How do I use a custom Serializer with Jackson?

Question

You can put @JsonSerialize(using = CustomDateSerializer.class) over any date field of object to be serialized.

public class CustomDateSerializer extends SerializerBase<Date> {

    public CustomDateSerializer() {
        super(Date.class, true);
    }

    @Override
    public void serialize(Date value, JsonGenerator jgen, SerializerProvider provider)
        throws IOException, JsonProcessingException {
        SimpleDateFormat formatter = new SimpleDateFormat("EEE MMM dd yyyy HH:mm:ss 'GMT'ZZZ (z)");
        String format = formatter.format(value);
        jgen.writeString(format);
    }

}

As mentioned, @JsonValue is a good way. But if you don't mind a custom serializer, there's no need to write one for Item but rather one for User -- if so, it'd be as simple as:

public void serialize(Item value, JsonGenerator jgen,
    SerializerProvider provider) throws IOException,
    JsonProcessingException {
  jgen.writeNumber(id);
}

Yet another possibility is to implement JsonSerializable, in which case no registration is needed.

As to error; that is weird -- you probably want to upgrade to a later version. But it is also safer to extend org.codehaus.jackson.map.ser.SerializerBase as it will have standard implementations of non-essential methods (i.e. everything but actual serialization call).

I tried doing this too, and there is a mistake in the example code on the Jackson web page that fails to include the type (.class) in the call to addSerializer() method, which should read like this:

simpleModule.addSerializer(Item.class, new ItemSerializer());

In other words, these are the lines that instantiate the simpleModule and add the serializer (with the prior incorrect line commented out):

ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
SimpleModule simpleModule = new SimpleModule("SimpleModule", 
                                          new Version(1,0,0,null));
// simpleModule.addSerializer(new ItemSerializer());
simpleModule.addSerializer(Item.class, new ItemSerializer());
mapper.registerModule(simpleModule);

FYI: Here is the reference for the correct example code: http://wiki.fasterxml.com/JacksonFeatureModules

Use @JsonValue:

public class User {
    int id;
    String name;

    @JsonValue
    public int getId() {
        return id;
    }
}

@JsonValue only works on methods so you must add the getId method. You should be able to skip your custom serializer altogether.

I wrote an example for a custom Timestamp.class serialization/deserialization, but you could use it for what ever you want.

When creating the object mapper do something like this:

public class JsonUtils {

    public static ObjectMapper objectMapper = null;

    static {
        objectMapper = new ObjectMapper();
        SimpleModule s = new SimpleModule();
        s.addSerializer(Timestamp.class, new TimestampSerializerTypeHandler());
        s.addDeserializer(Timestamp.class, new TimestampDeserializerTypeHandler());
        objectMapper.registerModule(s);
    };
}

for example in java ee you could initialize it with this:

import java.time.LocalDateTime;

import javax.ws.rs.ext.ContextResolver;
import javax.ws.rs.ext.Provider;

import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.module.SimpleModule;

@Provider
public class JacksonConfig implements ContextResolver<ObjectMapper> {

    private final ObjectMapper objectMapper;

    public JacksonConfig() {
        objectMapper = new ObjectMapper();
        SimpleModule s = new SimpleModule();
        s.addSerializer(Timestamp.class, new TimestampSerializerTypeHandler());
        s.addDeserializer(Timestamp.class, new TimestampDeserializerTypeHandler());
        objectMapper.registerModule(s);
    };

    @Override
    public ObjectMapper getContext(Class<?> type) {
        return objectMapper;
    }
}

where the serializer should be something like this:

import java.io.IOException;
import java.sql.Timestamp;

import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonGenerator;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonProcessingException;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonSerializer;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.SerializerProvider;

public class TimestampSerializerTypeHandler extends JsonSerializer<Timestamp> {

    @Override
    public void serialize(Timestamp value, JsonGenerator jgen, SerializerProvider provider) throws IOException, JsonProcessingException {
        String stringValue = value.toString();
        if(stringValue != null && !stringValue.isEmpty() && !stringValue.equals("null")) {
            jgen.writeString(stringValue);
        } else {
            jgen.writeNull();
        }
    }

    @Override
    public Class<Timestamp> handledType() {
        return Timestamp.class;
    }
}

and deserializer something like this:

import java.io.IOException;
import java.sql.Timestamp;

import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonGenerator;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonParser;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.core.JsonProcessingException;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.DeserializationContext;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonDeserializer;
import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.SerializerProvider;

public class TimestampDeserializerTypeHandler extends JsonDeserializer<Timestamp> {

    @Override
    public Timestamp deserialize(JsonParser jp, DeserializationContext ds) throws IOException, JsonProcessingException {
        SqlTimestampConverter s = new SqlTimestampConverter();
        String value = jp.getValueAsString();
        if(value != null && !value.isEmpty() && !value.equals("null"))
            return (Timestamp) s.convert(Timestamp.class, value);
        return null;
    }

    @Override
    public Class<Timestamp> handledType() {
        return Timestamp.class;
    }
}

These are behavior patterns I have noticed while trying to understand Jackson serialization.

1) Assume there is an object Classroom and a class Student. I've made everything public and final for ease.

public class Classroom {
    public final double double1 = 1234.5678;
    public final Double Double1 = 91011.1213;
    public final Student student1 = new Student();
}

public class Student {
    public final double double2 = 1920.2122;
    public final Double Double2 = 2324.2526;
}

2) Assume that these are the serializers we use for serializing the objects into JSON. The writeObjectField uses the object's own serializer if it is registered with the object mapper; if not, then it serializes it as a POJO. The writeNumberField exclusively only accepts primitives as arguments.

public class ClassroomSerializer extends StdSerializer<Classroom> {
    public ClassroomSerializer(Class<Classroom> t) {
        super(t);
    }

    @Override
    public void serialize(Classroom value, JsonGenerator jgen, SerializerProvider provider) throws IOException, JsonGenerationException {
        jgen.writeStartObject();
        jgen.writeObjectField("double1-Object", value.double1);
        jgen.writeNumberField("double1-Number", value.double1);
        jgen.writeObjectField("Double1-Object", value.Double1);
        jgen.writeNumberField("Double1-Number", value.Double1);
        jgen.writeObjectField("student1", value.student1);
        jgen.writeEndObject();
    }
}

public class StudentSerializer extends StdSerializer<Student> {
    public StudentSerializer(Class<Student> t) {
        super(t);
    }

    @Override
    public void serialize(Student value, JsonGenerator jgen, SerializerProvider provider) throws IOException, JsonGenerationException {
        jgen.writeStartObject();
        jgen.writeObjectField("double2-Object", value.double2);
        jgen.writeNumberField("double2-Number", value.double2);
        jgen.writeObjectField("Double2-Object", value.Double2);
        jgen.writeNumberField("Double2-Number", value.Double2);
        jgen.writeEndObject();
    }
}

3) Register only a DoubleSerializer with DecimalFormat output pattern ###,##0.000, in SimpleModule and the output is:

{
  "double1" : 1234.5678,
  "Double1" : {
    "value" : "91,011.121"
  },
  "student1" : {
    "double2" : 1920.2122,
    "Double2" : {
      "value" : "2,324.253"
    }
  }
}

You can see that the POJO serialization differentiates between double and Double, using the DoubleSerialzer for Doubles and using a regular String format for doubles.

4) Register DoubleSerializer and ClassroomSerializer, without the StudentSerializer. We expect that the output is such that if we write a double as an object, it behaves like a Double, and if we write a Double as a number, it behaves like a double. The Student instance variable should be written as a POJO and follow the pattern above since it does not register.

{
  "double1-Object" : {
    "value" : "1,234.568"
  },
  "double1-Number" : 1234.5678,
  "Double1-Object" : {
    "value" : "91,011.121"
  },
  "Double1-Number" : 91011.1213,
  "student1" : {
    "double2" : 1920.2122,
    "Double2" : {
      "value" : "2,324.253"
    }
  }
}

5) Register all serializers. The output is:

{
  "double1-Object" : {
    "value" : "1,234.568"
  },
  "double1-Number" : 1234.5678,
  "Double1-Object" : {
    "value" : "91,011.121"
  },
  "Double1-Number" : 91011.1213,
  "student1" : {
    "double2-Object" : {
      "value" : "1,920.212"
    },
    "double2-Number" : 1920.2122,
    "Double2-Object" : {
      "value" : "2,324.253"
    },
    "Double2-Number" : 2324.2526
  }
}

exactly as expected.

Another important note: If you have multiple serializers for the same class registered with the same Module, then the Module will select the serializer for that class that is most recently added to the list. This should not be used - it's confusing and I am not sure how consistent this is

Moral: if you want to customize serialization of primitives in your object, you must write your own serializer for the object. You cannot rely on the POJO Jackson serialization.