converters.rst

Converters

Getting Started

The VersaTul Object Converters project provides the ability to convert objects into key/value pairs dictionary stores. For example, converters can be used to convert instance of classes into a dictionary representation of the data from the class. This package works with the Collection streamers package.

Installation

To use VersaTul Converters, first install it using nuget:

PM> NuGet\Install-Package VersaTul.Object.Converters -Version latest

Main Components

1. IFlattener : Describes the functionality needed to successfully convert from a multi-dimensional object to a one-dimensional key/value pair dictionary with flattened keys.
2. IObjectProcessor : Represent functionality that can convert an object into a dictionary of string keys and object values.
3. IPropertyProcessor : Describes the functionality needed to successfully process the properties of object instances.
4. Flattener : The concrete implementation of IFlattener.
5. ObjectProcessor : The concrete implementation of IObjectProcessor.
6. PropertyProcessor : The concrete implementation of IPropertyProcessor.

Functional Summary

1. IDictionary<string, object> IFlattener.AsDictionary(IDictionary<string, object> source) : Converts the given dictionary of string, objects with different levels of object depth into one level. Essentially create a dictionary flatter dictionary with keys/values.
2. string IFlattener.AsString(object source) : Converts the given object from a multi-dimensional object to one-dimensional string.
3. IDictionary<string, object> IObjectProcessor.ToDictionary(object source) : Converts the given object into a dictionary of String keys and value objects.
4. object IPropertyProcessor.Process() : Overloaded method for analyzing a given property of an object and its values to see if further processing is needed in order to flatten the given object.

Code Examples

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        IDictionary<string, object> innerDictionary = new Dictionary<string, object>()
        {
            { "Age" , 37 },
            { "FirstName", "Bjorn" },
        };

        IDictionary<string, object> source = new Dictionary<string, object>()
        {
           { "Person", innerDictionary }
        };

        var flattener = new Flattener();

        var returnedSource = flattener.AsDictionary(source);

        //keys are now flattened.
        var age = returnedSource["[1] Person.Age"];
        var firstName = returnedSource["[2] Person.FirstName"];
    }       
}

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        List<int> integers = new() { 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 };

        var flattener = new Flattener();

        //result is now flattened.
        string result = flattener.AsString(integers);

        //outputs: 1||2||3||4||5
    }       
}

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        var person = new Person
        {
            Age = 37,
            FirstName = "Bjorn",
            ID = 100018,
            LastName = "Williams"
        }

        var processor = new ObjectProcessor();

        var result = processor.ToDictionary(person);

        //accessing age 
        var age = result["Age"];
    }       
}

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        var person = new Person
        {
            Age = 37,
            FirstName = "Bjorn",
            ID = 100018,
            LastName = "Williams"
        }

        var propertyInfo = person.GetType().GetProperty("Age");

        var type = person.Age.GetType();

        var propertyProcessor = new PropertyProcessor(new DisplayAnalyzer());

        //value here will be 37
        var value = propertyProcessor.Process(propertyInfo, null, type);
    }       
}

Changelog

V1.0.10

• Class to dictionary support
• Minor fixes

V1.0.9

• Dependent package updates
• Minor fixes

V1.0.8

• Code ported to dotnet core
• Documentation completed