How to encode struct in Swift using Encodable that contains an already encoded value

Question

Imagine a data structure as follows, containing a value in contents that is an already encoded JSON fragment.

let partial = """
{ "foo": "Foo", "bar": 1 }
"""

struct Document {
  let contents: String
  let other: [String: Int]
}

let doc = Document(contents: partial, other: ["foo": 1])

Desired output

The combined data structure should use contents as is and encode other.

{
  "contents": { "foo": "Foo", "bar": 1 },
  "other": { "foo": 1 }
}

Using Encodable

The following implementation of Encodable encodes Document as JSON, however it also re-encodes contents into a string, meaning it is wrapped in quotes and has all " quotes escaped into \".

extension Document : Encodable {
    enum CodingKeys : String, CodingKey {
        case contents
        case other
    }

    func encode(to encoder: Encoder) throws {
        var container = encoder.container(keyedBy: CodingKeys.self)

        try container.encode(contents, forKey: .contents)
        try container.encode(other, forKey: .other)
    }
}

Output

{
  "contents": "{\"foo\": \"Foo\", \"bar\": 1}",
  "other": { "foo": 1 }
}

How can encode just pass through contents as is?

Answer 1

I agree with Ahmad's basic approach, but I'm assuming you need something more dynamic. In that case, you should make clear that content is not a "String." It's JSON. And so you can store it as JSON using a JSON type (simplified here, see the gist for a more feature-rich version):

enum JSON: Codable {
    struct Key: CodingKey, Hashable, CustomStringConvertible {
        var description: String {
            return stringValue
        }

        let stringValue: String
        init(_ string: String) { self.stringValue = string }
        init?(stringValue: String) { self.init(stringValue) }
        var intValue: Int? { return nil }
        init?(intValue: Int) { return nil }
    }

    case string(String)
    case number(Double) // FIXME: Split Int and Double
    case object([Key: JSON])
    case array([JSON])
    case bool(Bool)
    case null

    init(from decoder: Decoder) throws {
        if let string = try? decoder.singleValueContainer().decode(String.self) { self = .string(string) }
        else if let number = try? decoder.singleValueContainer().decode(Double.self) { self = .number(number) }
        else if let object = try? decoder.container(keyedBy: Key.self) {
            var result: [Key: JSON] = [:]
            for key in object.allKeys {
                result[key] = (try? object.decode(JSON.self, forKey: key)) ?? .null
            }
            self = .object(result)
        }
        else if var array = try? decoder.unkeyedContainer() {
            var result: [JSON] = []
            for _ in 0..<(array.count ?? 0) {
                result.append(try array.decode(JSON.self))
            }
            self = .array(result)
        }
        else if let bool = try? decoder.singleValueContainer().decode(Bool.self) { self = .bool(bool) }
        else if let isNull = try? decoder.singleValueContainer().decodeNil(), isNull { self = .null }
        else { throw DecodingError.dataCorrupted(DecodingError.Context(codingPath: [],
                                                                       debugDescription: "Unknown JSON type")) }
    }

    func encode(to encoder: Encoder) throws {
        switch self {
        case .string(let string):
            var container = encoder.singleValueContainer()
            try container.encode(string)
        case .number(let number):
            var container = encoder.singleValueContainer()
            try container.encode(number)
        case .bool(let bool):
            var container = encoder.singleValueContainer()
            try container.encode(bool)
        case .object(let object):
            var container = encoder.container(keyedBy: Key.self)
            for (key, value) in object {
                try container.encode(value, forKey: key)
            }
        case .array(let array):
            var container = encoder.unkeyedContainer()
            for value in array {
                try container.encode(value)
            }
        case .null:
            var container = encoder.singleValueContainer()
            try container.encodeNil()
        }
    }
}

With that you can redefine your document to hold JSON:

struct Document: Codable {
  let contents: JSON
  let other: [String: Int]
}

And decode that JSON from a String if you like:

let doc = Document(contents:
    try! JSONDecoder().decode(JSON.self, from: Data(partial.utf8)),
                   other: ["foo": 1])

With that in place, the default JSONEncoder() is all you need to get the output you're describing.

Answer 2

You could achieve it by doing this:

let partial = """
{
"foo": "Foo",
"bar": 1
}
"""

// declare a new type for `content` to deal with it as an object instead of a string
struct Document {
    let contents: Contents
    let other: [String: Int]

    struct Contents: Codable {
        let foo: String
        let bar: Int
    }
}

extension Document : Encodable {
    enum CodingKeys: String, CodingKey {
        case contents
        case other
    }

    func encode(to encoder: Encoder) throws {
        var container = encoder.container(keyedBy: CodingKeys.self)

        try container.encode(contents, forKey: .contents)
        try container.encode(other, forKey: .other)
    }
}

let decoder = JSONDecoder()
let contents = try decoder.decode(Document.Contents.self, from: partial.data(using: .utf8)!)

let encoder = JSONEncoder()
let doc = Document(contents: contents, other: ["foo": 1])
let result = try encoder.encode(doc)
print(String(data: result, encoding: .utf8)!)

Basically, you could deal with partial first by decoding it, and then you pass the decoded result of it to Document.

The output should be:

{"other":{"foo":1},"contents":{"foo":"Foo","bar":1}}