How to log fields having #JsonIgnore annotation? - spring-boot

Question

I am using Spring Boot 2.7.3 with Java 17 & Gradle. I need to log every DB operations in a log file. Everything is working fine except one condition. When I am using #JsonIgnore in my UI Class, these particular fields are not logged. Other fields are properly logged. How to deal with it ?
My Aspect Class:
#Aspect
#Component
public class LoggingAspect {
private static final Logger logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(LoggingAspect.class);
#Pointcut("execution(public * org.mycomp.erp.service..*(..))")
public void requestPointcut() {}
#Before("requestPointcut()")
public void requestLogger(JoinPoint joinPoint) throws JsonProcessingException {
final ObjectMapper objectMapper = new ObjectMapper();
final String methodName = joinPoint.getSignature().getName();
final Object[] inputArguments = joinPoint.getArgs();
final String logMessage = "Operation : " + methodName +
" With Input Parameters : " + objectMapper.writeValueAsString(inputArguments);
logger.info(logMessage);
}
}
My UI Record Class:
public record LeaveApplUx(
#JsonIgnore String employeeCode,
#JsonIgnore int applicationNumber,
LocalDate startDate,
LocalDate endDate,
String leaveType) {
public LeaveApplUx(
#Size(min = 4, max = 5, message = "Employee Code Must Be Within 4 To 5 Character Long Or Blank")
#JsonProperty("employeeCode") String employeeCode,
#Range(min = 0, max = 9999, message = "Application Number Must Be Within 9999 Or Zero")
#JsonProperty("applicationNumber") int applicationNumber,
#NotNull(message = "Start Date Empty")
#JsonSerialize(using = LocalDateSerializer.class)
#JsonFormat(shape = JsonFormat.Shape.STRING, pattern = "dd-MM-yyyy")
#JsonProperty("startDate") LocalDate startDate,
#NotNull(message = "End Date Empty")
#JsonSerialize(using = LocalDateSerializer.class)
#JsonFormat(shape = JsonFormat.Shape.STRING, pattern = "dd-MM-yyyy")
#JsonProperty("endDate") LocalDate endDate,
#Size(min = 2, max = 2, message = "Leave Type Mis-Match")
#JsonProperty("leaveType") String leaveType) {
this.employeeCode = employeeCode;
this.applicationNumber = applicationNumber;
this.startDate = startDate;
this.endDate = endDate;
this.leaveType = leaveType;
}
}
My Request through Postman:
DELETE
http://localhost:8080/hr/leave/application/delete
{
"employeeCode": "E001",
"applicationNumber": "1",
"startDate": "01-04-2022",
"endDate": "05-04-2022",
"leaveType": "CL"
}
My Log File Output:
2022-08-30 14:32:53,688 INFO : Operation : deleteLeaveApplication With Input Parameters : ["N","N",{"startDate":"01-04-2022","endDate":"05-04-2022","leaveType":"CL"}]
The Employee Code & Application Number is not logged.

Answer 1

The annotation #JsonIgnore causes that Jackson's ObjectMapper ignores such fields on serialization. This is the defined behavior.
Marker annotation that indicates that the logical property that the accessor (field, getter/setter method or Creator parameter [of JsonCreator-annotated constructor or factory method]) is to be ignored by introspection-based serialization and deserialization functionality.
You have two options: Log as an array or configure ObjectMapper for the logging.
Solution #1: Log as an array
You have all the parameters available in the Object[] inputArguments array that can be logged directly. I also recommend using the proper logging features:
logger.info("Operation: {} with input parameters: {}",
methodName, inputArguments);
Solution #2: Configure a specific ObjectMapper
For this particular case, you can configure the ObjectMapper to ignore the annotations by setting MapperFeature.USE_ANNOTATIONS to false.
Feature that determines whether annotation introspection is used for configuration; if enabled, configured AnnotationIntrospector will be used: if disabled, no annotations are considered.
Based on the Jackson version:
Jackson before 2.13:
ObjectMapper ignoringObjectMapper = new ObjectMapper()
.configure(MapperFeature.USE_ANNOTATIONS, false);
Jackson 2.13 and higher:
ObjectMapper ignoringObjectMapper = JsonMapper.builder()
.configure(MapperFeature.USE_ANNOTATIONS, false)
.build();
... and log it:
logger.info("Operation: {} with input parameters: {}",
methodName, ignoringObjectMapper.writeValueAsString(inputArguments));

Answer 2

The problem is solved.
Just replace
objectMapper.writeValueAsString(inputArguments)
with this
Arrays.toString(inputArguments)