
    • list = null
    • resolvedTypes = Type[ 1 ]
  • loader = PathClassLoader
  • ownerType0 = null
  • ownerTypeRes = null
  • rawType = Class (java.util.ArrayList)
  • rawTypeName = "java.util.ArrayList"

So it seems the getClass invocation didn't work properly. Any suggestions...?

I've checked on the Gson User Guide. It mentions a runtime exception that should happen during parsing a generic type to Json. I did it "wrong" (not shown above), just as in the example, but didn't get that exception at all. So I changed the serialization as in the user guide suggested. Didn't help, though.

Edit:

Solved, see my answer below.

Answer 1

Method to deserialize generic collection:

import java.lang.reflect.Type; import com.google.gson.reflect.TypeToken;  ...  Type listType = new TypeToken<ArrayList<YourClass>>(){}.getType(); List<YourClass> yourClassList = new Gson().fromJson(jsonArray, listType); 

Since several people in the comments have mentioned it, here's an explanation of how the TypeToken class is being used. The construction new TypeToken<...>() {}.getType() captures a compile-time type (between the < and >) into a runtime java.lang.reflect.Type object. Unlike a Class object, which can only represent a raw (erased) type, the Type object can represent any type in the Java language, including a parameterized instantiation of a generic type.

The TypeToken class itself does not have a public constructor, because you're not supposed to construct it directly. Instead, you always construct an anonymous subclass (hence the {}, which is a necessary part of this expression).

Due to type erasure, the TypeToken class is only able to capture types that are fully known at compile time. (That is, you can't do new TypeToken<List<T>>() {}.getType() for a type parameter T.)

For more information, see the documentation for the TypeToken class.

Answer 2

Another way is to use an array as a type, e.g.:

MyClass[] mcArray = gson.fromJson(jsonString, MyClass[].class); 

This way you avoid all the hassle with the Type object, and if you really need a list you can always convert the array to a list by:

List<MyClass> mcList = Arrays.asList(mcArray); 

IMHO this is much more readable.

And to make it be an actual list (that can be modified, see limitations of Arrays.asList()) then just do the following:

List<MyClass> mcList = new ArrayList<>(Arrays.asList(mcArray));