CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javaserializationnullpointerexceptionnulljackson
4javier
4javier

Reputation: 639

Serializing null values with jackson

I'm trying to serialize through jackson some fields, which can be null, with a custom serializer. Reading online it seems that jackson should write a "null" string, and if I want a different output I should follow this example from its official github

The problem is that I get a NullPointerException instead of a "null" string. This occurs both with JsonGenerator.writeNumberField, both with JsonGenerator.writeStringField.
To write an empty string should I manage the exception, or is there something I'm missing?

This is the stacktrace:

com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonMappingException: [no message for java.lang.NullPointerException]
    at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ser.DefaultSerializerProvider._wrapAsIOE(DefaultSerializerProvider.java:509) ~[jackson-databind-2.9.6.jar:2.9.6]
    at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ser.DefaultSerializerProvider._serialize(DefaultSerializerProvider.java:482) ~[jackson-databind-2.9.6.jar:2.9.6]
    at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ser.DefaultSerializerProvider.serializeValue(DefaultSerializerProvider.java:319) ~[jackson-databind-2.9.6.jar:2.9.6]
    at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper._configAndWriteValue(ObjectMapper.java:3905) ~[jackson-databind-2.9.6.jar:2.9.6]
    at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper.writeValueAsString(ObjectMapper.java:3219) ~[jackson-databind-2.9.6.jar:2.9.6]
    at petmenu.restControllers.ProdottoController.thirdStageInput(ProdottoController.java:92) ~[main/:na]
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method) ~[na:1.8.0_202]
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:62) ~[na:1.8.0_202]
    at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43) ~[na:1.8.0_202]
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:498) ~[na:1.8.0_202]
    at org.springframework.web.method.support.InvocableHandlerMethod.doInvoke(InvocableHandlerMethod.java:209) ~[spring-web-5.0.9.RELEASE.jar:5.0.9.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.web.method.support.InvocableHandlerMethod.invokeForRequest(InvocableHandlerMethod.java:136) ~[spring-web-5.0.9.RELEASE.jar:5.0.9.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.method.annotation.ServletInvocableHandlerMethod.invokeAndHandle(ServletInvocableHandlerMethod.java:102) ~[spring-webmvc-5.0.9.RELEASE.jar:5.0.9.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.method.annotation.RequestMappingHandlerAdapter.invokeHandlerMethod(RequestMappingHandlerAdapter.java:891) ~[spring-webmvc-5.0.9.RELEASE.jar:5.0.9.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.method.annotation.RequestMappingHandlerAdapter.handleInternal(RequestMappingHandlerAdapter.java:797) ~[spring-webmvc-5.0.9.RELEASE.jar:5.0.9.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.web.servlet.mvc.method.AbstractHandlerMethodAdapter.handle(AbstractHandlerMethodAdapter.java:87) ~[spring-webmvc-5.0.9.RELEASE.jar:5.0.9.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet.doDispatch(DispatcherServlet.java:991) ~[spring-webmvc-5.0.9.RELEASE.jar:5.0.9.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.web.servlet.DispatcherServlet.doService(DispatcherServlet.java:925) ~[spring-webmvc-5.0.9.RELEASE.jar:5.0.9.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.web.servlet.FrameworkServlet.processRequest(FrameworkServlet.java:974) ~[spring-webmvc-5.0.9.RELEASE.jar:5.0.9.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.web.servlet.FrameworkServlet.doPost(FrameworkServlet.java:877) ~[spring-webmvc-5.0.9.RELEASE.jar:5.0.9.RELEASE]
    at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:661) ~[tomcat-embed-core-8.5.34.jar:8.5.34]
    at org.springframework.web.servlet.FrameworkServlet.service(FrameworkServlet.java:851) ~[spring-webmvc-5.0.9.RELEASE.jar:5.0.9.RELEASE]
    at javax.servlet.http.HttpServlet.service(HttpServlet.java:742) ~[tomcat-embed-core-8.5.34.jar:8.5.34]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:231) ~[tomcat-embed-core-8.5.34.jar:8.5.34]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:166) ~[tomcat-embed-core-8.5.34.jar:8.5.34]
    at org.apache.tomcat.websocket.server.WsFilter.doFilter(WsFilter.java:52) ~[tomcat-embed-websocket-8.5.34.jar:8.5.34]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:193) ~[tomcat-embed-core-8.5.34.jar:8.5.34]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:166) ~[tomcat-embed-core-8.5.34.jar:8.5.34]
    at org.springframework.web.filter.RequestContextFilter.doFilterInternal(RequestContextFilter.java:99) ~[spring-web-5.0.9.RELEASE.jar:5.0.9.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:107) ~[spring-web-5.0.9.RELEASE.jar:5.0.9.RELEASE]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:193) ~[tomcat-embed-core-8.5.34.jar:8.5.34]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:166) ~[tomcat-embed-core-8.5.34.jar:8.5.34]
    at org.springframework.web.filter.HttpPutFormContentFilter.doFilterInternal(HttpPutFormContentFilter.java:109) ~[spring-web-5.0.9.RELEASE.jar:5.0.9.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:107) ~[spring-web-5.0.9.RELEASE.jar:5.0.9.RELEASE]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:193) ~[tomcat-embed-core-8.5.34.jar:8.5.34]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:166) ~[tomcat-embed-core-8.5.34.jar:8.5.34]
    at org.springframework.web.filter.HiddenHttpMethodFilter.doFilterInternal(HiddenHttpMethodFilter.java:93) ~[spring-web-5.0.9.RELEASE.jar:5.0.9.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:107) ~[spring-web-5.0.9.RELEASE.jar:5.0.9.RELEASE]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:193) ~[tomcat-embed-core-8.5.34.jar:8.5.34]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:166) ~[tomcat-embed-core-8.5.34.jar:8.5.34]
    at org.springframework.web.filter.CharacterEncodingFilter.doFilterInternal(CharacterEncodingFilter.java:200) ~[spring-web-5.0.9.RELEASE.jar:5.0.9.RELEASE]
    at org.springframework.web.filter.OncePerRequestFilter.doFilter(OncePerRequestFilter.java:107) ~[spring-web-5.0.9.RELEASE.jar:5.0.9.RELEASE]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.internalDoFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:193) ~[tomcat-embed-core-8.5.34.jar:8.5.34]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.ApplicationFilterChain.doFilter(ApplicationFilterChain.java:166) ~[tomcat-embed-core-8.5.34.jar:8.5.34]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardWrapperValve.invoke(StandardWrapperValve.java:198) ~[tomcat-embed-core-8.5.34.jar:8.5.34]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardContextValve.invoke(StandardContextValve.java:96) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.34.jar:8.5.34]
    at org.apache.catalina.authenticator.AuthenticatorBase.invoke(AuthenticatorBase.java:493) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.34.jar:8.5.34]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardHostValve.invoke(StandardHostValve.java:140) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.34.jar:8.5.34]
    at org.apache.catalina.valves.ErrorReportValve.invoke(ErrorReportValve.java:81) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.34.jar:8.5.34]
    at org.apache.catalina.core.StandardEngineValve.invoke(StandardEngineValve.java:87) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.34.jar:8.5.34]
    at org.apache.catalina.connector.CoyoteAdapter.service(CoyoteAdapter.java:342) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.34.jar:8.5.34]
    at org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11Processor.service(Http11Processor.java:800) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.34.jar:8.5.34]
    at org.apache.coyote.AbstractProcessorLight.process(AbstractProcessorLight.java:66) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.34.jar:8.5.34]
    at org.apache.coyote.AbstractProtocol$ConnectionHandler.process(AbstractProtocol.java:806) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.34.jar:8.5.34]
    at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.NioEndpoint$SocketProcessor.doRun(NioEndpoint.java:1498) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.34.jar:8.5.34]
    at org.apache.tomcat.util.net.SocketProcessorBase.run(SocketProcessorBase.java:49) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.34.jar:8.5.34]
    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor.runWorker(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:1149) [na:1.8.0_202]
    at java.util.concurrent.ThreadPoolExecutor$Worker.run(ThreadPoolExecutor.java:624) [na:1.8.0_202]
    at org.apache.tomcat.util.threads.TaskThread$WrappingRunnable.run(TaskThread.java:61) [tomcat-embed-core-8.5.34.jar:8.5.34]
    at java.lang.Thread.run(Thread.java:748) [na:1.8.0_202]
Caused by: java.lang.NullPointerException: null
    at petmenu.CustomProdottoSerializer.serialize(CustomProdottoSerializer.java:32) ~[main/:na]
    at petmenu.CustomProdottoSerializer.serialize(CustomProdottoSerializer.java:1) ~[main/:na]
    at com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ser.DefaultSerializerProvider._serialize(DefaultSerializerProvider.java:480) ~[jackson-databind-2.9.6.jar:2.9.6]
    ... 58 common frames omitted

And this is the interesting code

   @Override
    public void serialize(
      Prodotto prod, JsonGenerator jgen, SerializerProvider serializer) throws IOException {
        jgen.writeStartObject();

//      getPeso_netto returns an Integer, that in the example is null
        jgen.writeNumberField("peso_netto", prod.getPeso_netto());

Upvotes: 0

Views: 2653

Answers (1)

Sunchezz
Sunchezz

Reputation: 778

i would suggest to simply make a null check, or as you sugested, handle via exception.

@Override
    public void serialize(
      Prodotto prod, JsonGenerator jgen, SerializerProvider serializer) throws IOException {
        jgen.writeStartObject();

//      getPeso_netto returns an Integer, that in the example is null
        if (prod.getPeso_netto() != null)
            jgen.writeNumberField("peso_netto", prod.getPeso_netto());
        else {
            jgen.writeNullField("peso_netto");     
        }

EDIT Explanation

the method JsonGenerator.writeNumberField has following method body:

public final void writeNumberField(String fieldName, int value) throws IOException {
    this.writeFieldName(fieldName);
    this.writeNumber(value);
}

as you see, the method is expecting an int, not an Integer. The compiler is trying to Autobox the Integer to an int. This fails with an NPE, because the Integer is a null object. So the NPE is not thrown 'by code of jackson library', but from the JVM at the point trying to pass an autoboxed null value as an int to a jackson method.

You can test this behaviour with following snippet:

Integer x = null;
x = 1 + x; // will throw NPE

Upvotes: 2

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