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Generate an XML Document from an Object Model with JAXB 2

Learn how to get an XML document from your Java object model using JAXB 2. With annotations, you can also customize the document and use adapters to format data.

ava offers various ways to manipulate XML, including the following:
  • Use simple file I/O or javax.xml.stream.XmlStreamWriter.
  • Use XML serialization with java.beans.XMLEncoder, which generates an XML representation of a Java Bean in the same way ObjectOutputStream can be used to create binary representation of Serializable objects.
  • Use a dedicated library like XStream Play directly with SAX (Simple API for XML) or DOM (Document Object Model) through the JAXP API.

Yet despite XML and Java technology being natural partners in data exchange, mapping a Java object model into XML and vice versa can be a mystery. Consider JAXB as your solution. JAXB (Java Architecture for XML Binding) enables you to perform XML-to-Java data binding and generate Java classes from XML schemas and vice-versa. It's portable, easy to use, and it offers functionalities such as XML validation and customization using annotation and adapters. (Figure 1 illustrates the uses of JAXB.)

Click to enlarge

Figure 1. JAXB Architecture

The JAXB API, defined in the javax.xml.bind package, is a set of interfaces and classes through which applications communicate with code generated from a schema. The center of the JAXB API is the javax.xml.bind.JAXBContext class. JAXBContext is an abstract class that manages the XML/Java binding. It can be seen as a factory because it provides:

  • An Unmarshaller class that deserializes XML into Java and optionally validates the XML (using the setSchema method).
  • A Marshaller class that serializes an object graph into XML data and optionally validates it.

First of all, JAXB can define a set of classes into an XML schema by using a schema generator. It also enables the reverse action, allowing you to generate a collection of Java classes from a given XML schema through the schema compiler. The schema compiler takes XML schemas as input and generates a package of Java classes and interfaces that reflect the rules defined in the source schema. These classes are annotated to provide the runtime framework with a customized Java-XML mapping.

JAXB also can generate a Java object hierarchy from an XML schema using a schema generator, or give an object Java hierarchy to describe the corresponding XML schema. The runtime framework provides the corresponding unmarshalling, marshalling, and validation functionalities. That is, it lets you transform an XML document into an object graph (unmarshalling) or transform an object graph into XML format (marshalling).

These capabilities are why JAXB is often associated with web services. Web services use the API to transform objects into messages that they then send through SOAP. This isn't a web services article, however. Using an example address book application for a fictional music company called Watermelon, it focuses on JAXB's XML binding features for round-tripping XML to Java.

What You Need
JAXB (this article uses version 2.1.2 )
JUnit 4.1
Ant 1.7
MySQL 5 and TopLink Essentials as the implementation of JPA

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