GWT Autobean - how to handle lists? - json

I have been trying to evaluate GWT Autobean feature to decode/encode JSON object to domain objects for REST calls.
Following the example : http://code.google.com/p/google-web-toolkit/wiki/AutoBean#Quickstart
I was able to convert a singular JSON object to a domain object:
AutoBean<Person> personBean = AutoBeanCodex.decode(factory, Person.class, JsonResources.INSTANCE.json().getText());
where JsonResources.INSTANCE.json() is returning a JSON string.
However, I haven't been successful to convert a list of Person objects from JSON.
It would be helpful, if anyone has an example of this?
Thanks!

Well the only way I can think of is to create a special autobean, which will have List<Person> property. For example:
public interface Result {
void setPersons(List<Person> persons);
List<Person> getPersons();
}
And example json string:
{
persons:[
{"name":"Thomas Broyer"},
{"name":"Colin Alworth"}
]
}
UPDATE:
Workaround when input JSON is an array ( as suggested by persons[0] in comments).E.g. JSON looks like this:
[{"name":"Thomas Broyer"},{"name":"Colin Alworth"}]
And parsing code looks like this:
AutoBeanCodex.decode(factory, Result.class, "{\"persons\": " + json + "}").getPersons();

Related

Nested object JSON serialization in WebAPI

I am using .NET 4.0, MVC 4, Web API. I have following data structure:
Dictionary<Actor, Int32> TopActorToMovieCount = new Dictionary<Actor, Int32>(10);
And following entry in WebApiConfig:
config.Formatters.JsonFormatter.SupportedMediaTypes.Add(new MediaTypeHeaderValue("text/html"));
In my Controller, I am returning TopActorToMovieCount this way:
[HttpGet]
public HttpResponseMessage HighestMovies()
{
return Request.CreateResponse(HttpStatusCode.OK, MvcApplication.TopActorToMovieCount);
}
But the JSON output it is giving is:
{"api.Models.Actor":137,"api.Models.Actor":125,"api.Models.Actor":99,"api.Models.Actor":96,"api.Models.Actor":83,"api.Models.Actor":82,"api.Models.Actor":81,"api.Models.Actor":79,"....
Why it is not giving JSON structure for object of Actor?
I am sure that I am missing something, bout couldn't figure out. I tried adding following, but it didn't work:
config.Formatters.JsonFormatter.SupportedMediaTypes.Add(new MediaTypeHeaderValue("application/json"));
PS: When I switch to XML output, it works fine.
See similar question here: Not ableTo Serialize Dictionary with Complex key using Json.net
In this case, you are using "Actor" as the Key of your dictionary. Dictionary stores key/value pairs. So when creating the JSON response, it interprets the "Actor" as a key which is converted to a string, and the "Int32" as the value thus giving you
{"api.Models.Actor":137} or {key:value}
because
Actor.ToString() would result in "api.Models.Actor"
Here's a link to the definition of Dictionary: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/xfhwa508(v=vs.110).aspx

How can I define a ReST endpoint that allows json input and maps it to a JsonSlurper

I want to write an API ReST endpoint, using Spring 4.0 and Groovy, such that the #RequestBody parameter can be any generic JSON input, and it will be mapped to a Groovy JsonSlurper so that I can simply access the data via the slurper.
The benefit here being that I can send various JSON documents to my endpoint without having to define a DTO object for every format that I might send.
Currently my method looks like this (and works):
#RequestMapping(value = "/{id}", method = RequestMethod.PUT, consumes = MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON_VALUE)
ResponseEntity<String> putTest(#RequestBody ExampleDTO dto) {
def json = new groovy.json.JsonBuilder()
json(
id: dto.id,
name: dto.name
);
return new ResponseEntity(json.content, HttpStatus.OK);
}
But what I want, is to get rid of the "ExampleDTO" object, and just have any JSON that is passed in get mapped straight into a JsonSlurper, or something that I can input into a JsonSlurper, so that I can access the fields of the input object like so:
def json = new JsonSlurper().parseText(input);
String exampleName = json.name;
I initially thought I could just accept a String instead of ExampleDTO, and then slurp the String, but then I have been running into a plethora of issues in my AngularJS client, trying to send my JSON objects as strings to the API endpoint. I'm met with an annoying need to escape all of the double quotes and surround the entire JSON string with double quotes. Then I run into issues if any of my data has quotes or various special characters in it. It just doesn't seem like a clean or reliable solution.
I open to anything that will cleanly translate my AngularJS JSON objects into valid Strings, or anything I can do in the ReST method that will allow JSON input without mapping it to a specific object.
Thanks in advance!
Tonya

Grails: Easy and efficient way to parse JSON from a Request

Please pardon me if this is a repeat question. I have been through some of the questions/answers with a similar requirement but somehow got a bit overwhelmed and confused at the same time. My requirement is:
I get a JSON string/object as a request parameter. ( eg: params.timesheetJSON )
I then have to parse/iterate through it.
Here is the JSON that my grails controller will be receiving:
{
"loginName":"user1",
"timesheetList":
[
{
"periodBegin":"2014/10/12",
"periodEnd":"2014/10/18",
"timesheetRows":[
{
"task":"Cleaning",
"description":"cleaning description",
"paycode":"payCode1"
},
{
"task":"painting",
"activityDescription":"painting description",
"paycode":"payCode2"
}
]
}
],
"overallStatus":"SUCCESS"
}
Questions:
How can I retrieve the whole JSON string from the request? Does request.JSON be fine here? If so, will request.JSON.timesheetJSON yield me the actual JSON that I want as a JSONObject?
What is the best way to parse through the JSON object that I got from the request? Is it grails.converters.JSON? Or is there any other easy way of parsing through? Like some API which will return the JSON as a collection of objects by automatically taking care of parsing. Or is programatically parsing through the JSON object the only way?
Like I said, please pardon me if the question is sounding vague. Any good references JSON parsing with grails might also be helpful here.
Edit: There's a change in the way I get the JSON string now. I get the JSON string as a request paramter.
String saveJSON // This holds the above JSON string.
def jsonObject = grails.converters.JSON.parse(saveJSON) // No problem here. Returns a JSONObject. I checked the class type.
def jsonArray = jsonArray.timesheetList // No problem here. Returns a JSONArray. I checked the class type.
println "*** Size of jsonArray1: " + jsonArray1.size() // Returns size 1. It seemed fine as the above JSON string had only one timesheet in timesheetList
def object1 = jsonArray[1] // This throws the JSONException, JSONArray[1] not found. I tried jsonArray.getJSONObject(1) and that throws the same exception.
Basically, I am looking to seamlessly iterate through the JSON string now.
I have wrote some code that explains how this can be done, that you can see below, but to be clear, first the answers to your questions:
Your JSON String as you wrote above will be the contents of your POST payload to the rest controller. Grails will use its data binding mechanism to bind the incomming data to a Command object that your should prepare. It has to have fields corresponding to the parameters in your JSON String (see below). After you bind your command object to your actual domain object, you can get all the data you want, by simply operating on fields and lists
The way to parse thru the JSON object is shown in my example below. The incomming request is esentially a nested map, with can be simply accessed with a dot
Now some code that illustrates how to do it.
In your controller create a method that accepts "YourCommand" object as input parameter:
def yourRestServiceMethod (YourCommand comm){
YourClass yourClass = new YourClass()
comm.bindTo(yourClass)
// do something with yourClass
// println yourClass.timeSheetList
}
The command looks like this:
class YourCommand {
String loginName
List<Map> timesheetList = []
String overallStatus
void bindTo(YourClass yourClass){
yourClass.loginName=loginName
yourClass.overallStatus=overallStatus
timesheetList.each { sheet ->
TimeSheet timeSheet = new TimeSheet()
timeSheet.periodBegin = sheet.periodBegin
timeSheet.periodEnd = sheet.periodEnd
sheet.timesheetRows.each { row ->
TimeSheetRow timeSheetRow = new TimeSheetRow()
timeSheetRow.task = row.task
timeSheetRow.description = row.description
timeSheetRow.paycode = row.paycode
timeSheet.timesheetRows.add(timeSheetRow)
}
yourClass.timeSheetList.add(timeSheet)
}
}
}
Its "bindTo" method is the key piece of logic that understands how to get parameters from the incomming request and map it to a regular object. That object is of type "YourClass" and it looks like this:
class YourClass {
String loginName
Collection<TimeSheet> timeSheetList = []
String overallStatus
}
all other classes that are part of that class:
class TimeSheet {
String periodBegin
String periodEnd
Collection<TimeSheetRow> timesheetRows = []
}
and the last one:
class TimeSheetRow {
String task
String description
String paycode
}
Hope this example is clear enough for you and answers your question
Edit: Extending the answer according to the new requirements
Looking at your new code, I see that you probably did some typos when writting that post
def jsonArray = jsonArray.timesheetList
should be:
def jsonArray = jsonObject.timesheetList
but you obviously have it properly in your code since otherwise it would not work, then the same with that line with "println":
jsonArray1.size()
shuold be:
jsonArray.size()
and the essential fix:
def object1 = jsonArray[1]
shuold be
def object1 = jsonArray[0]
your array is of size==1, the indexing starts with 0. // Can it be that easy? ;)
Then "object1" is again a JSONObject, so you can access the fields with a "." or as a map, for example like this:
object1.get('periodEnd')
I see your example contains errors, which lead you to implement more complex JSON parsing solutions.
I rewrite your sample to the working version. (At least now for Grails 3.x)
String saveJSON // This holds the above JSON string.
def jsonObject = grails.converters.JSON.parse(saveJSON)
println jsonObject.timesheetList // output timesheetList structure
println jsonObject.timesheetList[0].timesheetRows[1] // output second element of timesheetRows array: [paycode:payCode2, task:painting, activityDescription:painting description]

Grails JSON Converter

I have a method in my main controller that return a string that I want to render as JSON.
So I am importing "import grails.converters.JSON" and calling
myMethod() as JSON
, and it works fine. But when I need to get some details of the json response in my integration test.
So in my integration test I have:
void testfoo() {
def bar = controller.myMethod();
def bar.name; //fails
JSON.parse(bar.toString()).name; // doesn't fail
....
..
}
any idea why I need to convert it to a string and then again to a JSON, since it already a JSON?
The value you get back from your method is a grails.converters.JSON, which is not a directly accessible JSON tree as such, but simply an object that knows how to serialize itself as JSON when required. If you want direct access to the JSON tree structure then you need to tell the grails.converters.JSON object to serialize itself and then pass that JSON to JSON.parse to turn it into a JSONElement (or one of its subclasses, in this case presumably a JSONObject).

Why is GSON not parsing these fields properly? (FieldNamingPolicy.LOWER_CASE_WITH_UNDERSCORES)

I have a JSONArray of JSONObjects that I'm trying to parse with GSON. I'm using FieldNamingPolicy.LOWER_CASE_WITH_UNDERSCORES. It's parsing correctly for most fields (so the FieldNamingPolicy is set correct), but I'm getting null returned for
{
"image_sq_48x48_url": "url1",
"image_sq_64x64_url": "url2",
"image_sq_96x96_url": "url3"
}
with field names
imageSq48x48Url
imageSq64x64Url
imageSq96x96Url
Maybe a better question would be what is the proper camelCase? I have also tried
imageSq48X48Url
imageSq48X48url
If I map with #SerializedName("image_sq_96x96_url") it parses/populates correctly.
Unfortunately those fieldnames in your JSON don't conform to what Gson looks for using that strategy.
If you create a POJO and serialize it, you can see what the issue is:
class MyPojo
{
String imageSq48x48Url = "hi";
}
The resulting JSON from Gson using that strategy is:
{"image_sq48x48_url":"hi"}
It doesn't consider/look at numeric digits as leading indicators / start of a "word".
If you rename the field to:
String imageSq_48x48Url;
It would work with your JSON example and that strategy.
Basically, you either need to create your own class that implements FieldNamingStrategy that will handle those JSON fieldnames the way you want, or do what you're doing with the #SerializedName annotation.