Spring mvc : Changing default Response format from xml to json

Question

I have gone through other similar asked questions but nothing worked for me.

All my API's return JSON as response by Default:

Because of some XML API, i had to add jackson-xml

    <dependency>
    <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.dataformat</groupId>
    <artifactId>jackson-dataformat-xml</artifactId>
    </dependency>

Now by default "Without accept header" All responses are XML.

I would like to have JSON as default Response format .

As stated in the doc here:

https://spring.io/blog/2013/05/11/content-negotiation-using-spring-mvc

I implemented the following config :

@Override
    public void configureContentNegotiation(ContentNegotiationConfigurer configurer) {
        configurer.favorPathExtension(false).favorParameter(true).parameterName("mediaType").ignoreAcceptHeader(true)    
                .useJaf(false).defaultContentType(MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON)
                .mediaType("xml", MediaType.APPLICATION_XML).mediaType("json", MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON);
    }

Case 1: if i make the ignoreAcceptHeader(true) then everything is JSON even the XML API returning JSON.

Case 2: when ignoreAcceptHeader(false) is then default is XML.

I forget to mention my API's look like this:

@RequestMapping(value = "/getXml", method = RequestMethod.GET)
public ResponseEntity<String> getXml( HttpServletRequest request)
        throws JAXBException {
    return returnXml();
}

I am quite lost here, All i want is Default(Without AcceptHeader) should be JSON. (API returns XML as String)

And when Accept Header : "Application/xml" is defined then response should be XML.

Any advice would be of great help.

Thanks.

According to configuration you can control return media type with 'mediaType' parameter. Did you try something like /getXml?mediaType=xml — Stan
– Stan, Commented Dec 8, 2016 at 10:05
@Stan : no i cannot change the RequestMapping but still i will try it to see the results — lesnar
– lesnar, Commented Dec 8, 2016 at 10:06
It's not about request mapping annotation, as I understood you are saying to Spring with .parameterName("mediaType") statement to check media type using this parameter so there are no changes on your server side — Stan
– Stan, Commented Dec 8, 2016 at 10:08
@Stan : it worked :) :) but then i have to communicate new URL to customer? or i can manipulate the URL once i recieve the request ? — lesnar
– lesnar, Commented Dec 8, 2016 at 10:11
@Stan : if i am not wrong, then adding something like response.setContentType(MediaType.APPLICATION_XML_VALUE); in API would be same right ? — lesnar
– lesnar, Commented Dec 8, 2016 at 10:12

Ruslan Stelmachenko · Accepted Answer · 2018-06-05 22:51:04Z

8

For me, adding

@Configuration
public class WebConfig extends WebMvcConfigurerAdapter {

    @Override
    public void configureContentNegotiation(ContentNegotiationConfigurer configurer) {
        configurer.defaultContentType(MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON_UTF8);
    }

}

solved the problem.

Now by default all RestControllers return JSON, if no Accept header in the request. Also if Accept: application/xml header is passed, then result is XML.

Also, worth reading: https://spring.io/blog/2013/05/11/content-negotiation-using-spring-mvc

edited Jun 5, 2018 at 22:51

answered Nov 15, 2017 at 11:14

Ruslan Stelmachenko

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2 Comments

Paulo Merson Over a year ago

Just a detail: in a Spring boot application, your @Configuration classes should not contain the @EnableWebMvc annotation (source). It may prevent other things from working, such as the springfox-swagger-ui html page.

Ruslan Stelmachenko Over a year ago

@PauloMerson Yes, you are totally right! I'll remove this from the answer to prevent confuse any readers, thanks!

devops · Accepted Answer · 2016-12-08 12:14:44Z

In general if you want to get json response you need an jackson-databind module:

<dependency> 
    <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.core</groupId> 
    <artifactId>jackson-databind</artifactId> 
    <version>${json-jackson-version}</version> 
</dependency>

and then you have to define a MappingJackson2HttpMessageConverter in your configuration:

@Configuration
@EnableWebMvc
public class WebAppMainConfiguration extends WebMvcConfigurerAdapter {

    @Override 
    public void configureMessageConverters(List<HttpMessageConverter<?>> converters) { 
        converters.add(new MappingJackson2HttpMessageConverter());

        [..] 
        super.configureMessageConverters(converters); 
    }

    [...]
}

In your case, you can implement your own AbstractGenericHttpMessageConverter so you can switch in this converter between different concrete converters depending on media type.

Check the method AbstractGenericHttpMessageConverter#writeInternal(..)

Romil Patel · Accepted Answer · 2019-07-26 14:16:18Z

2

As you have set ignoreAcceptHeader to true and favorPathExtension to false, spring will rely on other alternatives for content negotiations. Means it will look URL parameter which you have configured XML and JSON

so as @stan pointed /getXml?mediaType=xml will should return xml response else it will default to json(defaultContentType(MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON))

edited Jul 26, 2019 at 14:16

Romil Patel

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answered Dec 8, 2016 at 10:21

kuhajeyan

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2 Comments

lesnar Over a year ago

thanks for your response, but i am already doing something like this : contentTypeList.add(MediaType.APPLICATION_XML_VALUE); headers.put("Content-Type", contentTypeList); and i expect it to send XML without "?mediatype=xml"

lesnar Over a year ago

but this is not happening.

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