typed-json

Easily generate a reviver for JSON.parse that can convert matching JSON objects to the type of your choosing.

typed-json is not an extension of JSON. It does not alter or augment the JSON syntax. It is not a modified JSON parser. It uses the native reviver feature of JSON.parse to call out to your code when it encounters an object with the property you specify. It does not know how to instantiate your class or rebuild an object graph. It just makes it simpler for you to do so.

Your serialized objects can have a property specifying where to find a fromTypedJSON function. If present, its return value will be the result of JSON.parse.

var tj = require('typed-json');
 
Book.fromTypedJSON = function(object) {
  return new Book(object.title);
};
 
var book = tj.parse('{ "_type": "Book", "title": "Debt" }');
 
book instanceof Book //=> true
book.title //=> "Debt"
book._type //=> undefined

API

.parse(json, { key: '_type', loader: 'fromTypedJSON', resolver: global })

Options:

• key: The name of the property used to identify the type.
• loader: If a string, it is the name of the function to call after identifying a type using the resolver. If a function, it will be called directly to deserialize the current JSON object.
• resolver: If an object, type names are expected to correspond to properties of the object (eg, if resolver: { Foo: ..., Bar: ... }, types Foo and Bar are available). If a function, it will be called with the type name encountered, and is expected to return an object that responds to the loader method, which will be used to deserialize the object.

Custom key name and type lookup

var Deals = {
  Coupon: { fromTypedJSON: ... },
  Sale:   { fromTypedJSON: ... }
};
 
var json  = '[{ "kind": "coupon", "discount": "10%" }, { "kind": "sale", "discount": "25%" }]';
var deals = tj.parse(json, {
  key: "kind",
  resolver: function(kind) { return Deals[kind.titleCase()]; }
});
 
// Calls Deals['Coupon'].fromTypedJSON({ discount: '10%' })
//  then Deals['Sale'].fromTypedJSON({ discount: '25%' })
 
//=> [<Coupon 10%>, <Sale 25%>]

Custom loader function

If your types can not easily be retrieved from a single namespace, or you can't implement fromTypedJSON on all of them, you can instead pass a function to perform the object construction. In this case, the resolver will not be used at all:

var customDeserializer = function(object, type, key) {
  //=> object: { color: 'red' }
  //=> type:   'Bike'
  //=> key:    '_type'
 
  if      (type === 'Car')  return new Automobile(object);
  else if (type === 'Bike') return new Cycle(wheels: 2, color: object.color);
  else andSoOn();
};
 
var transport = tj.parse('{ "_type": "Bike", "color": "red" }', {
  loader: customDeserializer
});
transport instanceof Cycle //=> true

.reviver({ key: '_type', ns: global })

Returns a reviver function suitable for use with JSON.parse.

If you are going to be calling revive a lot, you should probably keep one of these around:

var reviver = tj.reviver({ key: 'ClassName', resolver: app.models });
//=> [Function]
 
var user = JSON.parse('{ "ClassName": "User", "email": "[e-mail]" }', reviver);
user instanceof app.models.User
//=> true