The core of XStream consists of a registry of Converters. The responsibility of a Converter is to provide a strategy for converting particular types of objects found in the object graph, to and from XML.

XStream is provided with Converters for common types such as primitives, String, File, Collections, arrays, and Dates.

java.lang (and core special types)

Converter Supported types Example Notes
NullConverter null values <null/> Usually, null fields are left out of the XML, however when used in arrays or the root object they have to be explicitly marked.
ArrayConverter Any kind of array <string-array>
  <string>apple</string>
  <string>banana</string>
  <string>cabbage</string>
</string-array>
This supports arrays of primitives as well as objects. It also supports multi-dimensional arrays, even if they are non-rectangular.
BooleanConverter boolean
java.lang.Boolean
<boolean>true</boolean>  
ByteConverter byte
java.lang.Byte
<byte>22</byte> The byte is represented as an integer.
EncodedByteArrayConverter byte[] <byte-array>AHiEFiEABQ==</byte-array> Uses Base64 encoding to store binary data in XML. Converter is not automatically registered.
CharConverter char
java.lang.Character
<char>X</char>  
CharArrayConverter char[] <char-array>hello<char-array> Joins all characters into a single String.
DoubleConverter double
java.lang.Double
<double>456774543443.4553435</double>  
FloatConverter float
java.lang.Float
<float>4563443.435</float>  
IntConverter int
java.lang.Integer
<int>12345678</int>  
LongConverter long
java.lang.Long
<long>2344556678888786</long>  
ShortConverter short
java.lang.Short
<short>1445</short>  
StringConverter java.lang.String <string>hello world</string>  
StringBufferConverter java.lang.StringBuffer <string-buffer>hello world</string-buffer>  
StringBuilderConverter java.lang.StringBuilder <string-builder>hello world</string-builder> Available under Java 1.5 or greater.
ThrowableConverter java.lang.Throwable
java.lang.Exception
java.lang.RuntimeException
java.lang.Error
...and all subclasses of these.
<java.io.IOException>
  <detailMessage>No file</detailMessage>
  <stack-trace>
    <trace>com.x.Foo.stuff(Foo.java:22)</trace>
    <trace>com.x.Foo.blah(Foo.java:31)</trace>
    <trace>com.x.Foo.main(Foo.java:43)</trace>
  </stack-trace>
</java.io.IOException>
This is only available under Java 1.4 or greater. It retains the full stack trace, including that of any nested exceptions. The stack trace elements are handled by the StackTraceElementConverter.
EnumConverter java.lang.Enum <java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy>
CLASS
</java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy>
Available under Java 1.5 or greater.

java.util

Converter Supported types Example Notes
CollectionConverter java.util.ArrayList
java.util.LinkedList
java.util.HashSet
java.util.Vector
java.util.LinkedHashSet
<linked-list>
  <string>apple</string>
  <string>banana</string>
  <big-decimal>12345.4555</big-decimal>
</linked-list>
The objects inside the collection can be any type of objects, including nested collections.
MapConverter java.util.HashMap
java.util.Hashtable
java.util.LinkedHashMap
<map>
  <entry>
    <string>apple</string>
    <float>123.553</float>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <string>orange</string>
    <float>55.4</float>
  </entry>
</map>
Both key and values can be any type of objects.
PropertiesConverter java.util.Properties <properties>
  <property name="host" value="localhost"/>
  <property name="port" value="888"/>
</properties>
Because the Properties class only accepts Strings for keys and values, the XML can be more concise. If the Properties instance includes a set of default Properties, these are serialized in a nested <defaults> element.
TreeMapConverter java.util.TreeMap <tree-map>
  <comparator class="com.blah.MyComparator"/>
  <entry>
    <string>apple</string>
    <float>123.553</float>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <string>orange</string>
    <float>55.4</float>
  </entry>
</tree-map>
This is similar to MapConverter with an additional field for storing the java.util.Comparator associated with the TreeMap.
TreeSetConverter java.util.TreeSet <tree-set>
  <comparator class="com.blah.MyComparator"/>
  <string>apple</string>
  <string>banana</string>
  <string>cabbage</string>
</tree-set>
This is similar to CollectionConverter with an additional field for storing the java.util.Comparator associated with the TreeSet.
BitSetConverter java.util.BitSet <bit-set>0,1,3,5,6,8,10</bit-set> Stores a comma separated list of which bits are set. Designed to be readable without taking up too much space.
DateConverter java.util.Date <date>2004-02-22 15:16:04.0 EST</date>
GregorianCalendarConverter java.util.Calendar
java.util.GregorianCalendar
<gregorian-calendar>
  <time>555454646</time>
</gregorian-calendar>
 
ISO8601DateConverter java.util.Date <date>2006-07-28T12:06:17.654-03:00</date> Not automatically registered, needs joda-time
ISO8601GregorianCalendarConverter java.util.GregorianCalendar <gregorian-calendar>
2006-07-28T12:07:02.788-03:00
</gregorian-calendar>
Not automatically registered, needs joda-time
LocaleConverter java.util.Locale <locale>en_GB</locale>  
CurrencyConverter java.util.Currency <currency>USD</currency> Available under Java 1.4 or greater.
UUIDConverter java.util.UUID <uuid>ca05f023-e07f-4956-a6ef-14ddd23df47b</uuid> Available under Java 1.5 or greater.
EnumMapConverter java.util.EnumMap <enum-map enum-type="simple">
  <entry>
    <simple>GREEN</simple>
    <string>grass</string>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <simple>BLUE</simple>
    <string>sky</string>
  </entry>
</enum-map>
Available under Java 1.5 or greater.
EnumSetConverter java.util.EnumSet <enum-set enum-type="simple">
  GREEN,BLUE
</enum-set>
Available under Java 1.5 or greater.
RegexPatternConverter java.util.regex.Pattern <java.util.regex.Pattern>
  <pattern>.*</pattern>
  <flags>0</flags>
</java.util.regex.Pattern>
Available under Java 1.4 or greater.

java.sql

Converter Supported types Example Notes
SqlDateConverter java.sql.Date <sql-date>1978-08-25</sql-date>  
SqlTimeConverter java.sql.Time <sql-time>14:07:33</sql-time>  
SqlTimestampConverter java.sql.Timestamp <sql-timestamp>1970-01-01 00:00:01.234</sql-timestamp>  
ISO8601SqlTimestampConverter java.sql.Timestamp <sql-timestamp>2006-07-28T12:06:17.654000000-03:00</sql-timestamp> Not automatically registered, needs joda-time

java.math

Converter Supported types Example Notes
BigDecimalConverter java.math.BigDecimal <big-decimal>342346.445332</big-decimal>  
BigIntegerConverter java.math.BigInteger <big-int>23434224556</big-int>  

java.net

Converter Supported types Example Notes
URLConverter java.net.Url <url>http://codehaus.org/blah</url>  

java.io

Converter Supported types Example Notes
FileConverter java.io.File <file>/stuff/hello.txt</file>  
SerializableConverter java.io.Serializable   See description at Generalized Converters
ExternalizableConverter java.io.Externalizable   See description at Generalized Converters

java.lang.reflect

Converter Supported types Example Notes
JavaClassConverter java.lang.Class <class>com.foo.MyThing</class> This converter will look for the class in the context ClassLoader for the current thread. It is possible to use another ClassLoader by re-registering a new instance of this converter that is wrapped around another ClassLoader.
JavaMethodConverter java.lang.reflect.Method
java.lang.reflect.Constructor
<method>
  <class>com.foo.MyThing</class>
  <name>doStuff</name>
  <parameter-types>
    <class>java.lang.String</class>
    <class>java.util.Iterator</class>
  </parameter-types>
</method>
The enclosing element for this tag will either by <method> or <constructor>.As with the JavaClassConverter, the converter will use the current thread's context ClassLoader to resolve classes by default. This can be changed by specifying another ClassLoader when constructing this Converter.
DynamicProxyConverter Any dynamic proxy generated by java.lang.reflect.Proxy <dynamic-proxy>
  <interface>com.foo.Blah</interface>
  <interface>com.foo.Woo</interface>
  <handler class="com.foo.MyHandler">
    <something>blah</something>
  </handler>
</dynamic-proxy>
The dynamic proxy itself is not serialized, however the interfaces it implements and the actual InvocationHandler instance are serialized. This allows the proxy to be reconstructed after deserialization.

java.awt

Converter Supported types Example Notes
ColorConverter java.awt.Color <awt-color>
  <red>255</red>
  <green>255</green>
  <blue>255</blue>
  <alpha>255</alpha>
</awt-color>
Warning: The AWT toolkit is initialized when a Color is deserialized due to the internals of the Color class. This should only be an issue if deserializing a Color on a headless server process.
FontConverter java.awt.Font   Warning: The AWT toolkit is initialized when a Font is deserialized due to the internals of the Font class. This should only be an issue if deserializing a Font on a headless server process.

java.awt.font

Converter Supported types Example Notes
TextAttributeConverter java.awt.font.TextAttribute <awt-text-attribute>family</awt-text-attribute> Warning: The AWT toolkit is initialized when a TextAttribute is deserialized due to the internals of the TextAttribute class. This should only be an issue if deserializing a TextAttribute on a headless server process.

javax.swing

Converter Supported types Example Notes
LookAndFeelConverter javax.swing.LookAndFeel implementations   Explicit mapping to the ReflectionConverter. Although the implementations of the LookAndFeel classes are serializable, they will throw an exception executing writeObject(), therefore the SerializableConverter is not used.

javax.security.auth

Converter Supported types Example Notes
SubjectConverter javax.security.auth.Subject <auth-subject>
  <principals>
    <com.thoughtworks.xstream.Admin/>
  </principals>
  <readOnly>false</readOnly>
</auth-subject>
Available under Java 1.4 or greater. This converter does not serialize any credentials but only the principals.

java.nio

Converter Supported types Example Notes
CharsetConverter java.nio.charset.Charset <charset>US-ASCII</charset> Available under Java 1.4 or greater.

javax.xml.datatype

Converter Supported types Example Notes
DurationConverter javax.xml.datatype.Duration <duration>PT1H2M</duration> Available under Java 1.5 or greater.

Generalized Converters

Converter Supported types Explanation Notes
ReflectionConverter Any type The Converter is used as fallback. It uses reflection to examine the class and will serialize its fields.  
AnnotationReflectionConverter Any type The Converter is used as fallback. It uses reflection to examine the class and will serialize its fields and supports annotations for local converters. Needs JDK 1.5, default for JDK 1.5. Deprecated since XStream 1.3 and must be registered now explicitly.
SerializableConverter java.io.Serializable or types with one of the serializable methods readObject or writeObject The Converter is used for any JDK-serializable types, if not handled by a specialized Converter.  
ExternalizableConverter java.io.Externalizable The Converter is used for any JDK-externalizable types, if not handled by a specialized Converter.  
ToStringConverter Any type with natural String representation The Converter must be initialized with a type, that provides a complete String representation with its toString() method and is able to be recreated by a constructor taking a single String argument. Must be registered explicitly for the appropriate type
JavaBeanConverter Java beans The Converter handles any type as Java bean. It expects the type to convert to have a public default constructor and appropriate getter and setters. Must be registered explicitly. Should be used as fallback.
PropertyEditorCapableConverter Any type with a PropertyEditor implementation The Converter can handles any type that provides a PropertyEditor implementation. The PropertyEditor's methods getAsText() and setAsText() are used to convert between object and string representation. Must be registered explicitly for the appropriate type.

Converters for 3rd party classes

Converter Supported types Explanation Notes
CGLIBEnhancedConverter Proxies generated by the CGLIB Enhancer The Converter handles proxies generated by the CGLIB Enhancer, if there were not multiple callbacks registered. A proxy with multiple callbacks can currently not be handled at all. Must be registered explicitly in combination with the CGLIBMapper. See FAQ.