In Swift: How do I decode this JSON (which has variable keys)? - json

Question

There is an API that supplies JSON data that I would like to use. I've given a summary of the JSON below. At the top level, the key to each record is a unique ID that matches the ID in the record itself. These keys are integers in quotes (starting at 1, unsorted and probably not contiguous).
Reading the JSON isn't a problem. What is the Codable "Response" struct required to receive the data?
if let response = try? JSONDecoder().decode(Response.self, from: data)
The JSON
{
"2546": {
"id": "2546",
"title": "Divis and the Black Mountain"
},
"1": {
"id": "1",
"title": "A la Ronde"
},
"2": {
"id": "2",
"title": "Aberconwy House"
}
}

Answer 1

I had this once also, looks like whoever created this endpoint doesn't really understand how JSON works...
try this out and then just return response.values so you have a list of items
struct Item: Codable {
let id, title: String
}
typealias Response = [String: Item]

Answer 2

Use a more dynamic version of CodingKey. You can read more about it here: https://benscheirman.com/2017/06/swift-json/
Check the section "Dynamic Coding Keys"

Answer 3

The Codable type struct Response should be,
struct Response: Decodable {
let id: String
let title: String
}
Now, parse the json data using [String:Response] instead of just Response like so,
do {
let response = try JSONDecoder().decode([String:Response].self, from: data)
print(response) //["1": Response(id: "1", title: "A la Ronde"), "2546": Response(id: "2546", title: "Divis and the Black Mountain"), "2": Response(id: "2", title: "Aberconwy House")]
} catch {
print(error)
}

Answer 4

You should implement a custom CodingKey, something like that:
struct MyResponse {
struct MyResponseItemKey: CodingKey {
var stringValue: String
init?(stringValue: String) {
self.stringValue = stringValue
}
var intValue: Int? { return nil }
init?(intValue: Int) { return nil }
static let id = MyResponseItemKey(stringValue: "id")!
static let title = MyResponseItemKey(stringValue: "title")!
}
struct MyResponseItem {
let id: String
let subItem: MyResponseSubItem
}
struct MyResponseSubItem {
let id: String
let title: String
}
let responseItems: [MyResponseItem]
}
Not sure if the key of each item and the value of id are always equal, that's why there are 2 IDs in MyResponse.
And, of course, MyResponse should conform to Codable:
extension MyResponse: Codable {
init(from decoder: Decoder) throws {
let container = try decoder.container(keyedBy: MyResponseItemKey.self)
responseItems = try container.allKeys.map { key in
let containerForKey = try container.nestedContainer(keyedBy: MyResponseItemKey.self, forKey: key)
let id = try containerForKey.decode(String.self, forKey: .id)
let title = try containerForKey.decode(String.self, forKey: .title)
return MyResponseItem(id: key.stringValue, subItem: MyResponseSubItem(id: id, title: title))
}
}
func encode(to encoder: Encoder) throws {
var container = encoder.container(keyedBy: MyResponseItemKey.self)
for responseItem in responseItems {
if let key = MyResponseItemKey(stringValue: responseItem.id) {
var subItemContainer = container.nestedContainer(keyedBy: MyResponseItemKey.self, forKey: key)
try subItemContainer.encode(responseItem.subItem.id, forKey: .id)
try subItemContainer.encode(responseItem.subItem.title, forKey: .title)
}
}
}
}
This is how you can use MyResponse:
let jsonString = """
{
"2546": {
"id": "2546",
"title": "Divis and the Black Mountain"
},
"1": {
"id": "1",
"title": "A la Ronde"
},
"2": {
"id": "2",
"title": "Aberconwy House"
}
}
"""
if let dataForJSON = jsonString.data(using: .utf8),
let jsonDecoded = try? JSONDecoder().decode(MyResponse.self, from: dataForJSON) {
print(jsonDecoded.responseItems.first ?? "")
let encoder = JSONEncoder()
encoder.outputFormatting = .prettyPrinted
if let dataFromJSON = try? encoder.encode(jsonDecoded) {
let jsonEncoded = String(data: dataFromJSON, encoding: .utf8)
print(jsonEncoded ?? "")
}
}