Java Class Conversion

Java classes can be used as source and target types for transformations. Also, business process variables can be created from Java classes.

However, not all the fields that can make up a Java class are supported. This section describes which fields of a Java class are supported.

When you use a Java class or primitive in a transformation, WebLogic Integration converts it into an internal representation of XML Schema data types. Java fields that are not supported are ignored. WebLogic Integration then uses this internal representation to transform your Java classes to and from XML and non-XML (MFL) documents

Note: This internal representation of the XML Schema is not exposed in WebLogic Workshop.

Note: The mapper functionality of WebLogic Workshop will only display the fields of a Java class that are supported.

For a Java class to be used in WebLogic Integration, it must first be available in the WebLogic Workshop project. To learn more about including Java class in your project, see Using Existing Applications.

Note: Java interfaces and abstract Java classes are supported as source or target types for a transformation but you will not be able to execute your transfomation in the Test View. However, a transformation with a Java interfaces and/or abstract Java classes as source or target types can be invoked from a business process (JPD) without error.

Java classes are converted using the following procedure:

1. If the Java class is selected as an input type for a DTF, by default the name of the class becomes the name of the variable. (For example, if the class Book is selected as an input type, by default, the BookDoc variable is created by the mapper.) If the Java class is selected as the output type of a DTF, the name of the class becomes the name of the XML document's root element.

All the Java fields that can be mapped are converted to the appropriate XML Schema elements in the new XML Schema. If a field cannot be mapped it is ignored. To learn more, see the following table.

2. For each field of the Java class, this conversion procedure is applied recursively to determine the type of each subelement. Fields that are themselves Java classes will be subelements in the internal XML Schema. These subelements will have the same name in the XML schema as their name in the Java class. For an example, see Using Java Classes in Transformations.
3. Java fields of the class are converted according to the following rules:
• Public instance member variables of supported Java types are converted.

The following table describes the supported fields of Java classes and how these fields are converted to the internal XML Schema representation of the Java class. Also, the XML Schema data type can be converted back to the Java field unless otherwise noted.

Java Field or Class	Converts to this XML Schema Data Type . . .
Java primitive types	equivalent XML data types For example, Java primitive float type is converted to a XML Schema float type.
java.lang.String	xsd:string
java.util.Date	xsd:dateTime
java.util.Calendar	xsd:dateTime
java.util.Date	xsd:dateTime
java.sql.Date	xsd:date
java.sql.Time	xsd:time
org.w3c.dom.Document	xsd:any
org.w3c.dom.DocumentFragment	xsd:any
org.w3c.dom.Element	xsd:any
org.w3c.dom.Node	xsd:any
XML Bean classes	To learn more see XMLBeans Support for Built-In Schema Types.
MflObject classes	The type of the corresponding XML Schema.
Java arrays	xsd:sequence of specified data type For example, an array of Java integers is converted to a XML sequence of integers.
javax.sql.RowSet	xsd:anyType Note: You cannot convert from XML back to a RowSet.
java.util.Collection and classes that implement the interface	xsd:anySimpleType* Note: You cannot convert from XML back to a Collection nor any class that implements the Collection interface because the data type of objects inside the Collection implementing class is not known. Use an array of a specific Java type as a target instead.

Note: Static member variables are not converted.

Note: Final instance member variables (constants) are not converted.

• Private fields are converted if JavaBean style get and set property methods for that field are available in the class. For example, the following private member field: testBool is converted to an XML schema type because the class that contains testBool has set and get methods for this private field as show in the following code segment:

public class TestSimpleTypes
{
	private boolean testBool;
	public boolean getTestBool(){
		return testBool;
	}
	public void setTestBool(boolean b){
		testBool = b;
	}
} 

• Interface type fields will be converted if JavaBean style get and set property methods for the interface are available in the class. You cannot convert from XML back to an interface. You can, however, convert back to a class that implements a interface.

Related Topics

To learn more about creating Java class variables in business processes, see Creating Variables.

To lean more about using Java classes as input or output parameters in transformations, see Using Java Classes in Transformations.