Castor is an Open Source data binding framework for Java[tm]. It's the shortest path between Java objects, XML documents and relational tables. Castor provides Java-to-XML binding, Java-to-SQL persistence, Castor XML is an XML data binding framework. Unlike the two main XML APIs, DOM (Document Object Model) and SAX (Simple API for XML) which deal with the structure of an XML document, Castor enables one to deal with the data defined in an XML document through an object model which represents that data. Castor XML can marshal almost any "bean-like" Java Object to and from XML. In most cases the marshalling framework uses a set of ClassDescriptors and FieldDescriptors to describe how an Object should be marshalled and unmarshalled from XML.

Features are:

- Castor XML
- Castor XML - Code generator
- Castor JDO - Persistence framework
- Castor JDO - DDL generator
- Additional tools
- Integration with other frameworks

Castor XML

XML data binding framework to bind XML artefacts to Java objects and vice versa.

- Employs default mapping conventions for mapping-less operation.
- (Optional) mapping file for existing (more complex) object models
- XML-based mapping file to specify bindings for existing object models.
- Support for schemaless Java-to-XML binding.
 

Castor XML code generator

Code generator that generates Java source code from XML Schema information.

- Generates Java domain classes based upon the type/element definitions in the given XML schema(s).
- Support for native Java 5 artifacts (e.g. enums, annotations)
- Support for enum-style classes for Java 1.4
- Additionally generates descriptor classes to be used during (un)marshalling to dramatically enhance performance.
- Extended support for in-object validation (through validation rules encoded in descriptor classes).
 

Castor JDO

Java persistence framework to bind Java objects to RDBMS tables.

- XML-based JDO mapping file to specify bindings for (existing) object models
- Support for ODMG OQL queries.
- EJB container managed persistence provider for OpenEJB
- Supports two-phase commits, object rollback and deadlock detection.
- Support for in-memory caching (various cache providers).
- Support for write-at-commit to reduce JDBC operations.

Castor JDO is not the same-as or compatible with Sun's JDO. We have a different approach to handling data object to RDBMS mappings. Please see the JDO FAQ for more information.

 Castor JDO DDL generator

Generates DDL statements from JDO mapping files.

 Additional tools

- MappingTool: Ability to create base mapping from existing Java classes
- XMLInstance2Schema: Ability to create an XML Schema from an XML input document
- DTDConvertor: Converts a DTD definition to an equivalent XML schema definition.

Build management integration

Various artefacts to support build management systems.

- Ant task definitions for XML code generator
- Maven plugin for XML code generator

Integration with other frameworks

Castor is currently integrated with the following frameworks or has support for being integrated:

- Spring ORM support for Castor
- Spring OXM for Castor
- Spring XML artifacts
- Web Service toolkits
- Apache Cocoon (Castor transformer)
- extendedXML module for Mule, offering enhanced XML-transformation support for Mule, using Castor