Possible useful name pattern for PTH documentation

[chrylis]

This is not a solution for every use case, in large part because the Reflections scan can take some time, but it's a pattern that may be generally applicable enough to describe in the documentation:

• Define an annotation for the subtypes, and meta-annotate with @JsonTypeName:

@JsonTypeName
@Target({ElementType.ANNOTATION_TYPE, ElementType.TYPE})
@Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
public @interface FoocorpJsonType {
}

• Use @FoocorpJsonType on all subtypes to be registered with the mapper:

@FoocorpJsonType
public class ConcreteMessage extends AbstractMessage {}

• In a suitable location (such as a @PostConstruct method on a Spring configuration class, or wherever the ObjectMapper is built), use the org.reflections:reflections package and this magic spell:

Reflections reflections = new Reflections(
    ConfigurationBuilder.build("com.foocorp.base.package")
);

mapper.registerSubtypes(reflections.getTypesAnnotatedWith(FoocorpJsonType.class).toArray(new Class[0]));

This will scan the classpath (limited for performance) for types annotated with the custom annotation and register them all with the mapper so they can be deserialized when seen.

[cowtowncoder]

Quick question: does "PTH" refer to ... Polymorphic Type Handling? Also, this seems to be Spring specific.