Java unmarshilling JSON data containg abstract type
In your case you should use @JsonTypeInfo annotation.
For more information, please see below links:
Using above links I have created a simple example which serialize POJO objects with class names:
import java.io.StringWriter;import java.util.Arrays;import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonProperty;import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonTypeInfo;import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;public class JacksonProgram { public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception { DogDTO dog = new DogDTO(); dog.setCode("001"); dog.setName("chihuahua"); CatDTO cat = new CatDTO(); cat.setCode("002"); cat.setName("felix"); Zoo zoo = new Zoo(); zoo.setAnimals(new AnimalDTO[] { dog, cat }); Data data = new Data(); data.setZoo(zoo); ObjectMapper objectMapper = new ObjectMapper(); StringWriter writer = new StringWriter(); objectMapper.writeValue(writer, data); System.out.println(writer); }}@JsonTypeInfo(use = JsonTypeInfo.Id.NAME, include = JsonTypeInfo.As.PROPERTY, property = "type")abstract class AnimalDTO { private String code; private String name; public String getCode() { return code; } public void setCode(String code) { this.code = code; } public String getName() { return name; } public void setName(String name) { this.name = name; } @Override public String toString() { return "AnimalDTO [code=" + code + ", name=" + name + "]"; }}class DogDTO extends AnimalDTO {}class CatDTO extends AnimalDTO {}class Zoo { @JsonProperty(value = "Animals") private AnimalDTO[] animals; public AnimalDTO[] getAnimals() { return animals; } public void setAnimals(AnimalDTO[] animals) { this.animals = animals; } @Override public String toString() { return "Zoo [animals=" + Arrays.toString(animals) + "]"; }}class Data { @JsonProperty(value = "Zoo") private Zoo zoo; public Zoo getZoo() { return zoo; } public void setZoo(Zoo zoo) { this.zoo = zoo; } @Override public String toString() { return "Data [zoo=" + zoo + "]"; }}This program prints:
{"Zoo":{"Animals":[{"type":"DogDTO","code":"001","name":"chihuahua"},{"type":"CatDTO","code":"002","name":"felix"}]}}