wsdl2java Gradle plugin

Gradle plugin for generating Java classes from WSDL files, using Apache CXF under the hood.

Maintained fork of the deprecated nilsmagnus/wsdl2java, updated for modern Gradle and current CXF / JAXB versions.

Requirements

• Gradle 7+ (built and tested against Gradle 9.5.1)
• JDK 17 or newer

Usage

Apply the plugin

Groovy:

plugins {
    id 'java'
    id 'com.yupzip.wsdl2java' version '4.1.0'
}

Kotlin:

plugins {
    id("java")
    id("com.yupzip.wsdl2java") version "4.1.0"
}

Configure

wsdl2java {
    wsdlDir = "src/main/resources/wsdl"
    wsdlsToGenerate = [
        ['src/main/resources/wsdl/firstwsdl.wsdl'],
        ['-xjc', '-b', 'bindingfile.xml', 'src/main/resources/wsdl/secondwsdl.wsdl']
    ]
    locale = Locale.GERMANY
}

The plugin automatically adds generatedWsdlDir (default: build/generated/wsdl) to sourceSets.main.java.srcDirs, so the generated classes compile without any further setup.

Tasks

Name	Description
wsdl2javaTask	Generates Java sources from WSDL files. Wired as a dependency of compileJava (and of compileKotlin when Kotlin applies).

Plugin options

Generation

Option	Type	Default	Description
wsdlDir	String	src/main/resources/wsdl	Source directory of WSDL files. Used for the incremental-build input check — changes here invalidate the cached task output.
wsdlsToGenerate	List<List<String>>	required	2D list of CXF wsdl-to-java argument vectors. The last element of each inner list must be the WSDL path. See the CXF reference.
generatedWsdlDir	String	build/generated/wsdl	Destination directory for generated sources.
locale	Locale	Locale.getDefault()	Locale used while CXF generates JavaDoc. Set explicitly for reproducible output across machines.
encoding	String	platform default	Encoding for the generated source files (e.g. UTF-8, EUC-JP).
lineEnding	LineEnding	PLATFORM_NATIVE	Line endings in the generated files. One of PLATFORM_NATIVE, WINDOWS (\r\n), UNIX (\n), MAC_CLASSIC (\r).
stabilize	boolean	false	Post-process generated sources to produce diff-friendly output: strip generation timestamps and stable-sort @XmlSeeAlso, @XmlElementRef, and consecutive {@link …} JavaDoc lines.
stabilizeAndMergeObjectFactory	boolean	false	When multiple WSDLs target the same Java package, merge their generated ObjectFactory classes into a single, stably ordered file instead of letting the last write win.

Dependency versions

The plugin resolves CXF tooling against a fixed set of versions by default. Each is overridable via the extension:

Option	Default	Affects
cxfVersion	4.2.0	org.apache.cxf.xjc-utils:cxf-xjc-runtime
cxfPluginVersion	4.2.0	org.apache.cxf.xjcplugins:cxf-xjc-ts, org.apache.cxf.xjcplugins:cxf-xjc-boolean
cxfToolsVersion	4.2.1	org.apache.cxf:cxf-tools-wsdlto-databinding-jaxb, org.apache.cxf:cxf-tools-wsdlto-frontend-jaxws
jaxb2NamespacePrefixVersion	2.0	org.jvnet.jaxb2_commons:jaxb2-namespace-prefix
jaxb2BasicsVersion	3.0.0	codes.rafael.jaxb2_commons:jaxb2-basics, codes.rafael.jaxb2_commons:jaxb2-basics-runtime

Example:

wsdl2java {
    cxfVersion       = "4.1.2"
    cxfPluginVersion = "4.1.2"
    cxfToolsVersion  = "4.2.0"
    // …rest of config
}

Auto-injected runtime dependencies

So that generated code compiles and runs without extra setup, the plugin adds the following to your implementation configuration if they aren't already declared:

• org.apache.cxf.xjc-utils:cxf-xjc-runtime (at cxfVersion)
• codes.rafael.jaxb2_commons:jaxb2-basics-runtime (at jaxb2BasicsVersion)

If you already declare these explicitly (any version), the plugin leaves them alone.

Complete example — Spring Boot 4 with the Jakarta namespace

plugins {
    id "java"
    id "org.springframework.boot" version "4.0.6"
    id "io.spring.dependency-management" version "1.7.0"
    id "com.yupzip.wsdl2java" version "4.1.0"
}

bootJar {
    duplicatesStrategy(DuplicatesStrategy.WARN)
}

compileJava {
    sourceCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_25
    targetCompatibility = JavaVersion.VERSION_25
    options.compilerArgs << '-parameters'
}

dependencies {
    implementation 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-actuator'
    implementation 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-data-jpa'
    implementation 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-security'
    implementation 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-web'
    implementation 'org.springframework.boot:spring-boot-starter-web-services'
    implementation 'org.springframework.ws:spring-ws-support:4.0.0'
    // your project dependencies

    implementation 'com.sun.xml.bind:jaxb-impl:4.0.6'
    implementation 'com.sun.xml.messaging.saaj:saaj-impl:3.0.4'
    implementation 'com.sun.xml.ws:jaxws-ri:4.0.3'

    implementation 'io.swagger.core.v3:swagger-jaxrs2-jakarta:2.2.7'

    implementation 'jakarta.xml.bind:jakarta.xml.bind-api:4.0.5'
    implementation 'jakarta.xml.soap:jakarta.xml.soap-api:3.0.2'
    implementation 'jakarta.xml.ws:jakarta.xml.ws-api:4.0.3'

    implementation 'org.glassfish.jaxb:jaxb-runtime:4.0.6'
}

configurations {
    wsdl2java
}

wsdl2java {
    wsdlDir = "$projectDir/src/main/resources/wsdl/"
    stabilizeAndMergeObjectFactory = true
    wsdlsToGenerate = [
            ['-xjc',
             '-xjc-Xnamespace-prefix',
             '-b', "$projectDir/src/main/resources/wsdl/wsdlBindings.xml",
             '-b', "$projectDir/src/main/resources/wsdl/wsdlTypeDefBindings.xjb",
             '-wsdlLocation', 'classPath:wsdl/myWsdl.wsdl',
             '-p', 'my.package',
             '-autoNameResolution',
             '-verbose',
             "$projectDir/src/main/resources/wsdl/myWsdl.wsdl"
            ],
            ['-xjc',
             '-xjc-Xnamespace-prefix',
             '-b', "$projectDir/src/main/resources/wsdl/wsdlBindings2.xml",
             '-b', "$projectDir/src/main/resources/wsdl/wsdlTypeDefBindings2.xjb",
             '-wsdlLocation', 'classPath:wsdl/myWsdl2.wsdl',
             '-p', 'my.package',
             '-autoNameResolution',
             '-verbose',
             "$projectDir/src/main/resources/wsdl/myWsdl2.wsdl"
            ]
    ]
    generatedWsdlDir = "src/generated-sources/java"
}

Multi-module projects

Prefer $projectDir over absolute paths in your build file, as shown above. This keeps the build portable across developer machines and CI agents.

Changelog

• 4.1.0
  • Dependency versions are configurable again via extension properties (cxfVersion, cxfPluginVersion, cxfToolsVersion, jaxb2NamespacePrefixVersion, jaxb2BasicsVersion).
  • Default version bumps: CXF 4.1.2 → 4.2.0, CXF tools 4.2.0 → 4.2.1, CXF xjc plugins 4.1.2 → 4.2.0. Consumers on Jakarta EE 10 stacks can pin the previous versions via the new extension properties.
  • generatedWsdlDir is now automatically registered on sourceSets.main.java.srcDirs — consumers no longer need to add it manually in their build.gradle.
  • Bug fixes:
    • wsdlDir extension setting is now actually honored by the task's up-to-date input check (was silently pinned to the default).
    • Input directory uses PathSensitivity.RELATIVE, so the cacheable task can reuse outputs across different checkout paths and CI agents.
    • stripCommentDates (under stabilize) matches any year — previously only stripped dates starting with 201…, so the option was a no-op for anything generated from 2020 onwards.
    • findPackagePaths no longer throws IndexOutOfBoundsException when -p is the last argument in a wsdlsToGenerate entry.
    • The thread context classloader is restored after task execution, preventing CXF/JAXB classes from being pinned across Gradle daemon invocations.
  • Unit tests covering plugin functionality, plus CI build and Coveralls coverage reporting.
• 4.0.0
  • Built and tested against Gradle 9.4.1; requires JDK 17+.
  • Default upgrades: CXF 4.1.2, CXF tools 4.2.0, jaxb2-namespace-prefix 2.0, jaxb2-basics 3.0.0.
  • The previous project-level cxfVersion / cxfPluginVersion properties are removed.
  • wsdlDir and generatedWsdlDir are now plain String properties (previously File).
  • Inclusion of generated classes in source sets must now be configured in build.gradle:

    sourceSets.main.java.srcDirs "src/generated-sources/java"

• 3.0.1 — adaptation for Gradle 9.
• 3.0.0 — breaking change: cxfVersion and cxfPluginVersion introduced as required project properties.
• Forked from the deprecated nilsmagnus/wsdl2java to keep the plugin compatible with Gradle 7+.

Issues

Please file an issue at https://github.com/yupzip/wsdl2java/issues.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome.

Contributors

• Peter Vermes — https://github.com/yupzip
• Nicklas Bondesson — https://github.com/nicklasbondesson
• https://github.com/cstsw