Spring returns Resource in pure JSON not in HAL Format when including spring data rest
hal-json, java, json, spring, spring-data-rest
Solution
You need to return a subtype of `ResourceSupport` (usually `Resource` or `Resources`) to let the HAL Jackson converter kick in.
Also, `@EnableHypermediaSupport` has to be used on a JavaConfig configuration class, not the controller.
Problem
When I use the default controller for my Entities, provided by Spring Data Rest everything works like it should. The output looks like this: ``` { "_links" : { "search" : { "href" : "http://localhost:8080/users/search" } }, "_embedded" : { "users" : [ { "firstName" : "Max", "lastName" : "Mustermann", "email" : "mail@max-mustermann.de", "_links" : { "self" : { "href" : "http://localhost:8080/users/myadmin" } } } ] } } ``` But if I use my own Controller the output looks like this: ``` [ { "firstName" : "Max", "lastName" : "Mustermann", "email" : "mail@max-mustermann.de", "links" : [ { "rel" : "self", "href" : "http://localhost:8080/user/myadmin" } ] } ] ``` My Controller ``` @RestController @RequestMapping("/user") @EnableHypermediaSupport(type = {HypermediaType.HAL}) public class UserController { @Autowired UserRepository userRepository; @RequestMapping(method=RequestMethod.GET) public HttpEntity<List<User>> getUsers(){ ArrayList<User> users = Lists.newArrayList(userRepository.findAll()); for(User user : users){ user.add(linkTo(methodOn(UserController.class).getUser(user.getUsername())).withSelfRel()); } return new ResponseEntity<List<User>>(users, HttpStatus.OK); } @RequestMapping(value="/{username}", method= RequestMethod.GET) public HttpEntity<User> getUser(@PathVariable String username){ User user = userRepository.findByUsername(username); user.add(linkTo(methodOn(UserController.class).getUser(user.getUsername())).withSelfRel()); return new ResponseEntity<User>(user, HttpStatus.OK); } } ``` My User: ``` @Entity @Table(name="users") public class User extends ResourceSupport{ @Id private String username; private String firstName; private String lastName; @JsonIgnore private boolean enabled; @JsonIgnore private String password; @Column(unique = true) private String email; public User(){ enabled = false; } //Getters and Setters } ``` if i delete the spring data rest dependency and include spring-hateoas, spring-plugin-core and json-path (com.jayway.jsonpath) it works.. But i want to use spring-data-rest for some other entities Two questions: - Why isn't HAL the default with spring data rest included? - How is it possible to set HAL as output format