Java 17: Challenges with Custom Serialization of Enum Types Using Jackson in Spring Boot
I'm encountering an issue while trying to customize the serialization of an Enum type using Jackson in my Spring Boot application. I have an Enum called `Status` that should serialize to specific string values based on its internal logic. However, when I attempt to serialize the Enum, it defaults to the standard name instead of the custom string values. Here’s the Enum definition: ```java public enum Status { ACTIVE("Active Status"), INACTIVE("Inactive Status"), PENDING("Pending Approval"); private final String description; Status(String description) { this.description = description; } public String getDescription() { return description; } } ``` I've set up a simple model class that uses this Enum: ```java public class User { private String name; private Status status; // Getters and Setters } ``` When I serialize an instance of `User` to JSON using `ObjectMapper`, I expect the `status` field to serialize as its `description`. Instead, I’m getting the Enum name, like so: ```json { "name": "John Doe", "status": "ACTIVE" } ``` To address this, I tried adding a custom serializer: ```java public class StatusSerializer extends JsonSerializer<Status> { @Override public void serialize(Status status, JsonGenerator gen, SerializerProvider serializers) throws IOException { gen.writeString(status.getDescription()); } } ``` I then annotated the `status` field in the `User` class with `@JsonSerialize(using = StatusSerializer.class)` but I still get the Enum name in the output. I even made sure to include the necessary Jackson dependency in my `pom.xml`: ```xml <dependency> <groupId>com.fasterxml.jackson.core</groupId> <artifactId>jackson-databind</artifactId> <version>2.13.0</version> </dependency> ``` I'm using Spring Boot 2.5.6 and Java 17. What am I missing that prevents the custom serializer from being applied? Any insights would be greatly appreciated!