The previous tutorials have explained marshalling and unmarshalling of XML using JAXB Version 2.
As of Java 11, JAXB is not part of the JRE anymore, and you need to configure the relevant libraries via your dependency management system, for example, either Maven or Gradle.
Configure the Java compiler level to be at least 11 and add the JAXB Version 3 dependencies to your pom file.
<!-- JAXB API v3.0.1 -->
<dependency>
<groupId>jakarta.xml.bind</groupId>
<artifactId>jakarta.xml.bind-api</artifactId>
<version>3.0.1</version>
</dependency>
<!-- JAXB v3.0.2 reference implementation (curiously with com.sun coordinates) -->
<dependency>
<groupId>com.sun.xml.bind</groupId>
<artifactId>jaxb-impl</artifactId>
<version>3.0.2</version>
<scope>runtime</scope>
</dependency>
Difference between javax.xml.* and jakarta.xml.*
Eclipse foundation rebrand the Java EE javax.xml.* to Jakarta EE jakarta.xml.*.
Below are some JAXB APIs in versions 2 and 3.
//@Since 3.0.0, rebrand to Jakarta.xml
import jakarta.xml.bind.annotation.XmlAccessType;
import jakarta.xml.bind.annotation.XmlAccessorType;
import jakarta.xml.bind.annotation.XmlRootElement;
import jakarta.xml.bind.annotation.XmlElement;
import jakarta.xml.bind.annotation.XmlTransient;
import jakarta.xml.bind.annotation.XmlType;
import jakarta.xml.bind.JAXBContext;
import jakarta.xml.bind.JAXBException;
import jakarta.xml.bind.Marshaller;
import jakarta.xml.bind.PropertyException;
import jakarta.xml.bind.Unmarshaller;
//JAXB Version 2.0
import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlAccessType;
import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlAccessorType;
import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlElement;
import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlRootElement;
import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlTransient;
import javax.xml.bind.annotation.XmlType;
import javax.xml.bind.JAXBContext;
import javax.xml.bind.JAXBException;
import javax.xml.bind.Marshaller;
import javax.xml.bind.PropertyException;
import javax.xml.bind.Unmarshaller;
Sample XML Structure
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?>
<EmployeeDetail>
<firstName>Terry</firstName>
<lastName>Mathew</lastName>
<age>30</age>
<salary>75000.0</salary>
<designation>Manager</designation>
<contactNumber>+919999988822</contactNumber>
<emailId>abc@test.com</emailId>
<gender>female</gender>
<maritalStatus>married</maritalStatus>
</EmployeeDetail>
Now, let us create the Java Objects (POJO) of the above XML.
import jakarta.xml.bind.annotation.XmlAccessType;
import jakarta.xml.bind.annotation.XmlAccessorType;
import jakarta.xml.bind.annotation.XmlRootElement;
@XmlRootElement(name = "EmployeeDetail")
@XmlAccessorType(XmlAccessType.FIELD)
public class Employee {
private String firstName;
private String lastName;
private int age;
private double salary;
private String designation;
private String contactNumber;
private String emailId;
private String gender;
private String maritalStatus;
public Employee() {
super();
}
// Getter and setter methods
public String getFirstName() {
return firstName;
}
public void setFirstName(String firstName) {
this.firstName = firstName;
}
public String getLastName() {
return lastName;
}
public void setLastName(String lastName) {
this.lastName = lastName;
}
public int getAge() {
return age;
}
public void setAge(int age) {
this.age = age;
}
public double getSalary() {
return salary;
}
public void setSalary(double salary) {
this.salary = salary;
}
public String getDesignation() {
return designation;
}
public void setDesignation(String designation) {
this.designation = designation;
}
public String getContactNumber() {
return contactNumber;
}
public void setContactNumber(String contactNumber) {
this.contactNumber = contactNumber;
}
public String getEmailId() {
return emailId;
}
public void setEmailId(String emailId) {
this.emailId = emailId;
}
public String getGender() {
return gender;
}
public void setGender(String gender) {
this.gender = gender;
}
public String getMaritalStatus() {
return maritalStatus;
}
public void setMaritalStatus(String maritalStatus) {
this.maritalStatus = maritalStatus;
}
@Override
public String toString() {
return "Employee [FirstName=" + firstName + ", LastName=" + lastName + ", Age=" + age + ", Salary=" + salary
+ ", Designation=" + designation + ", ContactNumber=" + contactNumber + ", EmailId=" + emailId
+ ", Gender=" + gender + ", MaritalStatus=" + maritalStatus + "]";
}
}
Let’s create a simple program using the JAXBContext which provides an abstraction for managing the XML/Java binding information necessary to implement the JAXB binding framework operations.
import java.io.StringWriter;
import org.junit.Test;
import jakarta.xml.bind.JAXBContext;
import jakarta.xml.bind.JAXBException;
import jakarta.xml.bind.Marshaller;
import jakarta.xml.bind.PropertyException;
public class JAXBSerialization {
@Test
public void serializationTest1() {
try {
Employee employee = new Employee();
employee.setFirstName("Terry");
employee.setLastName("Mathew");
employee.setAge(30);
employee.setSalary(75000);
employee.setDesignation("Manager");
employee.setContactNumber("+919999988822");
employee.setEmailId("abc@test.com");
employee.setMaritalStatus("married");
employee.setGender("female");
// Create JAXB Context
JAXBContext context = JAXBContext.newInstance(Employee.class);
// Create Marshaller
Marshaller jaxbMarshaller = context.createMarshaller();
// Required formatting
jaxbMarshaller.setProperty(Marshaller.JAXB_FORMATTED_OUTPUT, Boolean.TRUE);
// Print XML String to Console
StringWriter sw = new StringWriter();
// Write XML to StringWriter
jaxbMarshaller.marshal(employee, sw);
// Verify XML Content
String xmlContent = sw.toString();
System.out.println(xmlContent);
} catch (PropertyException e) {
e.printStackTrace();
} catch (JAXBException e) {
}
}
}
When we run the code above, we may check the console output to verify that we have successfully converted the Java object into XML:
The Marshaller class is responsible for governing the process of serializing Java content trees back into XML data.
I hope this has helped you to understand the use of JAXB Version 3.
We are done! Congratulations on making it through this tutorial and hope you found it useful! Happy Learning!!
QA Automation Expert 