How to distinguish between null and not provided values for partial updates in Spring Rest Controller

Question

I\'m trying to distinguish between null values and not provided values when partially updating an entity with PUT request method in Spring Rest Controller.

Consider

Answer 1

Maybe too late for an answer, but you could:

• By default, don't unset 'null' values. Provide an explicit list via query params what fields you want to unset. In such a way you can still send JSON that corresponds to your entity and have flexibility to unset fields when you need.

• Depending on your use case, some endpoints may explicitly treat all null values as unset operations. A little bit dangerous for patching, but in some circumstances might be an option.