Using the @XmlType Annotation to Define Schema Element Ordering

The @XmlType annotation can be defined for a class. The annotation element propOrder() in the @XmlType annotation allows you to specify the content order in the generated schema type. When you use the @XmlType.propOrder annotation on a class to specify content order, all public properties and public fields in the class must be specified in the parameter list. Any public property or field that you want to keep out of the parameter list must be annotated with @XmlAttribute or @XmlTransient annotation.

The default content order for @XmlType.propOrder is {} or {""}, not active. In such cases, the active @XmlAccessorOrder annotation takes precedence. When class content order is specified by the @XmlType.propOrder annotation, it takes precedence over any active @XmlAccessorOrder annotation on the class or package. If the @XmlAccessorOrder and @XmlType.propOrder(A, B, ...) annotations are specified on a class, the propOrder always takes precedence regardless of the order of the annotation statements. For example, in the code below, the @XmlAccessorOrder annotation precedes the @XmlType.propOrder annotation.

@XmlAccessorOrder(AccessorOrder.ALPHABETICAL)
@XmlType(propOrder={"name", "city"})
public class USAddress {
            .
            .
    public String getCity() {return city;}
    public void setCity(String city) {this.city = city;}
    public String getName() {return name;}
    public void setName(String name) {this.name = name;}
            .
            .
}

In the code below, the @XmlType.propOrder annotation precedes the @XmlAccessorOrder annotation.

@XmlType(propOrder={"name", "city"})
@XmlAccessorOrder(AccessorOrder.ALPHABETICAL)
public class USAddress {
            .
            .
    public String getCity() {return city;}
    public void setCity(String city) {this.city = city;}
    public String getName() {return name;}
    public void setName(String name) {this.name = name;}
            .
            .
}

In both scenarios, propOrder takes precedence and the identical schema content shown below will be generated.

<xs:complexType name="usAddress">
   <xs:sequence>
        <xs:element name="name" type="xs:string" minOccurs="0"/>
        <xs:element name="city" type="xs:string" minOccurs="0"/>
   </xs:sequence>
</xs:complexType>