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