Simple from string builder (reverse of a ToStringBuilder).

FromStringBuilder.java

    public class FromStringBuilder {

	/**
	 * Parses a string formatted with toStringBuilder
	 * 
	 * @param input - ex. "Path[id=1039916,displayName=School Home,description=<null>,...]"
	 * @return hashmap of name value pairs - ex. id=1039916,... 
	 */
	public static Map<String, String> stringToMap(String input) {
		LinkedHashMap<String, String> ret = new LinkedHashMap<String, String>();
		String partsString = StringUtils.substringBetween(input, "[", "]");
		String[] parts = partsString.split(",");
		for (String part:parts) {
			String[] nv = part.split("=");
			if (!StringUtils.equals("<null>", nv[1])) {
				ret.put(nv[0], nv[1]);
			}
		}
		return ret;
	}
	
	public static <T> T stringToObject(String input, Class<T> clazz) throws IllegalAccessException, InvocationTargetException, InstantiationException {
		Map<String, String> map = stringToMap(input);
		T ret = clazz.newInstance();
		BeanUtils.copyProperties(ret, map);
		return ret;
	}
    }