CODEWITHSUNDEEP
go
user187676
user187676

Reputation:

JSON decode with flexible type

I need to specify a type for decoding JSON data in a flexible manner, meaning the type needs to be specified at runtime.

Consider this snippet: http://play.golang.org/p/F-Jy4ufMPz

s := `{"b":[{"x":9},{"x":4}]}`

var a struct {
  B []interface{}
}
err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(s), &a)
if err != nil {
  panic(err)
}

fmt.Println(a)

Which will produce {[map[x:9] map[x:4]]}. I want to decode to an array of a specific (struct) type instead of []interface{}, without specifying it at compile time.

Is that somehow possible without creating the array up front? (the number of returned items is unknown)

The only way I can think of right now is to encode the returned maps again later, and decode them to the specified type, which would create unnecessary processing overhead.

Upvotes: 4

Views: 1768

Answers (1)

ANisus
ANisus

Reputation: 78065

If not specifying it at compile time, you still need to specify it somewhere.

If specified before the retrieval of the Json data, you can simply do a switch case, Unmarshalling it to your desired object.

If specified within the Json data, you can marshal the "flexible" part into a json.RawMessage to process it after you've decided what type of struct is suitable:

package main

import (
    "encoding/json"
    "fmt"
)

var s = `{"type":"structx", "data":{"x":9,"xstring":"This is structX"}}`

type JsonStruct struct {
    Type string
    Data json.RawMessage
}

type StructX struct {
    X       float64
    Xstring string
}

type StructY struct {
    Y bool
}

func main() {
    var a *JsonStruct
    err := json.Unmarshal([]byte(s), &a)
    if err != nil {
        panic(err)
    }

    switch a.Type {
    case "structx":
        // We Unmashal the RawMessage part into a StructX
        var s *StructX
        json.Unmarshal([]byte(a.Data), &s)
        if err != nil {
            panic(err)
        }
        fmt.Println(s)
    case "structy":
        // Do the same but for structY
    }
}

Playground

Upvotes: 5

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