/**
  * Converts a 'value object' into a Document.
  * This method is expecting a simple value object, it will iterate through a list of * the objects methods looking for "get*" methods. The remainder of the method name * is considered the 'field name' ie. getName() - "Name".
  * The generated document will contain a root element based on the name of the given * object. Each of its non-null fields will then follow as child elements.
  * For example, class com.company.value.User which contains methods getName, getEmail and * getPhoneNumber.
  * 
  * <user>
  *  <name>Michael</name>
  *  <email>name@address.com</email>
  *  <phonenumber>555-3454</phonenumber>
  * </user>
  * 
  * @author Michael Cutler (m@cotdp.com)
  * @param obj the value object to digest into a Document 
  * @return A document containing the values of all the fields in the object 
  * @throws ParserConfigurationException thrown if the XML documentbuilder fails
  */

public static Document digestObject(Object obj) throws ParserConfigurationException {
    DocumentBuilderFactory documentBuilderFactory = DocumentBuilderFactory.newInstance();
    DocumentBuilder documentBuilder = documentBuilderFactory.newDocumentBuilder();
    Document document = documentBuilder.newDocument();
    Node rootElement = document.createElement(getClassName(obj));
    document.appendChild(rootElement);
    
    Method methods[] = obj.getClass().getMethods();
    for (int i = 0; i < methods.length; i++) {
        Method method = methods[i];
        if (method.getName().startsWith("get")) {
            String fieldName = method.getName().substring(3);
            try {
                Object result = method.invoke(obj, null);
                if (result != null) {
                    if (fieldName.equals("Class")) {
                        Node child = document.createComment(result.toString() + " ");
                        rootElement.appendChild(child);
                    } else {
                        Node child = document.createElement(fieldName);
                        Node text = document.createTextNode(result.toString());
                        child.appendChild(text);
                        rootElement.appendChild(child);
                    }
                }
            } catch (Exception e) {
                // Silent catch - could log error if needed
            }
        }
    }
    return document;
}

/**
 * This method is package/no-package safe, lastIndexOf('.') will return -1 if
 * not found, since we add 1 to skip the '.' character anyway there is no problem
 * if '.' isn't found.
 *
 * @return a string representing the name of the class (without package name)
 */
private static String getClassName(Object obj) {
    String name = obj.getClass().getName();
    return name.substring(name.lastIndexOf('.') + 1);
} 

package com.company.value;

/**
 * @author Michael Cutler (m@cotdp.com)
 * @version 1.0
 */
public class User {
    private String name;
    private String email;
    private String phoneNumber;

    public String getEmail() {
        return email;
    }

    public void setEmail(String email) {
        this.email = email;
    }

    public String getName() {
        return name;
    }

    public void setName(String name) {
        this.name = name;
    }

    public String getPhoneNumber() {
        return phoneNumber;
    }

    public void setPhoneNumber(String phoneNumber) {
        this.phoneNumber = phoneNumber;
    }
} 

<user>
  <name>Michael Cutler</name>
  <email>name@address.com</email>
  <phonenumber>555-3454</phonenumber>
</user>