How can I deserialize JSON with a top-level array using Serde?

Question

I have a some JSON data that is returned from a web service. The JSON is a top-level array:

[     {         "data": "value1"     },     {         "data": "value2"     },     {         "data": "value3"     } ] 

Using serde_derive to make structs I can can deserialize the data contained within the array, however, I am unable to get Serde to deserialize the top-level array.

Am I missing something, or can Serde not deserialize top level-arrays?

Answer 1

You can simply use a Vec:

use serde::{Serialize, Deserialize};  #[derive(Serialize, Deserialize, Debug)] struct Foo {     data: String, }  fn main() -> Result<(), serde_json::Error> {     let data = r#"[         {             "data": "value1"         },         {             "data": "value2"         },         {             "data": "value3"         }     ]"#;      let datas: Vec<Foo> = serde_json::from_str(data)?;      for data in datas.iter() {         println!("{:#?}", data);     }      Ok(()) } 

---

If you wish, you could also use transparent:

#[derive(Serialize, Deserialize, Debug)] #[serde(transparent)] struct Foos {     foos: Vec<Foo>, }  let foos: Foos = serde_json::from_str(data)?; 

This allows to encapsulate your data with your type.