Setting Response Content-Type for JSON in Spring MVC (@ResponseBody)

Spring MVC's @ResponseBody annotation typically returns data in the form of plain text or XML. However, when handling JSON responses, you may need to ensure the correct content-type and charset are set to avoid encoding issues.

To set the response content-type explicitly, add the produces attribute to the @RequestMapping annotation, specifying the MIME type and charset you desire. For example, to specify JSON output with UTF-8 encoding:

@RequestMapping(value = "/getDealers", method = RequestMethod.GET, 
produces = "application/json; charset=utf-8")
@ResponseBody
public String sendMobileData() {
}

This approach overrides the default content-type setting, ensuring that the response is returned as JSON with the desired encoding. By customizing the content-type and charset in this way, you can prevent encoding inconsistencies and ensure proper handling of JSON responses in your Spring MVC application.