[swift-users] dealing with heterogenous lists/dictionary with Codable
Geordie Jay
geojay at gmail.com
Thu Oct 19 14:38:04 CDT 2017
David Baraff <davidbaraff at gmail.com> schrieb am Do. 19. Okt. 2017 um 21:35:
>
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> From: Geordie Jay <geojay at gmail.com>
>
> Subject: Re: [swift-users] dealing with heterogenous lists/dictionary with
> Codable
>
> Date: October 19, 2017 at 12:24:44 PM PDT
>
> To: David Baraff <davidbaraff at gmail.com>, Itai Ferber <iferber at apple.com>
>
> Cc: swift-users <swift-users at swift.org>
>
>
>
>
> David Baraff <davidbaraff at gmail.com> schrieb am Do. 19. Okt. 2017 um
> 21:14:
>
>> My apologies. I misstated the problem: I don’t want to just limit to
>> Int, String, [Int], etc. but also allow structures where
>>
>> struct NewThingy : Codable {
>> let data1: T1
>> let data2: T2
>> }
>>
>> where T1 and T2 are themselves Codable.
>>
>
> This is already possible, just not with dictionaries of unknown types
> (because they’re not known to be Codable)
>
>
> Sure, but I don’t want to give a dictionary of unknown types: i’m very
> happy to say that my dictionary is
> [String : Codable]
>
> but
> struct Foo : Codable {
> let d: [String : Codable]
> }
>
> doesn’t work; the d inside F is not itself Codable.
>
That’s strange. We’re actually doing exactly this and it works for us
(although we are using a concrete Codable type rather than the Codable
metatype itself).
Maybe it’s worth filing a bug on Jira
Good luck.
>
>
>> So basically, back to wanting to let the compiler do the work, when I
>> make new structures, while still allowing for heterogenous containers.
>>
>
> It’s also possible to give the compiler hints as to what decodes into
> what. Have you looked at the docs on the Apple foundation page?
>
>
> https://developer.apple.com/documentation/foundation/archives_and_serialization/encoding_and_decoding_custom_types
>
> Geordie
>
>
>
>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Begin forwarded message:
>>
>> From: Itai Ferber <iferber at apple.com>
>>
>> Subject: Re: [swift-users] dealing with heterogenous lists/dictionary
>> with Codable
>>
>> Date: October 19, 2017 at 10:40:28 AM PDT
>>
>> To: David Baraff <davidbaraff at gmail.com>
>>
>> Cc: Geordie Jay <geojay at gmail.com>, swift-users <swift-users at swift.org>
>>
>>
>> Why are you stuck? I think the following matches your needs, no?
>>
>> import Foundation
>> enum MyType : Codable, Equatable {
>> case int(Int)
>> case string(String)
>> case list([MyType])
>> case dictionary([String : MyType])
>>
>> public init(from decoder: Decoder) throws {
>> // Can be made prettier, but as a simple example:
>> let container = try decoder.singleValueContainer()
>> do {
>> self = .int(try container.decode(Int.self))
>> } catch DecodingError.typeMismatch {
>> do {
>> self = .string(try container.decode(String.self))
>> } catch DecodingError.typeMismatch {
>> do {
>> self = .list(try container.decode([MyType].self))
>> } catch DecodingError.typeMismatch {
>> self = .dictionary(try container.decode([String : MyType].self))
>> }
>> }
>> }
>> }
>>
>> public func encode(to encoder: Encoder) throws {
>> var container = encoder.singleValueContainer()
>> switch self {
>> case .int(let int): try container.encode(int)
>> case .string(let string): try container.encode(string)
>> case .list(let list): try container.encode(list)
>> case .dictionary(let dictionary): try container.encode(dictionary)
>> }
>> }
>>
>> static func ==(_ lhs: MyType, _ rhs: MyType) -> Bool {
>> switch (lhs, rhs) {
>> case (.int(let int1), .int(let int2)): return int1 == int2
>> case (.string(let string1), .string(let string2)): return string1 == string2
>> case (.list(let list1), .list(let list2)): return list1 == list2
>> case (.dictionary(let dict1), .dictionary(let dict2)): return dict1 == dict2
>> default: return false
>> }
>> }
>> }
>> let values: MyType = .list([.int(42), .string("hello!"), .list([.int(9), .string("hi")]), .dictionary(["zero": .int(0), "one": .int(1)])])print(values)
>> let encoder = JSONEncoder()let data = try encoder.encode(values)print(String(data: data, encoding: .utf8)!) // => [42,"hello!",[9,"hi"],{"zero":0,"one":1}]
>> let decoder = JSONDecoder()let decoded = try decoder.decode(MyType.self, from: data)print(decoded)
>> print(values == decoded) // => true
>>
>> On 19 Oct 2017, at 20:15, David Baraff wrote:
>>
>> Begin forwarded message:
>>
>> From: Itai Ferber <iferber at apple.com>
>>
>> Subject: Re: [swift-users] dealing with heterogenous lists/dictionary
>> with Codable
>>
>> Date: October 19, 2017 at 9:39:25 AM PDT
>>
>> To: David Baraff <davidbaraff at gmail.com>
>>
>> Cc: Geordie Jay <geojay at gmail.com>, swift-users <swift-users at swift.org>
>>
>>
>> Hi David and Geordie,
>>
>> That approach won’t work — encoders and decoders only work directly with
>> concrete Codable types (e.g. String, Int, MyFoo [where MyFoo is Codable],
>> etc.).
>> This is by design: since there is no type information stored in the JSON
>> payload, there isn’t necessarily a way to tell how to decode the type
>> you’re looking at, so asking for a generalCodable` isn’t helpful.
>>
>> Since it’s unlikely that what you truly need is a [String : Any] but
>> really a [String : <one of String, Int, MyFoo, etc.>], one easy way to
>> decode this type is to create a wrapper enum or similar which overrides
>> init(from:) to be able to decode from one of those types. You can then
>> ask to decode a [String : MyWrapperType] and use that instead.
>>
>> What types are you expecting in the dictionary?
>>
>>
>> The problem is that I want to be able to encode types T where
>> (a) T is String, Int
>> (b) lists of T
>> (c ) dictionaries of type <String, T>
>>
>> The problem is the recursive nature: yes, my types are simple (say only
>> base types String and Int) but the “nesting” level may be quite deep (a
>> list of list of dictionaries of <etc.).
>>
>>
>> Let’s turn this around: in addition to the JSONEncoder, one can also use
>> the PropertyListEncoder.
>>
>> Are we saying that something one could pull from a property list file
>> (which is pretty much what i want: arbitrary deep nesting of basic types)
>> is also not Codable? So a PropertyListEncoder could not encode actual
>> property lists?
>>
>> I really do want a heterogenous container. I think I am stuck.
>>
>> — Itai
>>
>> On 19 Oct 2017, at 18:11, David Baraff via swift-users wrote:
>>
>> I’ll try. Is that cast smart enough to apply recursively? We shall see.
>>
>> Sent from my iPad
>>
>> On Oct 19, 2017, at 7:34 AM, Geordie Jay <geojay at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>> I mean can you do something along the lines of
>>
>> let codableDict = stringAnyDict as? [String : Codable]
>>
>> ?
>>
>> I’m not at a computer to test it myself
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> David Baraff <davidbaraff at gmail.com> schrieb am Do. 19. Okt. 2017 um
>> 15:45:
>>
>>> That’s exactly what I want. The ironic part is that I got my dictionary
>>> by decoding a Json file. If that’s where my dictionary came from, is there
>>> a simple way of coercing the Json serialization routines to give me back
>>> codables, rather than Anys?
>>>
>>>
>>> Sent from my iPad
>>>
>>> On Oct 19, 2017, at 3:38 AM, Geordie Jay <geojay at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> David Baraff via swift-users <swift-users at swift.org> schrieb am Do. 19.
>>> Okt. 2017 um 03:47:
>>>
>>>> So I have simple structs like this:
>>>>
>>>> struct Library: Codable {
>>>> let domain: String
>>>> let unit: String
>>>> }
>>>>
>>>> and it’s super-simple to serialize. Yay.
>>>>
>>>> But:
>>>>
>>>> struct LibraryGroup : Codable { // I wish...
>>>> let libraries: [Library]
>>>> let someDict: [String : Any]
>>>> }
>>>>
>>>
>>> I haven’t tried this, but is it possible to have a dictionary of [String
>>> : Codable] ? Because that’s exactly the type requirements you’re
>>> describing, no?
>>>
>>> Geordie
>>>
>>>
>>>> So what I’m looking for is something where if the values in someDict
>>>> are themselves Codable, I can serialize things, and if they’re not, I
>>>> can’t. In my previous scheme, I was using NSKeyedArchiver to serialize
>>>> everything, manualy, including someDict; in trying to switch to Codable I
>>>> ran smack into the fact that Codable wants to know what all the types are,
>>>> in advance.
>>>>
>>>> Am I just stuck? How do I get the best of both worlds, where the
>>>> compiler can make use of the fact that it can see the data types of my
>>>> structures, while still being able to serialize heterogenous data like is
>>>> found in LibraryGroup?
>>>>
>>>> Is my only alternative to write a custom coder for LibraryGroup? Is
>>>> there any hope I could teach Codable what to do with
>>>> [String: Any]
>>>>
>>>> ?
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> swift-users mailing list
>>>> swift-users at swift.org
>>>> https://lists.swift.org/mailman/listinfo/swift-users
>>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>>
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