Gson TypeToken with dynamic ArrayList item type

Question

I have this code:

Type typeOfObjectsList = new TypeToken>() {}.getType();
List objectsList = new Gson().fromJso         


        

Answer 1

Fully working solution:

String json = .... //example: mPrefs.getString("list", "");
ArrayList<YouClassName> myTypes = fromJSonList(json, YouClassName.class);


public <YouClassName> ArrayList<YouClassName> fromJSonList(String json, Class<YouClassName> type) {
        Gson gson = new Gson();
        return gson.fromJson(json, TypeToken.getParameterized(ArrayList.class, type).getType());
    }

Answer 2

This worked for me:

public <T> List<T> listEntity(Class<T> clazz)
        throws WsIntegracaoException {
    try {
        // Consuming remote method
        String strJson = getService().listEntity(clazz.getName());

        JsonParser parser = new JsonParser();
        JsonArray array = parser.parse(strJson).getAsJsonArray();

        List<T> lst =  new ArrayList<T>();
        for(final JsonElement json: array){
            T entity = GSON.fromJson(json, clazz);
            lst.add(entity);
        }

        return lst;

    } catch (Exception e) {
        throw new WsIntegracaoException(
                "WS method error [listEntity()]", e);
    }
}

Answer 3

With kotlin you can use a below functions to converting (from/to) any (JsonArray/JsonObject) just in one line without need to send a TypeToken :-

Convert any class or array to JSON string

inline fun <reified T : Any> T?.json() = this?.let { Gson().toJson(this, T::class.java) }

Example to use :

 val list = listOf("1","2","3")
 val jsonArrayAsString = list.json() 
 //output : ["1","2","3"]

 val model= Foo(name = "example",email = "t@t.com") 
 val jsonObjectAsString = model.json()
//output : {"name" : "example", "email" : "t@t.com"}

Convert JSON string to any class or array

inline fun <reified T : Any> String?.fromJson(): T? = this?.let {
    val type = object : TypeToken<T>() {}.type
    Gson().fromJson(this, type)
}

Example to use :

 val jsonArrayAsString = "[\"1\",\"2\",\"3\"]"
 val list = jsonArrayAsString.fromJson<List<String>>()

 val jsonObjectAsString = "{ "name" : "example", "email" : "t@t.com"}"
 val model : Foo? = jsonObjectAsString.fromJson() 
 //or 
 val model = jsonObjectAsString.fromJson<Foo>() 

Answer 4

Option 1 - implement java.lang.reflect.ParameterizedType yourself and pass it to Gson.

private static class ListParameterizedType implements ParameterizedType {

    private Type type;

    private ListParameterizedType(Type type) {
        this.type = type;
    }

    @Override
    public Type[] getActualTypeArguments() {
        return new Type[] {type};
    }

    @Override
    public Type getRawType() {
        return ArrayList.class;
    }

    @Override
    public Type getOwnerType() {
        return null;
    }

    // implement equals method too! (as per javadoc)
}

Then simply:

Type type = new ListParameterizedType(clazz);
List<T> list = gson.fromJson(json, type);

Note that as per javadoc, equals method should also be implemented.

Option 2 - (don't do this) reuse gson internal...

This will work too, at least with Gson 2.2.4.

Type type = com.google.gson.internal.$Gson$Types.newParameterizedTypeWithOwner(null, ArrayList.class, clazz);

Answer 5

Since Gson 2.8.0, you can use TypeToken#getParameterized(Type rawType, Type... typeArguments) to create the TypeToken, then getType() should do the trick.

For example:

TypeToken.getParameterized(ArrayList.class, myClass).getType()

Answer 6

You can actually do it. You just need to parse first your data into an JsonArray and then transform each object individually, and add it to a List :

Class<T> dataType;

//...

JsonElement root = jsonParser.parse(json);
List<T> data = new ArrayList<>();
JsonArray rootArray = root.getAsJsonArray();
for (JsonElement json : rootArray) {
    try {
        data.add(gson.fromJson(json, dataType));
    } catch (Exception e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
    }
}
return data;