java - Jackson conditional @JsonUnwrapped

Question

Can I use @JsonUnwrapped conditionally? I don't want to use it during serialization but would like to use it while deserializing the object.

One way to do it is create two different classes or create a subclass overriding just that property which needs to behave different while serializing and deserializing. This doesn't sound right. Any other alternatives or Jackson way of tackling the problem?

Answer 1

There is a simpler way to achieve the same result that is based on annotations only:

@JsonUnwrapped(prefix = "name_")
@JsonProperty(access = READ_ONLY)
private Name nameObject;

// method will deserialize original JSON and set it to unwrapped field
@JsonSetter
public void setName(Name name) {
  this.nameObject = name;
}

// simple getter
@JsonIgnore
public Name getName() {
  return this.nameObject;
}