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Asked: 2026-06-17T20:29:21+00:00

Is it possible to use @XmlValue annotation on a referenced object annotated with @XmlElementRef?

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Is it possible to use @XmlValue annotation on a referenced object annotated with @XmlElementRef? The goal is to produce the following XML output:

    <foo>
       <bar>Blah</bar>
    </foo>

Given the following example JAXBContext initialization is throwing a NPE:
at com.sun.xml.bind.v2.runtime.property.PropertyFactory.create(PropertyFactory.java:128)

Foo Class

     @XmlRootElement(name = "foo")
     public class Foo
     {
         @XmlElementRef
         private Bar bar;
     }

Bar Class

     @XmlRootElement(name = "bar")
     public class Bar extends BarBase // BarBase is annotated with @XmlTransient
     {
         @XmlValue
         private String value;
     }

Is there any way to achieve the desired output based on the implementation? I’ve been looking into Adapters, but haven’t been successful at implement one. Thanks in advance!

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    Note: I’m the EclipseLink JAXB (MOXy) lead and a member of the JAXB (JSR-222) expert group.

    JAXB RI Issue Confirmed

    I have been able to confirm the issue you are seeing with the JAXB RI. I get the following stack trace:

    Exception in thread "main" java.lang.NullPointerException
    at com.sun.xml.internal.bind.v2.runtime.property.PropertyFactory.create(PropertyFactory.java:113)
    at com.sun.xml.internal.bind.v2.runtime.ClassBeanInfoImpl.<init>(ClassBeanInfoImpl.java:166)
    at com.sun.xml.internal.bind.v2.runtime.JAXBContextImpl.getOrCreate(JAXBContextImpl.java:494)
    at com.sun.xml.internal.bind.v2.runtime.JAXBContextImpl.<init>(JAXBContextImpl.java:311)
    at com.sun.xml.internal.bind.v2.runtime.JAXBContextImpl.<init>(JAXBContextImpl.java:126)
    at com.sun.xml.internal.bind.v2.runtime.JAXBContextImpl$JAXBContextBuilder.build(JAXBContextImpl.java:1148)
    at com.sun.xml.internal.bind.v2.ContextFactory.createContext(ContextFactory.java:130)
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method)
    at sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:57)
    at sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:43)
    at java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:601)
    at javax.xml.bind.ContextFinder.newInstance(ContextFinder.java:248)
    at javax.xml.bind.ContextFinder.newInstance(ContextFinder.java:235)
    at javax.xml.bind.ContextFinder.find(ContextFinder.java:445)
    at javax.xml.bind.JAXBContext.newInstance(JAXBContext.java:637)
    at javax.xml.bind.JAXBContext.newInstance(JAXBContext.java:584)
    at forum14490548.Demo.main(Demo.java:10)

    This is a bug in the JAXB RI and I would recommend opening a ticket at the following link:

    Option #1 – Use an Alternate Mapping with JAXB RI

    The following mapping appears to work with the JAXB RI (using @XmlElement instead of @XmlElementRef.

    import javax.xml.bind.annotation.*;

@XmlRootElement(name = "foo")
public class Foo
{
    @XmlElement
    private Bar bar;
}

    Option #2 – Use an Alternate JAXB (JSR-222) Provider

    Your mappings are correct. If you use another JAXB (JSR-222) provider such as EclipseLink MOXy you will not get this exception. Below is a link that explains how to use MOXy as your JAXB provider:

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