ModelOptionsUtils: Add ACCEPT_EMPTY_STRING_AS_NULL_OBJECT and ObjectMapper overloads

- Configure OBJECT_MAPPER to accept empty strings as null objects during deserialization.
- Add overloaded jsonToMap(String, ObjectMapper) for custom ObjectMapper usage.
- Add and update tests to verify correct handling of empty strings for both Map and POJO deserialization, including custom ObjectMapper scenarios.
- Clarify documentation and ensure extensibility without global side effects.

Fixes spring-projects#2222

Signed-off-by: Mark Pollack <[email protected]>

Author: markpollack

spring-ai-model/src/main/java/org/springframework/ai/model/ModelOptionsUtils.java

@@ -69,7 +69,8 @@ public abstract class ModelOptionsUtils {
 		.disable(DeserializationFeature.FAIL_ON_UNKNOWN_PROPERTIES)
 		.disable(SerializationFeature.FAIL_ON_EMPTY_BEANS)
 		.addModules(JacksonUtils.instantiateAvailableModules())
-		.build();
+		.build()
+		.configure(DeserializationFeature.ACCEPT_EMPTY_STRING_AS_NULL_OBJECT, true);
 
 	private static final List<String> BEAN_MERGE_FIELD_EXCISIONS = List.of("class");
 
@@ -82,13 +83,25 @@ public abstract class ModelOptionsUtils {
 	};
 
 	/**
-	 * Converts the given JSON string to a Map of String and Object.
+	 * Converts the given JSON string to a Map of String and Object using the default
+	 * ObjectMapper.
 	 * @param json the JSON string to convert to a Map.
 	 * @return the converted Map.
 	 */
 	public static Map<String, Object> jsonToMap(String json) {
+		return jsonToMap(json, OBJECT_MAPPER);
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Converts the given JSON string to a Map of String and Object using a custom
+	 * ObjectMapper.
+	 * @param json the JSON string to convert to a Map.
+	 * @param objectMapper the ObjectMapper to use for deserialization.
+	 * @return the converted Map.
+	 */
+	public static Map<String, Object> jsonToMap(String json, ObjectMapper objectMapper) {
 		try {
-			return OBJECT_MAPPER.readValue(json, MAP_TYPE_REF);
+			return objectMapper.readValue(json, MAP_TYPE_REF);
 		}
 		catch (Exception e) {
 			throw new RuntimeException(e);

spring-ai-model/src/test/java/org/springframework/ai/model/ModelOptionsUtilsTests.java

@@ -24,6 +24,11 @@
 import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
 import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThatThrownBy;
 
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.DeserializationFeature;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.ObjectMapper;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.json.JsonMapper;
+import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.SerializationFeature;
+
 /**
  * @author Christian Tzolov
  */
@@ -122,6 +127,55 @@ public void copyToTarget() {
 		assertThat(target.getSpecificField()).isNull();
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void jsonToMap_emptyStringAsNullObject() {
+		String json = "{\"name\":\"\", \"age\":30}";
+		// For Map: empty string remains ""
+		Map<String, Object> map = ModelOptionsUtils.jsonToMap(json);
+		assertThat(map.get("name")).isEqualTo("");
+		assertThat(map.get("age")).isEqualTo(30);
+
+		// Custom ObjectMapper: still "" for Map
+		ObjectMapper strictMapper = JsonMapper.builder()
+			.disable(DeserializationFeature.FAIL_ON_UNKNOWN_PROPERTIES)
+			.disable(SerializationFeature.FAIL_ON_EMPTY_BEANS)
+			.build()
+			.configure(DeserializationFeature.ACCEPT_EMPTY_STRING_AS_NULL_OBJECT, false);
+		Map<String, Object> mapStrict = ModelOptionsUtils.jsonToMap(json, strictMapper);
+		assertThat(mapStrict.get("name")).isEqualTo("");
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void pojo_emptyStringAsNullObject() throws Exception {
+		String json = "{\"name\":\"\", \"age\":30}";
+
+		// POJO with default OBJECT_MAPPER (feature enabled)
+		Person person = ModelOptionsUtils.OBJECT_MAPPER.readValue(json, Person.class);
+		assertThat(person.name).isEqualTo(""); // String remains ""
+		assertThat(person.age).isEqualTo(30); // Integer is fine
+
+		String jsonWithEmptyAge = "{\"name\":\"John\", \"age\":\"\"}";
+		Person person2 = ModelOptionsUtils.OBJECT_MAPPER.readValue(jsonWithEmptyAge, Person.class);
+		assertThat(person2.name).isEqualTo("John");
+		assertThat(person2.age).isNull(); // Integer: "" → null
+
+		// POJO with feature disabled: should fail for Integer field
+		ObjectMapper strictMapper = JsonMapper.builder()
+			.disable(DeserializationFeature.FAIL_ON_UNKNOWN_PROPERTIES)
+			.disable(SerializationFeature.FAIL_ON_EMPTY_BEANS)
+			.build()
+			.configure(DeserializationFeature.ACCEPT_EMPTY_STRING_AS_NULL_OBJECT, false);
+		assertThatThrownBy(() -> strictMapper.readValue(jsonWithEmptyAge, Person.class)).isInstanceOf(Exception.class);
+	}
+
+	public static class Person {
+
+		public String name;
+
+		public Integer age;
+
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	public void getJsonPropertyValues() {
 		record TestRecord(@JsonProperty("field1") String fieldA, @JsonProperty("field2") String fieldB) {