JAXB (JSR-222) implementations support java.util.Date without an XmlAdapter , as long as the value is in the DateTime XML Schema format (see http://blog.bdoughan.com/2011/01/jaxb-and-datetime-properties.html . Your example does not fit this format, so you will need to use the XmlAdapter .
XmlAdapter Example
An example of what the XmlAdapter would look like, see my answer to a similar question:
Applying XmlAdapter to all instances of java.util.Date
If you use the @XmlJavaTypeAdapter annotation at the package level, then it will apply to all fields / properties of this type inside this package.
JAXB AND FAULT MALFUNCTION
In JAXB expert groups (JSR-222), a significant percentage of documents do not match their corresponding XML, so we decided by default not to fail every time an error occurs. You can access errors by specifying ValidationEventHandler in Unmarshaller by following these steps to see errors.
Demo
package forum12400173; import java.io.File; import javax.xml.bind.*; public class Demo { public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception { JAXBContext jc = JAXBContext.newInstance(SCHEvent.class); File xml = new File("src/forum12400173/input.xml"); Unmarshaller unmarshaller = jc.createUnmarshaller(); unmarshaller.setEventHandler(new ValidationEventHandler() { @Override public boolean handleEvent(ValidationEvent event) { event.getLinkedException().printStackTrace(); return true; } }); SCHEvent event = (SCHEvent) unmarshaller.unmarshal(xml); } }
Output (JAXB-RI)
java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: 2012-09-12 11:00:00 at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.jaxp.datatype.XMLGregorianCalendarImpl$Parser.parse(XMLGregorianCalendarImpl.java:2823) at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.jaxp.datatype.XMLGregorianCalendarImpl.<init>(XMLGregorianCalendarImpl.java:435) at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.jaxp.datatype.DatatypeFactoryImpl.newXMLGregorianCalendar(DatatypeFactoryImpl.java:536) at com.sun.xml.internal.bind.DatatypeConverterImpl._parseDateTime(DatatypeConverterImpl.java:355) at com.sun.xml.internal.bind.v2.model.impl.RuntimeBuiltinLeafInfoImpl$4.parse(RuntimeBuiltinLeafInfoImpl.java:273) at com.sun.xml.internal.bind.v2.model.impl.RuntimeBuiltinLeafInfoImpl$4.parse(RuntimeBuiltinLeafInfoImpl.java:271) at com.sun.xml.internal.bind.v2.runtime.reflect.TransducedAccessor$CompositeTransducedAccessorImpl.parse(TransducedAccessor.java:232) at com.sun.xml.internal.bind.v2.runtime.unmarshaller.LeafPropertyLoader.text(LeafPropertyLoader.java:50) at com.sun.xml.internal.bind.v2.runtime.unmarshaller.UnmarshallingContext.text(UnmarshallingContext.java:499) at com.sun.xml.internal.bind.v2.runtime.unmarshaller.SAXConnector.processText(SAXConnector.java:166) at com.sun.xml.internal.bind.v2.runtime.unmarshaller.SAXConnector.endElement(SAXConnector.java:139) at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.parsers.AbstractSAXParser.endElement(AbstractSAXParser.java:606) at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.impl.XMLDocumentFragmentScannerImpl.scanEndElement(XMLDocumentFragmentScannerImpl.java:1742) at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.impl.XMLDocumentFragmentScannerImpl$FragmentContentDriver.next(XMLDocumentFragmentScannerImpl.java:2900) at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.impl.XMLDocumentScannerImpl.next(XMLDocumentScannerImpl.java:607) at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.impl.XMLNSDocumentScannerImpl.next(XMLNSDocumentScannerImpl.java:116) at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.impl.XMLDocumentFragmentScannerImpl.scanDocument(XMLDocumentFragmentScannerImpl.java:489) at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.parsers.XML11Configuration.parse(XML11Configuration.java:835) at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.parsers.XML11Configuration.parse(XML11Configuration.java:764) at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.parsers.XMLParser.parse(XMLParser.java:123) at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.parsers.AbstractSAXParser.parse(AbstractSAXParser.java:1210) at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.jaxp.SAXParserImpl$JAXPSAXParser.parse(SAXParserImpl.java:568) at com.sun.xml.internal.bind.v2.runtime.unmarshaller.UnmarshallerImpl.unmarshal0(UnmarshallerImpl.java:203) at com.sun.xml.internal.bind.v2.runtime.unmarshaller.UnmarshallerImpl.unmarshal(UnmarshallerImpl.java:175) at javax.xml.bind.helpers.AbstractUnmarshallerImpl.unmarshal(AbstractUnmarshallerImpl.java:157) at javax.xml.bind.helpers.AbstractUnmarshallerImpl.unmarshal(AbstractUnmarshallerImpl.java:162) at javax.xml.bind.helpers.AbstractUnmarshallerImpl.unmarshal(AbstractUnmarshallerImpl.java:171) at javax.xml.bind.helpers.AbstractUnmarshallerImpl.unmarshal(AbstractUnmarshallerImpl.java:189) at forum12400173.Demo.main(Demo.java:22) java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: 2012-09-12 11:30:00 at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.jaxp.datatype.XMLGregorianCalendarImpl$Parser.parse(XMLGregorianCalendarImpl.java:2823) at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.jaxp.datatype.XMLGregorianCalendarImpl.<init>(XMLGregorianCalendarImpl.java:435) at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.jaxp.datatype.DatatypeFactoryImpl.newXMLGregorianCalendar(DatatypeFactoryImpl.java:536) at com.sun.xml.internal.bind.DatatypeConverterImpl._parseDateTime(DatatypeConverterImpl.java:355) at com.sun.xml.internal.bind.v2.model.impl.RuntimeBuiltinLeafInfoImpl$4.parse(RuntimeBuiltinLeafInfoImpl.java:273) at com.sun.xml.internal.bind.v2.model.impl.RuntimeBuiltinLeafInfoImpl$4.parse(RuntimeBuiltinLeafInfoImpl.java:271) at com.sun.xml.internal.bind.v2.runtime.reflect.TransducedAccessor$CompositeTransducedAccessorImpl.parse(TransducedAccessor.java:232) at com.sun.xml.internal.bind.v2.runtime.unmarshaller.LeafPropertyLoader.text(LeafPropertyLoader.java:50) at com.sun.xml.internal.bind.v2.runtime.unmarshaller.UnmarshallingContext.text(UnmarshallingContext.java:499) at com.sun.xml.internal.bind.v2.runtime.unmarshaller.SAXConnector.processText(SAXConnector.java:166) at com.sun.xml.internal.bind.v2.runtime.unmarshaller.SAXConnector.endElement(SAXConnector.java:139) at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.parsers.AbstractSAXParser.endElement(AbstractSAXParser.java:606) at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.impl.XMLDocumentFragmentScannerImpl.scanEndElement(XMLDocumentFragmentScannerImpl.java:1742) at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.impl.XMLDocumentFragmentScannerImpl$FragmentContentDriver.next(XMLDocumentFragmentScannerImpl.java:2900) at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.impl.XMLDocumentScannerImpl.next(XMLDocumentScannerImpl.java:607) at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.impl.XMLNSDocumentScannerImpl.next(XMLNSDocumentScannerImpl.java:116) at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.impl.XMLDocumentFragmentScannerImpl.scanDocument(XMLDocumentFragmentScannerImpl.java:489) at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.parsers.XML11Configuration.parse(XML11Configuration.java:835) at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.parsers.XML11Configuration.parse(XML11Configuration.java:764) at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.parsers.XMLParser.parse(XMLParser.java:123) at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.parsers.AbstractSAXParser.parse(AbstractSAXParser.java:1210) at com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.jaxp.SAXParserImpl$JAXPSAXParser.parse(SAXParserImpl.java:568) at com.sun.xml.internal.bind.v2.runtime.unmarshaller.UnmarshallerImpl.unmarshal0(UnmarshallerImpl.java:203) at com.sun.xml.internal.bind.v2.runtime.unmarshaller.UnmarshallerImpl.unmarshal(UnmarshallerImpl.java:175) at javax.xml.bind.helpers.AbstractUnmarshallerImpl.unmarshal(AbstractUnmarshallerImpl.java:157) at javax.xml.bind.helpers.AbstractUnmarshallerImpl.unmarshal(AbstractUnmarshallerImpl.java:162) at javax.xml.bind.helpers.AbstractUnmarshallerImpl.unmarshal(AbstractUnmarshallerImpl.java:171) at javax.xml.bind.helpers.AbstractUnmarshallerImpl.unmarshal(AbstractUnmarshallerImpl.java:189) at forum12400173.Demo.main(Demo.java:22)