apply JAXB annotation to an existing data model

Question

I have the following problem. For webservices I am using an existing data model. So I need to apply JAXB annotations on the existing source classes. This requires a lot of effort to do manually.

Does anyone know a tool that can help automate this process? For clarity, generating java source code through an xsd is not the goal.

Answer 1

You can first get all classes in your data model package and then use Javassist to do add an annotation on each of those classes at run-time.

• Check out how to get all classes in a package tutorial
• Check out this Javassist tutorial about adding annotations at runtime

If you want to avoid this procedure though and just change the source code I think Search/Replace in your data model package would be the way to go.

Answer 2

JAXB (JSR-222) is configuration by exception. This means you only need to annotate the model where the desired representation defers from the default one:

• http://wiki.eclipse.org/EclipseLink/Examples/MOXy/GettingStarted/TheBasics

If you have an XML Schema that you are trying to map your domain model to, then you may find the Dali JAXB tooling in Eclipse helpful. I would recommend trying out a pre-released version of Juno.