JSON parameter in spring MVC controller

The solution to this is so easy and simple it will practically make you laugh, but before I even get to it, let me first emphasize that no self-respecting Java developer would ever, and I mean EVER work with JSON without utilizing the Jackson high-performance JSON library.

Jackson is not only a work horse and a defacto JSON library for Java developers, but it also provides a whole suite of API calls that makes JSON integration with Java a piece of cake (you can download Jackson at http://jackson.codehaus.org/).

Now for the answer. Assuming that you have a UserProfile pojo that looks something like this:

public class UserProfile {

private String email;
// etc...

public String getEmail() {
    return email;
}

public void setEmail(String email) {
    this.email = email;
}

// more getters and setters...
}

…then your Spring MVC method to convert a GET parameter name “profileJson” with JSON value of {“email”: “[email protected]”} would look like this in your controller:

import org.codehaus.jackson.JsonParseException;
import org.codehaus.jackson.map.JsonMappingException;
import org.codehaus.jackson.map.ObjectMapper; // this is your lifesaver right here

//.. your controller class, blah blah blah

@RequestMapping(value="/register", method = RequestMethod.GET) 
public SessionInfo register(@RequestParam("profileJson") String profileJson) 
throws JsonMappingException, JsonParseException, IOException {

    // now simply convert your JSON string into your UserProfile POJO 
    // using Jackson's ObjectMapper.readValue() method, whose first 
    // parameter your JSON parameter as String, and the second 
    // parameter is the POJO class.

    UserProfile profile = 
            new ObjectMapper().readValue(profileJson, UserProfile.class);

        System.out.println(profile.getEmail());

        // rest of your code goes here.
}

Bam! You’re done. I would encourage you to look through the bulk of Jackson API because, as I said, it is a lifesaver. For example, are you returning JSON from your controller at all? If so, all you need to do is include JSON in your lib, and return your POJO and Jackson will AUTOMATICALLY convert it into JSON. You can’t get much easier than that. Cheers! 🙂