Dictipy
Dictipy creates the right dict also for nested objects using recursion, whenever the standard
Python __dict__() cannot.
Table of contents
- Motivation
- Usage
1. Motivation
Using get_dict makes you able to recursively get dict of nested objects without explicitly
overriding __repr__() function, making it usable for other purposes.
It could be useful when you have very complex nested object and you want not to override each sub-object
__repr__() function. Imagine for example an operation which produces a complex object which has to be
serialized and sent through a REST protocol as a json.
The json.dumps() cannot execute the task if the argument object is not a dict. Again, using simply the
standard Python __dict__() function does not solve the problem if a nested object has to be considered.
2. Usage
Simply import get_dict function from dictipy and use it on any potentially serializable object.
Example 1: Nested objects.
from dictipy import dictipy
class Parent:
def __init__(self, parent_field):
self.parent_field = parent_field
self.child = Child(1)
class Child:
def __init__(self, child_field):
self.child_field = child_field
if __name__ == "__main__":
p = Parent(0)
print("Standard Python dict: ", p.__dict__)
print("Python vars: ", vars(p))
print("Dictipy get_dict: ", dictipy(p))Result:
Standard Python dict: {'parent_field': 0, 'child': <__main__.Child object at 0x0000021C530BFEB8>}
Python vars: {'parent_field': 0, 'child': <__main__.Child object at 0x0000021C530BFEB8>}
Dictipy get_dict: {'parent_field': 0, 'child': {'child_field': 1}}Example 2: Json serialization.
from dictipy import dictipy
import json
class Parent:
def __init__(self, parent_field):
self.parent_field = parent_field
self.child = Child(1)
class Child:
def __init__(self, child_field):
self.child_field = child_field
if __name__ == "__main__":
p = Parent(0)
j1 = json.dumps(p) # throws -> TypeError: Object of type Parent is not JSON serializable
j2 = json.dumps(p.__dict__) # throws -> TypeError: Object of type Child is not JSON serializable
j3 = json.dumps(vars(p)) # throws -> TypeError: Object of type Child is not JSON serializable
j4 = json.dumps(dictipy(p)) # returns -> '{"parent_field": 0, "child": {"child_field": 1}}'
