Creating a custom serializer for SOAP

Question

Hi guys, i'm wondering if someone could help me. I'm trying to create a custom serializer for a class with SOAP and I'm geeting the following SOAPException:
Fault Code = SOAP-ENV:Server.Exception:
Fault String = org/apache/soap/util/xml/Serializer
I'm able to deploy the service with no problems.
I'm using a very simple example in which I'm only trying to get a Person class from the service. here is the deployment descriptor:
<isd:service xmlns:isd="http://xml.apache.org/xml-soap/deployment" id="urn:PersonService">
  <isd:provider type="java"
                scope="Application"
                methods="getPerson">
    <isd:java class="app.PersonService" static="false"/>
  </isd:provider>
  <isd:faultListener>org.apache.soap.server.DOMFaultListener</isd:faultListener>
  <isd:mappings>
    <isd:map encodingStyle="http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/encoding/"
             xmlns:x="urn:person"
             qname="x:person"
             javaType="app.Person"
             java2XMLClassName="app.PersonSerializer"
             xml2JavaClassName="app.PersonSerializer"/>
  </isd:mappings> 
</isd:service>here is the PersonService.java:
package app;
public class PersonService {
    /** Creates a new instance of GetPerson */
    public PersonService() {
    public Person getPerson() {
        return new Person("joe", "something");
}here is the Person.java:
package app;
public class Person {
    public String firstName;
    public String lastName;
    /** Creates a new instance of Person */
    public Person() {   
    public Person(String firstName, String lastName) {
        this.firstName = firstName;
        this.lastName = lastName;
}here is the PersonSerializer.java:
package app;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.Writer;
import org.apache.soap.encoding.soapenc.SoapEncUtils;
import org.apache.soap.rpc.Parameter;
import org.apache.soap.rpc.RPCConstants;
import org.apache.soap.rpc.SOAPContext;
import org.apache.soap.util.Bean;
import org.apache.soap.util.StringUtils;
import org.apache.soap.util.xml.DOMUtils;
import org.apache.soap.util.xml.Deserializer;
import org.apache.soap.util.xml.NSStack;
import org.apache.soap.util.xml.QName;
import org.apache.soap.util.xml.Serializer;
import org.apache.soap.util.xml.XMLJavaMappingRegistry;
import org.w3c.dom.Element;
import org.w3c.dom.Node;
public class PersonSerializer implements Serializer, Deserializer {
    /** Creates a new instance of PersonSerializer */
    public PersonSerializer() {
    public void marshall(String string, Class aClass, Object object, Object object0, Writer writer, NSStack nSStack, XMLJavaMappingRegistry xMLJavaMappingRegistry, SOAPContext sOAPContext) throws IllegalArgumentException, IOException {
        nSStack.pushScope();
        SoapEncUtils.generateStructureHeader(string, aClass, sOAPContext, writer, nSStack, xMLJavaMappingRegistry);
        writer.write(StringUtils.lineSeparator);
        Person person = (Person)object;
        String firstName = person.firstName;
        String lastName = person.lastName;
        xMLJavaMappingRegistry.marshall(string, String.class, firstName, "firstName", writer, nSStack, sOAPContext);
        writer.write(StringUtils.lineSeparator);
        xMLJavaMappingRegistry.marshall(string, Integer.class, lastName, "lastName", writer, nSStack, sOAPContext);
        writer.write(StringUtils.lineSeparator);
        writer.write("</" + sOAPContext + '>');   
        nSStack.popScope();
    public Bean unmarshall(String string, QName qName, Node node, XMLJavaMappingRegistry xMLJavaMappingRegistry, SOAPContext sOAPContext) throws IllegalArgumentException {
        Element root = (Element)node;
        Element childElement = DOMUtils.getFirstChildElement(root);
        Person target;
        try {
            target = (Person)Person.class.newInstance();
        } catch (Exception e) {
            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Problem instantiating bean: " + e.getMessage());
        while(childElement !=null) {
            Bean paramBean = xMLJavaMappingRegistry.unmarshall(string, RPCConstants.Q_ELEM_PARAMETER, childElement, sOAPContext);
            Parameter param = (Parameter)paramBean.value;
            String tagName = childElement.getTagName();
            if(tagName.equals("firstName")) {
                target.firstName = (String)param.getValue();
            } else if(tagName.equals("lastName")) {
                target.lastName = (String)param.getValue();
            childElement = DOMUtils.getNextSiblingElement(childElement);
        return new Bean(Person.class, target);
}and finally here is the client app class that calls the service, the GetPersonClient.java:
package app;
import java.net.MalformedURLException;
import java.net.URL;
import org.apache.soap.Constants;
import org.apache.soap.Fault;
import org.apache.soap.SOAPException;
import org.apache.soap.encoding.SOAPMappingRegistry;
import org.apache.soap.rpc.Call;
import org.apache.soap.rpc.Parameter;
import org.apache.soap.rpc.Response;
import org.apache.soap.util.xml.QName;
public class GetPersonClient {
    /** Creates a new instance of GetPersonClient */
    public GetPersonClient() {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        SOAPMappingRegistry registry = new SOAPMappingRegistry();
        PersonSerializer personSerializer = new PersonSerializer();
        // Map the types.
        registry.mapTypes(Constants.NS_URI_SOAP_ENC, new QName("urn:person", "person"), Person.class, personSerializer, personSerializer);
// Build the call.
        Call call = new Call();
        call.setSOAPMappingRegistry(registry);
        call.setTargetObjectURI("urn:PersonService");
        call.setMethodName("getPerson");
        call.setEncodingStyleURI(Constants.NS_URI_SOAP_ENC);
        Response response;
        try {
           response = call.invoke(new URL("http://localhost:8090/soap/servlet/rpcrouter"), "");
        } catch (SOAPException e) {
            System.err.println("Caught SOAPException: " + e.getMessage());
            e.printStackTrace();
            return;
        } catch (MalformedURLException ex) {
            ex.printStackTrace();
            return;
        if (!response.generatedFault()) {
            Parameter parameter = response.getReturnValue();
            Person person = (Person)parameter.getValue();
            if ( person != null ) {
                System.out.println( person.firstName + " " + person.lastName );
        } else {
            Fault fault = response.getFault();
            System.err.println("Generated fault: ");
            System.out.println("  Fault Code   = " + fault.getFaultCode());
            System.out.println("  Fault String = " + fault.getFaultString());
}if someone could help me i would be grateful.
cheers
nmc

Answer 1

Is the problem in your 'marshall' method? You seem to be using Integer.class instead of String.class for the 'lastName' parameter...