Question

I have a user defined class, say

import java.util.Calendar;

public class Employee{
    private String name;
    private int age;
    private Calendar dob;
    private Address address;
    private boolean married;
    public String getName() {
        return name;
    }
    public void setName(String name) {
        this.name = name;
    }
    public int getAge() {
        return age;
    }
    public void setAge(int age) {
        this.age = age;
    }
    public Calendar getDob() {
        return dob;
    }
    public void setDob(Calendar dob) {
        this.dob = dob;
    }
    public Address getAddress() {
        return address;
    }
    public void setAddress(Address address) {
        this.address = address;
    }
    public boolean isMarried() {
        return married;
    }
    public void setMarried(boolean married) {
        this.married = married;
    }
}
class Address{
    private int doorNo;
    private String streetName;
    private String city;
    public int getDoorNo() {
        return doorNo;
    }
    public void setDoorNo(int doorNo) {
        this.doorNo = doorNo;
    }
    public String getStreetName() {
        return streetName;
    }
    public void setStreetName(String streetName) {
        this.streetName = streetName;
    }
    public String getCity() {
        return city;
    }
    public void setCity(String city) {
        this.city = city;
    }
}

I am creating an object of Employee and populating it with setters. I have to represent the above object to string (encrypted or human-readable) and parse back to get similar object. Actually, I want to save the string equivalent of java object in a file and to read back them to get a java object. I know we have object writing, but they are sensitive to edit. I would prefer if a java object can be converted to String of human readable form. Thanks.

Answer 1

You might be looking for the toString method:

Returns a string representation of the object. In general, the
toString method returns a string that “textually represents” this
object. The result should be a concise but informative representation
that is easy for a person to read. It is recommended that all
subclasses override this method.

In your case you would be doing something of the sort (to be added in each of your classes):

@Override
public String toString()
{
  return "Name = " + name + ...
}

The string can be of any format you wish. To save the object, all that you need to do is to write the text that the toString method returns to a file.

To read them back, however, you will have to implement your own logic. On the other hand, what you can do, is to use something such as XStream (instructions here) which will automatically convert your object to XML.

XML is human readable so that your users can modify whatever they need. Once this is done, you can re-use XStream to read back your object.