[java] No String-argument constructor/factory method to deserialize from String value ('')

I'm running into a json parsing issue when using the ObjectMapper class from the com.fasterxml.jackson.databind package, and the error that I'm getting is:

com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.JsonMappingException: Can not construct instance of com.graybar.utilities.ups.beans.Address: no String-argument constructor/factory method to deserialize from String value ('')

The web application where this problem is occurring is a Spring MVC application using an AngularJS front end, but I can duplicate the issue with a much smaller, all java program. Here are my beans:

Shipment.java

@JsonIgnoreProperties(ignoreUnknown = true)
public class Shipment {
    @JsonProperty("Activity")
    private ArrayList<Activity> activity;
    public ArrayList<Activity> getActivity() {
        return activity;
    }
    public void setActivity(ArrayList<Activity> activity) {
        this.activity = activity;
    }
}

Activity.java

@JsonIgnoreProperties(ignoreUnknown = true)
public class Activity {
    @JsonProperty("ActivityLocation")
    private ArrayList<ActivityLocation> activityLocation;
    public ArrayList<ActivityLocation> getActivityLocation() {
        return activityLocation;
    }
    public void setActivityLocation(ArrayList<ActivityLocation> activityLocation) {
        this.activityLocation = activityLocation;
    }
}

ActivityLocation.java

@JsonIgnoreProperties(ignoreUnknown = true)
public class ActivityLocation {
    @JsonProperty("Address")
    private Address address;
    public Address getAddress() {
        return address;
    }
    public void setAddress(Address address) {
        this.address = address;
    }
}

Address.java

@JsonIgnoreProperties(ignoreUnknown = true)
public class Address {
    @JsonProperty("City")
    private String city;
    @JsonProperty("StateProvinceCode")
    private String stateProvinceCode;
    @JsonProperty("CountryCode")
    private String countryCode;
    public String getCity() {
        return city;
    }
    public void setCity(String city) {
        this.city = city;
    }
    public String getCountryCode() {
        return countryCode;
    }
    public void setCountryCode(String countryCode) {
        this.countryCode = countryCode;
    }
    public String getStateProvinceCode() {
        return stateProvinceCode;
    }
    public void setStateProvinceCode(String stateProvinceCode) {
        this.stateProvinceCode = stateProvinceCode;
    }
}

Here is the code where I can properly map the json:

public static void main(String[] args) {
    String jsonMessage = "" +
        "{" + 
        "   \"Activity\": [{ " +
        "       \"ActivityLocation\": { " +
        "           \"Address\": { " +
        "               \"City\": \"Hana\", " +
        "               \"StateProvinceCode\": \"Hi\", " +
        "               \"CountryCode\": \"US\" " +
        "           } " +
        "       } " +
        "   }, " +
        "   { " +
        "       \"ActivityLocation\": { " +
        "           \"Address\": { " +
        "               \"City\": \"Honolulu\", " +
        "               \"StateProvinceCode\": \"Hi\", " +
        "               \"CountryCode\": \"US\" " +
        "           } " +
        "       } " +
        "   }] " +
    "} ";

    try {
        ObjectMapper mapper = new ObjectMapper();
        mapper.enable(DeserializationFeature.ACCEPT_SINGLE_VALUE_AS_ARRAY);

        Shipment shipment = mapper.readValue(jsonMessage, Shipment.class);
        System.out.println("shipment.toString = " + shipment.toString());
    } catch (Exception e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    }
}

When adjusting the data in the jsonMessage var is when I run into the error that I mentioned above:

    "{" + 
    "   \"Activity\": [{ " +
    "       \"ActivityLocation\": { " +
    "           \"Address\": { " +
    "               \"City\": \"Hana\", " +
    "               \"StateProvinceCode\": \"Hi\", " +
    "               \"CountryCode\": \"US\" " +
    "           } " +
    "       } " +
    "   }, " +
    "   { " +
    "       \"ActivityLocation\": { " +
    "           \"Address\": \"\" " +
    "           } " +
    "       } " +
    "   }] " +
    "} ";

So, the problem happens when changing the json from this:

{
    "ActivityLocation": { 
        "Address": {
            "City": "Honolulu", 
            "StateProvinceCode": "Hi", 
            "CountryCode": "US"
        }
    }
}]

to this:

{
"ActivityLocation": {
     "Address": ""
    }
}

Instead of sending values for my Address bean, I'm getting just an empty string. Unfortunately, I'm receiving my data from a third party and have no control over the data I receive.

Is there an annotation that needs to be added to be able to handle this?

Had this when I accidentally was calling

mapper.convertValue(...)

instead of

mapper.readValue(...)

So, just make sure you call correct method, since argument are same and IDE can find many things

Use below code snippet This worked for me

ObjectMapper objectMapper = new ObjectMapper();
String jsonString = "{\"symbol\":\"ABCD\}";
objectMapper.configure(DeserializationFeature.ACCEPT_EMPTY_STRING_AS_NULL_OBJECT, true);
Trade trade = objectMapper.readValue(jsonString, new TypeReference<Symbol>() {});

Model Class

@JsonIgnoreProperties    public class Symbol {
    @JsonProperty("symbol")
    private String symbol;
}

This exception says that you are trying to deserialize the object "Address" from string "\"\"" instead of an object description like "{…}". The deserializer can't find a constructor of Address with String argument. You have to replace "" by {} to avoid this error.

mapper.enable(DeserializationFeature.ACCEPT_EMPTY_STRING_AS_NULL_OBJECT);

My code work well just as the answer above. The reason is that the json from jackson is different with the json sent from controller.

String test1= mapper.writeValueAsString(result1);

And the json is like(which can be deserialized normally):

{"code":200,"message":"god","data":[{"nics":null,"status":null,"desktopOperatorType":null,"marker":null,"user_name":null,"user_group":null,"user_email":null,"product_id":null,"image_id":null,"computer_name":"AAAA","desktop_id":null,"created":null,"ip_address":null,"security_groups":null,"root_volume":null,"data_volumes":null,"availability_zone":null,"ou_name":null,"login_status":null,"desktop_ip":null,"ad_id":null},{"nics":null,"status":null,"desktopOperatorType":null,"marker":null,"user_name":null,"user_group":null,"user_email":null,"product_id":null,"image_id":null,"computer_name":"BBBB","desktop_id":null,"created":null,"ip_address":null,"security_groups":null,"root_volume":null,"data_volumes":null,"availability_zone":null,"ou_name":null,"login_status":null,"desktop_ip":null,"ad_id":null}]}

but the json send from the another service just like:

{"code":200,"message":"????????","data":[{"nics":"","status":"","metadata":"","desktopOperatorType":"","marker":"","user_name":"csrgzbsjy","user_group":"ADMINISTRATORS","user_email":"","product_id":"","image_id":"","computer_name":"B-jiegou-all-15","desktop_id":"6360ee29-eb82-416b-aab8-18ded887e8ff","created":"2018-11-12T07:45:15.000Z","ip_address":"192.168.2.215","security_groups":"","root_volume":"","data_volumes":"","availability_zone":"","ou_name":"","login_status":"","desktop_ip":"","ad_id":""},{"nics":"","status":"","metadata":"","desktopOperatorType":"","marker":"","user_name":"glory_2147","user_group":"ADMINISTRATORS","user_email":"","product_id":"","image_id":"","computer_name":"H-pkpm-all-357","desktop_id":"709164e4-d3e6-495d-9c1e-a7b82e30bc83","created":"2018-11-09T09:54:09.000Z","ip_address":"192.168.2.235","security_groups":"","root_volume":"","data_volumes":"","availability_zone":"","ou_name":"","login_status":"","desktop_ip":"","ad_id":""}]}

You can notice the difference when dealing with the param without initiation. Be careful

I found a different way to handle this error. (the variables is according to the original question)

   JsonNode parsedNodes = mapper.readValue(jsonMessage , JsonNode.class);
        Response response = xmlMapper.enable(ACCEPT_EMPTY_STRING_AS_NULL_OBJECT,ACCEPT_SINGLE_VALUE_AS_ARRAY )
                .disable(FAIL_ON_UNKNOWN_PROPERTIES, FAIL_ON_IGNORED_PROPERTIES)
                .convertValue(parsedNodes, Response.class);