Java/JAXB: Unmarshall Xml to specific subclass based on an attribute

Question

Is it possible to use JAXB to unmarshall xml to a specific Java class based on an attribute of the xml?

Answer 1

There is @XmlSeeAlso annotation to tell to bind subclasses.

For example, with the following class definitions:

 class Animal {}
 class Dog extends Animal {}
 class Cat extends Animal {}

The user would be required to create JAXBContext as JAXBContext.newInstance(Dog.class,Cat.class) (Animal will be automatically picked up since Dog and Cat refers to it.)

XmlSeeAlso annotation would allow you to write:

 @XmlSeeAlso({Dog.class,Cat.class})
 class Animal {}
 class Dog extends Animal {}
 class Cat extends Animal {}