Using JAXB2 Basics Plugins for XJC in gradle tasks

Trying to create beans from XSD files with toString methid using JAXB2 basics plugin but receiving error "unknown parameter -XtoString"

Hello,

I would like to generate java classes with toString-methods with the JAXB2 plugin. My code is currently looking like this:

plugins {
    id 'java'
    id 'org.unbroken-dome.xjc' version '2.0.0'
}

group = 'com.example'
version = '1.0.0'

java {
    toolchain {
        languageVersion.set(JavaLanguageVersion.of(21)) // Set Java version
    }
}



repositories {
    mavenCentral()
}

dependencies {
    // Jakarta XML Bind API
    implementation 'jakarta.xml.bind:jakarta.xml.bind-api:4.0.0'
    implementation 'org.glassfish.jaxb:jaxb-runtime:4.0.2'

    // XJC for generating beans
    annotationProcessor 'org.glassfish.jaxb:jaxb-xjc:4.0.2'

    // https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/org.jvnet.jaxb2_commons/jaxb2-basics
    implementation 'org.jvnet.jaxb2_commons:jaxb2-basics:0.13.1'
    implementation 'org.jvnet.jaxb2_commons:jaxb2-basics-runtime:0.13.1'
}

def schemaDir = file("src/main/resources/xsd") // Directory for XSD files
def outputDir = file("$buildDir/generated-sources/xjc") // Directory for generated classes



// New version of legacy task (see below)
// Task to generate Java beans from XSDs
task generateBeans {
    group = "code generation"
    description = "Generates Java Beans from XSD schemas"

    doFirst {
        delete outputDir
        mkdir outputDir
        println("Before XJC task")
    }

    doLast {
        println("Start processing XSD files")
        ant.taskdef(name: 'xjc',
                classname: 'com.sun.tools.xjc.XJCTask',
                classpath: configurations.annotationProcessor.asPath)

        fileTree(schemaDir).matching { include '**/*.xsd' }.files.each { xsdFile ->
            logger.lifecycle("Generating Java classes for schema: ${xsdFile}")
            println("Generating Java classes for schema: ${xsdFile}")
            println "Processing XSD: ${xsdFile}"

            def targetPackage = 'com.example.generated'
            ant.xjc(destdir: outputDir,
                    package: targetPackage,
                    extension: true) {
                schema(file: xsdFile)
                arg(value: '-XtoString') // Aktiviert das ToString-Plugin
            }
        }
        println("Finished processing XSD files")
    }
}

and an example XSD looks like this

<xs:schema xmlns:xs="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema">
    <xs:element name="person">
        <xs:complexType>
            <xs:sequence>
                <xs:element name="name" type="xs:string"/>
                <xs:element name="age" type="xs:int"/>
            </xs:sequence>
        </xs:complexType>
    </xs:element>
</xs:schema>

I am receiving the error

Execution failed for task ':generateBeans'.
> unknown parameter -XtoString

I already consulted the documentation as found here but I couldn't find any intro on how to use the plugin with gradle.

EDIT: I wonder why arg(line: "-Xlocator") does work though.

We are migrating from a far older version of JAXB. Is it outdated?

Thanks and best wishes

Solution found. I hope this helps:

The jaxb2-basics plugin is also deprecated. The detailed migration can be found here.

The code now looks like this:

    plugins {
    id 'java'
}

group = 'com.example'
version = '1.0.0'

java {
    toolchain {
        languageVersion.set(JavaLanguageVersion.of(21)) 
    }
}



repositories {
    mavenCentral()
}

configurations {
    annotationProcessor
}

dependencies {
    // Jakarta XML Bind API
    implementation 'jakarta.xml.bind:jakarta.xml.bind-api:4.0.0'
    implementation 'org.glassfish.jaxb:jaxb-runtime:4.0.2'
    implementation 'org.jvnet.jaxb:jaxb-plugins:4.0.8' // Required for the generated Java classes' dependencies (e.g. strategies)


    // annotationProcessor configuration:

    // XJC for generating beans
    annotationProcessor 'org.glassfish.jaxb:jaxb-xjc:4.0.2'

    // JAXB2 plugins (formerly: JAXB2 basics plugin) (used for ant task below)
    annotationProcessor 'org.jvnet.jaxb:jaxb-plugins:4.0.8'
    // requires
    annotationProcessor 'org.jvnet.jaxb:jaxb-plugins-runtime:4.0.8'
    //annotationProcessor 'org.jvnet.jaxb:jaxb-plugins-tools:4.0.8'
    //requires:
    annotationProcessor 'org.glassfish.jaxb:jaxb-runtime:4.0.2'
    //Without jaxb-runtime, you'll get: Caused by: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: org.glassfish.jaxb.runtime.v2.ContextFactory
    //annotationProcessor 'con.sun.xml.bind:jaxb-impl:4.0.4'
}

def schemaDir = file("src/main/resources/xsd") // Directory for XSD files
def outputDir = file("$buildDir/generated-sources/xjc") // Directory for generated classes

task generateBeans {
    group = "code generation"
    description = "Generates Java Beans from XSD schemas"

    doFirst {
        delete outputDir
        mkdir outputDir
        println("Before XJC task") // Debugging 
    }

    doLast {
        println("Start processing XSD files") // Debugging 
        ant.taskdef(name: 'xjc',
                classname: 'com.sun.tools.xjc.XJCTask',
                classpath: configurations.annotationProcessor.asPath)

        fileTree(schemaDir).matching { include '**/*.xsd' }.files.each { xsdFile ->
            logger.lifecycle("Generating Java classes for schema: ${xsdFile}")
            println("Generating Java classes for schema: ${xsdFile}")
            println "Processing XSD: ${xsdFile}"

            def targetPackage = 'com.example.generated'
            ant.xjc(destdir: outputDir,
                    package: targetPackage,
                    extension: true) {
                schema(file: xsdFile)
                arg(line: "-XtoString")
                arg(line: "-Xequals")
                arg(line: "-XhashCode")
                arg(line: "-Xlocator")
                //arg(value: '-XtoString') // Never use an argument twice, the generated class will have redundant methods!
            }
        }
        println("Finished processing XSD files")
    }
}