Java: How to convert any Object to a String representation of the data

Question

I'm trying to write some code that will take any object and convert it into a String representation of that object. Serialization will not include any transient properties and toString() is typically a memory address for the object. I can't expect the object to have a meaningful toString() defined or implement Serializable.

Is there any way to determine the data in an object and convert it to a String? I would be willing to write something to traverse through the class and use reflection to find data, if need be, but I was hoping to find something a little simpler.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

Answer 1

Grab apache's commonns-lang. It has a ReflectionToStringBuilder that will do the reflection to stringing for you.

It also accepts Styles to allow you to customize the output.

Answer 2

XStream is another option for producing XML from your objects.