jstruct

A simple library for crafting objects that can be dumped & loaded to JSON.

Basics

A JStruct object acts alot like a normal ruby struct, with a few key differences.

Use JStruct.new to create a new subclass:

class Animal < JStruct.new(:name, :colors)
  def striped?
    colors.size >= 2
  end
end

Initialize a new instance with an ostruct-style hash:

zebra = Animal.new(:name => 'Zebra', :colors => %w[ white black ])
  #=> #<jstruct Animal {:colors=>["white", "black"], :name=>"Zebra"}>
zebra.striped?
  #=> true
zebra.to_json
  #=> "{\"name\":\"Zebra\",\"colors\":[\"white\",\"black\"]}"

Complex Members

JStruct members that correspond to JSON primitives (String, Numeric, Array, or Hash objects) can be serialized & deserialized. Normal members that are complex objects can be serialized to a normal JSON object and desirialized to a Hash.

Complex members can be deserialized back into their original type if a type is included in the member argument:

class Zoo < JStruct.new(:name, :animals => Animal) ; end

zoo = Zoo.new(:name => 'SF Zoo', :animals => [zebra])
  => #<jstruct Zoo {:animals=>[#<jstruct Animal {:colors=>["white", "black"], :name=>"Zebra"} >], :name=>"SF Zoo"} >

zoo.to_json
  #=> "{\"name\":\"SF Zoo\",\"animals\":[{\"name\":\"Zebra\",\"colors\":[\"white\",\"black\"]}]}"

Zoo.from(zoo.to_json)
  #=> #<jstruct Zoo {:animals=>[#<jstruct Animal {:colors=>["white", "black"], :name=>"Zebra"} >], :name=>"SF Zoo"} >