How do I call the default deserializer from a custom deserializer in Jackson

Question

As StaxMan already suggested you can do this by writing a BeanDeserializerModifier and registering it via SimpleModule. The following example should work:

public class UserEventDeserializer extends StdDeserializer<User> implements ResolvableDeserializer
{
  private static final long serialVersionUID = 7923585097068641765L;

  private final JsonDeserializer<?> defaultDeserializer;

  public UserEventDeserializer(JsonDeserializer<?> defaultDeserializer)
  {
    super(User.class);
    this.defaultDeserializer = defaultDeserializer;
  }

  @Override public User deserialize(JsonParser jp, DeserializationContext ctxt)
      throws IOException, JsonProcessingException
  {
    User deserializedUser = (User) defaultDeserializer.deserialize(jp, ctxt);

    // Special logic

    return deserializedUser;
  }

  // for some reason you have to implement ResolvableDeserializer when modifying BeanDeserializer
  // otherwise deserializing throws JsonMappingException??
  @Override public void resolve(DeserializationContext ctxt) throws JsonMappingException
  {
    ((ResolvableDeserializer) defaultDeserializer).resolve(ctxt);
  }


  public static void main(String[] args) throws JsonParseException, JsonMappingException, IOException
  {
    SimpleModule module = new SimpleModule();
    module.setDeserializerModifier(new BeanDeserializerModifier()
    {
      @Override public JsonDeserializer<?> modifyDeserializer(DeserializationConfig config, BeanDescription beanDesc, JsonDeserializer<?> deserializer)
      {
        if (beanDesc.getBeanClass() == User.class)
          return new UserEventDeserializer(deserializer);
        return deserializer;
      }
    });


    ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
    mapper.registerModule(module);
    User user = mapper.readValue(new File("test.json"), User.class);
  }
}

The DeserializationContext has a readValue() method you may use. This should work for both the default deserializer and any custom deserializers you have.

Just be sure to call traverse() on the JsonNode level you want to read to retrieve the JsonParser to pass to readValue().

public class FooDeserializer extends StdDeserializer<FooBean> {

    private static final long serialVersionUID = 1L;

    public FooDeserializer() {
        this(null);
    }

    public FooDeserializer(Class<FooBean> t) {
        super(t);
    }

    @Override
    public FooBean deserialize(JsonParser jp, DeserializationContext ctxt) throws IOException, JsonProcessingException {
        JsonNode node = jp.getCodec().readTree(jp);
        FooBean foo = new FooBean();
        foo.setBar(ctxt.readValue(node.get("bar").traverse(), BarBean.class));
        return foo;
    }

}

I found an answer at https://stackoverflow.com/a/51927577/14731 which is much more readable than the accepted answer.

public User deserialize(JsonParser jp, DeserializationContext ctxt)
    throws IOException, JsonProcessingException {
        User user = jp.readValueAs(User.class);
         // some code
         return user;
      }

It really doesn't get easier than this.

There are couple of ways to do this, but to do it right involves bit more work. Basically you can not use sub-classing, since information default deserializers need is built from class definitions.

So what you can most likely use is to construct a BeanDeserializerModifier, register that via Module interface (use SimpleModule). You need to define/override modifyDeserializer, and for the specific case where you want to add your own logic (where type matches), construct your own deserializer, pass the default deserializer you are given. And then in deserialize() method you can just delegate call, take the result Object.

Alternatively, if you must actually create and populate the object, you can do so and call overloaded version of deserialize() that takes third argument; object to deserialize into.

Another way that might work (but not 100% sure) would be to specify Converter object (@JsonDeserialize(converter=MyConverter.class)). This is a new Jackson 2.2 feature. In your case, Converter would not actually convert type, but simplify modify the object: but I don't know if that would let you do exactly what you want, since the default deserializer would be called first, and only then your Converter.

If it is possible for you to declare extra User class then you can implement it just using annotations

// your class
@JsonDeserialize(using = UserEventDeserializer.class)
public class User {
...
}

// extra user class
// reset deserializer attribute to default
@JsonDeserialize
public class UserPOJO extends User {
}

public class UserEventDeserializer extends StdDeserializer<User> {

  ...
  @Override
  public User deserialize(JsonParser jp, DeserializationContext ctxt)
      throws IOException, JsonProcessingException {
    // specify UserPOJO.class to invoke default deserializer
    User deserializedUser = jp.ReadValueAs(UserPOJO.class);
    return deserializedUser;

    // or if you need to walk the JSON tree

    ObjectMapper mapper = (ObjectMapper) jp.getCodec();
    JsonNode node = oc.readTree(jp);
    // specify UserPOJO.class to invoke default deserializer
    User deserializedUser = mapper.treeToValue(node, UserPOJO.class);

    return deserializedUser;
  }

}

Along the lines of what Tomáš Záluský has suggested, in cases where using BeanDeserializerModifier is undesirable you can construct a default deserializer yourself using BeanDeserializerFactory, although there is some extra setup necessary. In context, this solution would look like so:

public User deserialize(JsonParser jp, DeserializationContext ctxt)
  throws IOException, JsonProcessingException {

    ObjectCodec oc = jp.getCodec();
    JsonNode node = oc.readTree(jp);
    User deserializedUser = null;

    DeserializationConfig config = ctxt.getConfig();
    JavaType type = TypeFactory.defaultInstance().constructType(User.class);
    JsonDeserializer<Object> defaultDeserializer = BeanDeserializerFactory.instance.buildBeanDeserializer(ctxt, type, config.introspect(type));

    if (defaultDeserializer instanceof ResolvableDeserializer) {
        ((ResolvableDeserializer) defaultDeserializer).resolve(ctxt);
    }

    JsonParser treeParser = oc.treeAsTokens(node);
    config.initialize(treeParser);

    if (treeParser.getCurrentToken() == null) {
        treeParser.nextToken();
    }

    deserializedUser = (User) defaultDeserializer.deserialize(treeParser, context);

    return deserializedUser;
}

You are bound to fail if you try to create your custom deserializer from scratch.

Instead, you need to get hold of the (fully configured) default deserializer instance through a custom BeanDeserializerModifier, and then pass this instance to your custom deserializer class:

public ObjectMapper getMapperWithCustomDeserializer() {
    ObjectMapper objectMapper = new ObjectMapper();

    SimpleModule module = new SimpleModule();
    module.setDeserializerModifier(new BeanDeserializerModifier() {
        @Override
        public JsonDeserializer<?> modifyDeserializer(DeserializationConfig config,
                    BeanDescription beanDesc, JsonDeserializer<?> defaultDeserializer) 
            if (beanDesc.getBeanClass() == User.class) {
                return new UserEventDeserializer(defaultDeserializer);
            } else {
                return defaultDeserializer;
            }
        }
    });
    objectMapper.registerModule(module);

    return objectMapper;
}

Note: This module registration replaces the @JsonDeserialize annotation, i.e. the User class or User fields should no longer be annotated with this annotation.

The custom deserializer should then be based on a DelegatingDeserializer so that all methods delegate, unless you provide an explicit implementation:

public class UserEventDeserializer extends DelegatingDeserializer {

    public UserEventDeserializer(JsonDeserializer<?> delegate) {
        super(delegate);
    }

    @Override
    protected JsonDeserializer<?> newDelegatingInstance(JsonDeserializer<?> newDelegate) {
        return new UserEventDeserializer(newDelegate);
    }

    @Override
    public User deserialize(JsonParser p, DeserializationContext ctxt)
            throws IOException {
        User result = (User) super.deserialize(p, ctxt);

        // add special logic here

        return result;
    }
}