Class TypeFactory

java.lang.Object
org.codehaus.jackson.map.type.TypeFactory
public final class TypeFactory extends Object
Class used for creating concrete JavaType instances, given various inputs.

As of Jackson 1.8, usage should be done using instance configured via ObjectMapper (and exposed through DeserializationConfig and SerializationConfig). However, old static-singleton access methods are supported as well; however, using those may cause issues with extension modules that register "type enchancers".

Typical usage pattern before Jackson 1.8 was to statically import factory methods of this class, to allow convenient instantiation of structured types, especially Collection and Map types to represent generic types. For example 

 mapType(String.class, Integer.class)
to represent 
  Map<String,Integer>
This is an alternative to using TypeReference that would be something like 
  new TypeReference<Map<String,Integer>>() { }

  • Field Details

    • instance

      @Deprecated public static final TypeFactory instance
      Deprecated.
      As of 1.8, should use a per-ObjectMapper instance instead of global singleton
      Globally shared singleton. Should never be accessed directly; non-core code should use per-ObjectMapper instance (via configuration objects). Core Jackson code uses defaultInstance() for accessing it.

    • _modifiers

      protected final TypeModifier[] _modifiers
      Registered TypeModifiers: objects that can change details of JavaType instances factory constructs.
      Since:
      1.8

    • _parser

      protected final TypeParser _parser

    • _cachedHashMapType

      protected HierarchicType _cachedHashMapType
      Lazily constructed copy of type hierarchy from HashMap to its supertypes.
      Since:
      1.9

    • _cachedArrayListType

      protected HierarchicType _cachedArrayListType
      Lazily constructed copy of type hierarchy from ArrayList to its supertypes.
      Since:
      1.9

  • Constructor Details

  • Method Details

    • withModifier

      public TypeFactory withModifier(TypeModifier mod)

    • defaultInstance

      public static TypeFactory defaultInstance()
      Method used to access the globally shared instance, which has no custom configuration. Used by ObjectMapper to get the default factory when constructed.
      Since:
      1.8

    • unknownType

      public static JavaType unknownType()
      Method for constructing a marker type that indicates missing generic type information, which is handled same as simple type for java.lang.Object.
      Since:
      1.8

    • rawClass

      public static Class<?> rawClass(Type t)

    • type

      @Deprecated public static JavaType type(Type t)
      Deprecated.

    • type

      @Deprecated public static JavaType type(Type type, Class<?> context)
      Deprecated.

    • type

      @Deprecated public static JavaType type(Type type, JavaType context)
      Deprecated.

    • type

      @Deprecated public static JavaType type(Type type, TypeBindings bindings)
      Deprecated.

    • type

      @Deprecated public static JavaType type(TypeReference<?> ref)
      Deprecated.

    • arrayType

      @Deprecated public static JavaType arrayType(Class<?> elementType)
      Deprecated.

    • arrayType

      @Deprecated public static JavaType arrayType(JavaType elementType)
      Deprecated.

    • collectionType

      @Deprecated public static JavaType collectionType(Class<? extends Collection> collectionType, Class<?> elementType)
      Deprecated.

    • collectionType

      @Deprecated public static JavaType collectionType(Class<? extends Collection> collectionType, JavaType elementType)
      Deprecated.

    • mapType

      @Deprecated public static JavaType mapType(Class<? extends Map> mapClass, Class<?> keyType, Class<?> valueType)
      Deprecated.

    • mapType

      @Deprecated public static JavaType mapType(Class<? extends Map> mapType, JavaType keyType, JavaType valueType)
      Deprecated.

    • parametricType

      @Deprecated public static JavaType parametricType(Class<?> parametrized, Class<?>... parameterClasses)
      Deprecated.

    • parametricType

      @Deprecated public static JavaType parametricType(Class<?> parametrized, JavaType... parameterTypes)
      Deprecated.

    • fromCanonical

      public static JavaType fromCanonical(String canonical) throws IllegalArgumentException
      Throws:
      IllegalArgumentException

    • specialize

      @Deprecated public static JavaType specialize(JavaType baseType, Class<?> subclass)
      Deprecated.

    • fastSimpleType

      @Deprecated public static JavaType fastSimpleType(Class<?> cls)
      Deprecated.

    • findParameterTypes

      @Deprecated public static JavaType[] findParameterTypes(Class<?> clz, Class<?> expType)
      Deprecated.

    • findParameterTypes

      @Deprecated public static JavaType[] findParameterTypes(Class<?> clz, Class<?> expType, TypeBindings bindings)
      Deprecated.

    • findParameterTypes

      @Deprecated public static JavaType[] findParameterTypes(JavaType type, Class<?> expType)
      Deprecated.

    • fromClass

      @Deprecated public static JavaType fromClass(Class<?> clz)
      Deprecated.
      Use type(Type) instead
      Factory method that can be used if only type information available is of type Class. This means that there will not be generic type information due to type erasure, but at least it will be possible to recognize array types and non-typed container types. And for other types (primitives/wrappers, beans), this is all that is needed.

    • fromTypeReference

      @Deprecated public static JavaType fromTypeReference(TypeReference<?> ref)
      Deprecated.
      Use type(Type) instead
      Factory method that can be used if the full generic type has been passed using TypeReference. This only needs to be done if the root type to bind to is generic; but if so, it must be done to get proper typing.

    • fromType

      @Deprecated public static JavaType fromType(Type type)
      Deprecated.
      Use type(Type) instead
      Factory method that can be used if type information is passed as Java typing returned from getGenericXxx methods (usually for a return or argument type).

    • constructSpecializedType

      public JavaType constructSpecializedType(JavaType baseType, Class<?> subclass)
      Factory method for creating a subtype of given base type, as defined by specified subclass; but retaining generic type information if any. Can be used, for example, to get equivalent of "HashMap<String,Integer>" from "Mapinvalid input: '&ltString',Integer>" by giving HashMap.class as subclass.

    • constructFromCanonical

      public JavaType constructFromCanonical(String canonical) throws IllegalArgumentException
      Factory method for constructing a JavaType out of its canonical representation (see JavaType.toCanonical()).
      Parameters:
      canonical - Canonical string representation of a type
      Throws:
      IllegalArgumentException - If canonical representation is malformed, or class that type represents (including its generic parameters) is not found
      Since:
      1.8

    • findTypeParameters

      public JavaType[] findTypeParameters(JavaType type, Class<?> expType)
      Method that is to figure out actual type parameters that given class binds to generic types defined by given (generic) interface or class. This could mean, for example, trying to figure out key and value types for Map implementations.
      Parameters:
      type - Sub-type (leaf type) that implements expType
      Since:
      1.6

    • findTypeParameters

      public JavaType[] findTypeParameters(Class<?> clz, Class<?> expType)

    • findTypeParameters

      public JavaType[] findTypeParameters(Class<?> clz, Class<?> expType, TypeBindings bindings)

    • constructType

      public JavaType constructType(Type type)

    • constructType

      public JavaType constructType(Type type, TypeBindings bindings)

    • constructType

      public JavaType constructType(TypeReference<?> typeRef)

    • constructType

      public JavaType constructType(Type type, Class<?> context)

    • constructType

      public JavaType constructType(Type type, JavaType context)

    • _constructType

      public JavaType _constructType(Type type, TypeBindings context)
      Factory method that can be used if type information is passed as Java typing returned from getGenericXxx methods (usually for a return or argument type).

    • constructArrayType

      public ArrayType constructArrayType(Class<?> elementType)
      Method for constructing an ArrayType.

      NOTE: type modifiers are NOT called on array type itself; but are called for element type (and other contained types)

    • constructArrayType

      public ArrayType constructArrayType(JavaType elementType)
      Method for constructing an ArrayType.

      NOTE: type modifiers are NOT called on array type itself; but are called for contained types.

    • constructCollectionType

      public CollectionType constructCollectionType(Class<? extends Collection> collectionClass, Class<?> elementClass)
      Method for constructing a CollectionType.

      NOTE: type modifiers are NOT called on Collection type itself; but are called for contained types.

    • constructCollectionType

      public CollectionType constructCollectionType(Class<? extends Collection> collectionClass, JavaType elementType)
      Method for constructing a CollectionType.

      NOTE: type modifiers are NOT called on Collection type itself; but are called for contained types.

    • constructCollectionLikeType

      public CollectionLikeType constructCollectionLikeType(Class<?> collectionClass, Class<?> elementClass)
      Method for constructing a CollectionLikeType.

      NOTE: type modifiers are NOT called on constructed type itself; but are called for contained types.

      Since:
      1.8

    • constructCollectionLikeType

      public CollectionLikeType constructCollectionLikeType(Class<?> collectionClass, JavaType elementType)
      Method for constructing a CollectionLikeType.

      NOTE: type modifiers are NOT called on constructed type itself; but are called for contained types.

      Since:
      1.8

    • constructMapType

      public MapType constructMapType(Class<? extends Map> mapClass, JavaType keyType, JavaType valueType)
      Method for constructing a MapType instance

      NOTE: type modifiers are NOT called on constructed type itself; but are called for contained types.

      Since:
      1.8

    • constructMapType

      public MapType constructMapType(Class<? extends Map> mapClass, Class<?> keyClass, Class<?> valueClass)
      Method for constructing a MapType instance

      NOTE: type modifiers are NOT called on constructed type itself; but are called for contained types.

      Since:
      1.8

    • constructMapLikeType

      public MapLikeType constructMapLikeType(Class<?> mapClass, JavaType keyType, JavaType valueType)
      Method for constructing a MapLikeType instance

      NOTE: type modifiers are NOT called on constructed type itself; but are called for contained types.

      Since:
      1.8

    • constructMapLikeType

      public MapLikeType constructMapLikeType(Class<?> mapClass, Class<?> keyClass, Class<?> valueClass)
      Method for constructing a MapLikeType instance

      NOTE: type modifiers are NOT called on constructed type itself; but are called for contained types.

      Since:
      1.8

    • constructSimpleType

      public JavaType constructSimpleType(Class<?> rawType, JavaType[] parameterTypes)
      Method for constructing a type instance with specified parameterization.
      Since:
      1.8

    • uncheckedSimpleType

      public JavaType uncheckedSimpleType(Class<?> cls)
      Method that will force construction of a simple type, without trying to check for more specialized types.

      NOTE: no type modifiers are called on type either, so calling this method should only be used if caller really knows what it's doing...

      Since:
      1.8

    • constructParametricType

      public JavaType constructParametricType(Class<?> parametrized, Class<?>... parameterClasses)
      Factory method for constructing JavaType that represents a parameterized type. For example, to represent type List<Set<Integer>>, you could call 
        TypeFactory.parametricType(List.class, Integer.class);

      NOTE: type modifiers are NOT called on constructed type itself; but are called for contained types.

      Since:
      1.5

    • constructParametricType

      public JavaType constructParametricType(Class<?> parametrized, JavaType... parameterTypes)
      Factory method for constructing JavaType that represents a parameterized type. For example, to represent type List<Set<Integer>>, you could call 
        JavaType inner = TypeFactory.parametricType(Set.class, Integer.class);
  TypeFactory.parametricType(List.class, inner);

      NOTE: type modifiers are NOT called on constructed type itself; but are called for contained types.

      Since:
      1.5

    • constructRawCollectionType

      public CollectionType constructRawCollectionType(Class<? extends Collection> collectionClass)
      Method that can be used to construct "raw" Collection type; meaning that its parameterization is unknown. This is similar to using Object.class parameterization, and is equivalent to calling: 
        typeFactory.constructCollectionType(collectionClass, typeFactory.unknownType());

      
 This method should only be used if parameterization is completely unavailable.
      Since:
      1.9

    • constructRawCollectionLikeType

      public CollectionLikeType constructRawCollectionLikeType(Class<?> collectionClass)
      Method that can be used to construct "raw" Collection-like type; meaning that its parameterization is unknown. This is similar to using Object.class parameterization, and is equivalent to calling: 
        typeFactory.constructCollectionLikeType(collectionClass, typeFactory.unknownType());

      
 This method should only be used if parameterization is completely unavailable.
      Since:
      1.9

    • constructRawMapType

      public MapType constructRawMapType(Class<? extends Map> mapClass)
      Method that can be used to construct "raw" Map type; meaning that its parameterization is unknown. This is similar to using Object.class parameterization, and is equivalent to calling: 
        typeFactory.constructMapType(collectionClass, typeFactory.unknownType(), typeFactory.unknownType());

      
 This method should only be used if parameterization is completely unavailable.
      Since:
      1.9

    • constructRawMapLikeType

      public MapLikeType constructRawMapLikeType(Class<?> mapClass)
      Method that can be used to construct "raw" Map-like type; meaning that its parameterization is unknown. This is similar to using Object.class parameterization, and is equivalent to calling: 
        typeFactory.constructMapLikeType(collectionClass, typeFactory.unknownType(), typeFactory.unknownType());

      
 This method should only be used if parameterization is completely unavailable.
      Since:
      1.9

    • _fromClass

      protected JavaType _fromClass(Class<?> clz, TypeBindings context)
      Parameters:
      context - Mapping of formal parameter declarations (for generic types) into actual types

    • _fromParameterizedClass

      protected JavaType _fromParameterizedClass(Class<?> clz, List<JavaType> paramTypes)
      Method used by TypeParser when generics-aware version is constructed.

    • _fromParamType

      protected JavaType _fromParamType(ParameterizedType type, TypeBindings context)
      This method deals with parameterized types, that is, first class generic classes.

      Since version 1.2, this resolves all parameterized types, not just Maps or Collections.

    • _fromArrayType

      protected JavaType _fromArrayType(GenericArrayType type, TypeBindings context)

    • _fromVariable

      protected JavaType _fromVariable(TypeVariable<?> type, TypeBindings context)

    • _fromWildcard

      protected JavaType _fromWildcard(WildcardType type, TypeBindings context)

    • _resolveVariableViaSubTypes

      protected JavaType _resolveVariableViaSubTypes(HierarchicType leafType, String variableName, TypeBindings bindings)

    • _unknownType

      protected JavaType _unknownType()

    • _findSuperTypeChain

      protected HierarchicType _findSuperTypeChain(Class<?> subtype, Class<?> supertype)
      Helper method used to find inheritance (implements, extends) path between given types, if one exists (caller generally checks before calling this method). Returned type represents given subtype, with supertype linkage extending to supertype.

    • _findSuperClassChain

      protected HierarchicType _findSuperClassChain(Type currentType, Class<?> target)

    • _findSuperInterfaceChain

      protected HierarchicType _findSuperInterfaceChain(Type currentType, Class<?> target)

    • _doFindSuperInterfaceChain

      protected HierarchicType _doFindSuperInterfaceChain(HierarchicType current, Class<?> target)

    • _hashMapSuperInterfaceChain

      protected HierarchicType _hashMapSuperInterfaceChain(HierarchicType current)

    • _arrayListSuperInterfaceChain

      protected HierarchicType _arrayListSuperInterfaceChain(HierarchicType current)