EclipseLink/UserGuide/MOXy/Simple Values/Collections/XMLDirectCollectionMapping

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Key API

• XmlAttribute
• XmlElement
• XmlValue

XML Direct Collection Mappings

XML direct collection mappings map a collection of simple Java values directly to XML text nodes. You can use an XML direct collection mapping in the following scenarios:

• Mapping to Text Nodes
• Mapping to Text Nodes with a Grouping Element

Mapping to Text Nodes

Given the XML schema in this example, the figure below illustrates an XML direct collection mapping to elements in a corresponding XML document.

Schema for XML Direct Collection Mapping to Text Nodes

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xsd:schema xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
 
   <xsd:element name="customer" type="customer-type"/>
 
   <xsd:complexType name="customer-type">
      <xsd:sequence>
         <xsd:element name="email-address" type="xsd:string" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
      </xsd:sequence>
   </xsd:complexType>
 
</xsd:schema>

XML Direct Collection Mapping to Text Nodes

The following example shows how to annotate your Java class to obtain this mapping with EclipseLink. All that is needed is the standard JAXB @XmlElement annotation.

Java for XML Direct Collection Mapping to Text Nodes

@XmlRootElement
public class Customer {
   @XmlElement(name="email-address")
   public List<String> emailAddress;
}

The example below shows how to to define your mapping information in EclipseLink's OXM metadata format.

OXM for XML Direct Collection Mapping to Text Nodes

...
<java-type name="Customer">
   <xml-root-element name="customer"/>
   <java-attributes>
      <xml-element java-attribute="emailAddresses" name="email-address"/>
   </java-attributes>
</java-type>
...

Mapping to Text Nodes with a Grouping Element

Given the XML schema in this example, the figure below illustrates an XML direct collection mapping to elements in a corresponding XML document, using a grouping element to contain the elements of the collection.

Schema for XML Direct Collection Mapping to Text Nodes with a Grouping Element

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xsd:schema xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
 
   <xsd:element name="customer" type="customer-type"/>
 
   <xsd:complexType name="customer-type">
      <xsd:sequence>
         <xsd:element name="email-address" type="xsd:string" minOccurs="0" maxOccurs="unbounded"/>
      </xsd:sequence>
   </xsd:complexType>
 
</xsd:schema>

XML Direct Collection Mapping to Text Nodes with a Grouping Element

The following example shows how to annotate your Java class to obtain this mapping with EclipseLink. All that is needed is the standard JAXB @XmlElement annotation.

Java for XML Direct Collection Mapping to Text Nodes with a Grouping Element

@XmlRootElement
public class Customer {
   @XmlElement(name="email-address")
   public List<String> emailAddress;
}

The example below shows how to to define your mapping information in EclipseLink's OXM metadata format.

OXM for XML Direct Collection Mapping to Text Nodes with a Grouping Element

...
<java-type name="Customer">
   <xml-root-element name="customer"/>
   <java-attributes>
      <xml-element java-attribute="emailAddresses" name="email-address"/>
   </java-attributes>
</java-type>
...

Mapping to a List Field with an XML Direct Mapping

Given the XML schema in this exmaple, the XMLDirect Mapping to a List Field figure illustrates an XML direct mapping to an xsd:list type in a corresponding XML document when you represent the list in your object model as a String of white space delimited tokens.

Schema for XML Direct Mapping to a List Field

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xsd:schema xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
 
   <xsd:element name="employee" type="employee-type"/>
 
   <xsd:complexType name="employee-type">
      <xsd:sequence>
         <xsd:element name="tasks" type="tasks-type"/>
      </xsd:sequence>
   </xsd:complexType>
 
   <xsd:simpleType name="tasks-type">
      <xsd:list itemType="xsd:string"/>
   </xsd:simpleType>
 
</xsd:schema>

XMLDirect Mapping to a List Field

The example below shows how to annotate your Java class to obtain this mapping with EclipseLink.

Java for XML Direct Mapping to a List Field Node

@XmlRootElement
public class Employee {
   @XmlList
   public List<String> tasks;
}

The example below shows how to to define your mapping information in EclipseLink's OXM metadata format.

OXM for XML Direct Mapping to a List Field Node

...
<java-type name="Employee">
   <xml-root-element name="employee"/>
   <java-attributes>
      <xml-element java-attribute="tasks" xml-path="tasks/text()" xml-list="true"/>
   </java-attributes>
</java-type>
...

@XmlList can also be used in conjunction with @XmlAttribute and @XmlValue, as shown below.

Java Annotations

@XmlRootElement
public class Customer {
   @XmlAttribute
   @XmlList
   public List<Integer> ids;
}

@XmlRootElement(name="phone-numbers")
public class PhoneNumbers {
   @XmlValue
   @XmlList
   public List<String> numbers;
}

EclipseLink OXM Metadata

...
<java-type name="Customer">
   <xml-root-element name="customer"/>
   <java-attributes>
      <xml-attribute java-attribute="ids" xml-list="true"/>
   </java-attributes>
</java-type>
...
 
...
<java-type name="PhoneNumbers">
   <xml-root-element name="phone-numbers"/>
   <java-attributes>
      <xml-value java-attribute="numbers" xml-list="true"/>
   </java-attributes>
</java-type>
...

Example XML Documents

<customer ids="726 1982 1989 2991"/>

<phone-numbers>6132883982 6139828817 18882982298</phone-numbers>