Java: JAXB and using char

Question

I'm working on a project with JAXB but I run into a small problem with JAXB and the char datatype.

char gender = 'M';

Translates after marshalling into:

<gender>77</gender>

So I think that char is mapped to integer, but I simply want to map it to a String. How can I do this? Is it even possible?

Answer 1

After some experimentation, there appears to be no way to configure JAXB to handle primitive chars properly. I'm having a hard time accepting it, though.

I've tried defining an XmlAdaptor to try and coerce it into a String, but the runtime seems to only accept adapters annotated on Object types, not primitives.

The only workaround I can think of is to mark the char field with @XmlTransient, and then write getters and setters which get and set the value as a String:

   @XmlTransient
   char gender = 'M';

   @XmlElement(name="gender")
   public void setGenderAsString(String gender) {
      this.gender = gender.charAt(0);
   }

   public String getGenderAsString() {
      return String.valueOf(gender);
   }

Not very nice, I'll grant you, but short of actually changing your char field tobe a String, that's all I have.