Package jakarta.xml.bind.annotation

Annotation Interface XmlElementWrapper

@Retention(RUNTIME) @Target({FIELD,METHOD}) public @interface XmlElementWrapper
Generates a wrapper element around XML representation. This is primarily intended to be used to produce a wrapper XML element around collections. The annotation therefore supports two forms of serialization shown below. 

    //Example: code fragment
      int[] names;

    // XML Serialization Form 1 (Unwrapped collection)
    <names> ... </names>
    <names> ... </names>
 
    // XML Serialization Form 2 ( Wrapped collection )
    <wrapperElement>
       <names> value-of-item </names>
       <names> value-of-item </names>
       ....
    </wrapperElement>

The two serialized XML forms allow a null collection to be represented either by absence or presence of an element with a nillable attribute.

Usage

The @XmlElementWrapper annotation can be used with the following program elements:

  • JavaBean property
  • non static, non transient field

The usage is subject to the following constraints:

See "Package Specification" in jakarta.xml.bind.package javadoc for additional common information.

Since:
1.6, JAXB 2.0
Author:
  • Kohsuke Kawaguchi, Sun Microsystems, Inc.
  • Sekhar Vajjhala, Sun Microsystems, Inc.
See Also:

  • Optional Element Summary

    Optional Elements
    Modifier and Type
    Optional Element
    Description
    String
    name
    Name of the XML wrapper element.
    String
    namespace
    XML target namespace of the XML wrapper element.
    boolean
    nillable
    If true, the absence of the collection is represented by using xsi:nil='true'.
    boolean
    required
    Customize the wrapper element declaration to be required.

  • Element Details

    • name

      String name
      Name of the XML wrapper element. By default, the XML wrapper element name is derived from the JavaBean property name.
      Default:
      "##default"

    • namespace

      String namespace
      XML target namespace of the XML wrapper element.

      If the value is "##default", then the namespace is determined as follows:

      1. If the enclosing package has XmlSchema annotation, and its elementFormDefault is QUALIFIED, then the namespace of the enclosing class.
      2. Otherwise "" (which produces unqualified element in the default namespace.
      Default:
      "##default"

    • nillable

      boolean nillable
      If true, the absence of the collection is represented by using xsi:nil='true'. Otherwise, it is represented by the absence of the element.
      Default:
      false

    • required

      boolean required
      Customize the wrapper element declaration to be required.

      If required() is true, then the corresponding generated XML schema element declaration will have minOccurs="1", to indicate that the wrapper element is always expected.

      Note that this only affects the schema generation, and not the unmarshalling or marshalling capability. This is simply a mechanism to let users express their application constraints better.

      Since:
      1.6, JAXB 2.1
      Default:
      false