entry :
settingsFilter.filterSettings(indexMetaData.getSettings()).getAsMap().entrySet()) {
builder.field(entry.getKey(), entry.getValue());
}
builder.endObject();
settings.put(indexMetaData.getIndex(), builder.string());
}
}
return settings;
}
```
---
### Author:  [@mrec](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/mrec)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2015, 3:35pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/1-3-4-java-how-can-i-parse-a-clusterstate-object-from-its-xcontent-representation/31779/3 "2015-10-07T15:35:34Z")
Hi Jörg,
Thanks for the response, but I'm not sure how this answers the question. Your sample code is extracting metadata from a `ClusterStateResponse`; the system I'm trying to test already does that. What I need/want is the second method below (see third para in original post for context):
```
// One-time test data setup against a live ES system
//
public static void writeClusterState(ClusterState cs, File outputFile) throws IOException {
XContentBuilder xcb = XContentFactory.jsonBuilder().prettyPrint();
cs.toXContent(xcb, ToXContent.EMPTY_PARAMS);
try (FileWriter fw = new FileWriter(outputFile)) {
fw.write(xcb.string());
}
}
// For subsequent unit tests which DON'T talk to a live ES
//
public static ClusterState readClusterState(File inputFile) throws IOException {
// here a miracle occurs
}
```
---
### Author:  [@jprante](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/jprante)
#### Post date: [October 7, 2015, 4:03pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/1-3-4-java-how-can-i-parse-a-clusterstate-object-from-its-xcontent-representation/31779/4 "2015-10-07T16:03:19Z")
Ok, you want to instantiate a `ClusterState`.
Look at `org.elasticsearch.action.admin.cluster.state.TransportClusterStateAction` and `org.elasticsearch.gateway.local.state.meta.LocalGatewayMetaState`
It's something like
```auto
byte[] data = Streams.copyToByteArray(new FileInputStream(stateFile));
if (data.length == 0) {
logger.debug("[_global] no data for [" + stateFile.getAbsolutePath() + "], ignoring...");
continue;
}
XContentParser parser = null;
try {
parser = XContentHelper.createParser(data, 0, data.length);
metaData = MetaData.Builder.fromXContent(parser);
highestVersion = version;
} finally {
if (parser != null) {
parser.close();
}
}
ClusterState.Builder builder = ClusterState.builder(currentState.getClusterName());
...
builder.metaData(metaData);
...
ClusterState state = builder.build();
```
---
### Author:  [@mrec](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/mrec)
#### Post date: [October 8, 2015, 2:48pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/1-3-4-java-how-can-i-parse-a-clusterstate-object-from-its-xcontent-representation/31779/5 "2015-10-08T14:48:22Z")
That looked much more promising, but I still can't get it to work. I currently have
```
public static void writeMetaData(MetaData metaData, File file) throws IOException {
XContentBuilder builder = XContentFactory.jsonBuilder().prettyPrint();
MetaData.Builder.toXContent(metaData, builder, ToXContent.EMPTY_PARAMS);
try (FileWriter fw = new FileWriter(file)) {
fw.write(builder.string());
}
}
public static MetaData readMetaData(File file) throws IOException {
byte[] data = Streams.copyToByteArray(file);
try (XContentParser parser = XContentFactory.xContent(XContentType.JSON).createParser(data)) {
return MetaData.Builder.fromXContent(parser);
}
}
```
but it's consistently throwing in `MetaData.Builder.fromXContent`. What confuses me about XContent is that what it calls JSON output isn't pure JSON; the capture file starts with e.g.
```
"meta-data"{
"version" : 0,
"uuid" : "_na_",
"templates" : { },
etc...
```
Debugging `fromXContent`, the preamble parses "meta-data" as a `VALUE_STRING`, then hits the `START_OBJECT` and calls `MetaData.lookupFactory(currentFieldName)` where `currentFieldName` is still `null`, which returns a null factory and appears to skip the entire JSON content.
---
### Author:  [@mrec](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/mrec)
#### Post date: [October 8, 2015, 3:58pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/1-3-4-java-how-can-i-parse-a-clusterstate-object-from-its-xcontent-representation/31779/6 "2015-10-08T15:58:02Z")
Ah! I was so close. I just needed to strip the leading unJSONic `"meta-data"` from the `toXContent` output, and it re-parses fine.
It's a bit weird that the format doesn't round-trip "as is", but this is eminently liveable. Many thanks for your pointers; I wouldn't have got there without them.
---
### Author:  [@system](https://discuss.elastic.co/u/system)
#### Post date: [July 5, 2017, 11:45pm UTC](https://discuss.elastic.co/t/1-3-4-java-how-can-i-parse-a-clusterstate-object-from-its-xcontent-representation/31779/7 "2017-07-05T23:45:50Z")