How to set slice interface values with reflection - go

Question

I would like to build a function that takes a generic pointer array and fill that list based on mongo results.
I don't know how to set the value I got from mongo into my pointer array. In the below attempt, program panics with following error : reflect.Set: value of type []interface {} is not assignable to type []Person
When I print total / documents found, it corresponds to what I am expecting. So I think question is about reflection.
func getListWithCount(ctx context.Context, receiver interface{}) (int, error) {
//my mongo query here
var mongoResp struct {
Total int `bson:"total"`
Documents interface{} `bson:"documents"`
}
if err := cursor.Decode(&mongoResp); err != nil {
return 0, err
}
receiverValue := reflect.ValueOf(receiver)
docs := []interface{}(mongoResp.Documents.(primitive.A))
receiverValue.Elem().Set(reflect.ValueOf(docs))
return mongoResp.Total, nil
}
type Person struct {
Name string `bson:"name"`
}
func main() {
var persons []Person
count, err := getListWithCount(context.Background(), &persons)
if err != nil {
log.Fatal(err)
}
fmt.Println(count)
fmt.Println(persons)
}

Answer 1

You should be able to decode first into bson.RawValue and then Unmarshal it into the receiver.
func getListWithCount(ctx context.Context, receiver interface{}) (int, error) {
//my mongo query here
var mongoResp struct {
Total int `bson:"total"`
Documents bson.RawValue `bson:"documents"`
}
if err := cursor.Decode(&mongoResp); err != nil {
return 0, err
}
if err := mongoResp.Documents.Unmarshal(receiver); err != nil {
return 0, err
}
return mongoResp.Total, nil
}
You can also implement it as a custom bson.Unmarshaler.
type MongoResp struct {
Total int `bson:"total"`
Documents interface{} `bson:"documents"`
}
func (r *MongoResp) UnmarshalBSON(data []byte) error {
var temp struct {
Total int `bson:"total"`
Documents bson.RawValue `bson:"documents"`
}
if err := bson.Unmarshal(data, &temp); err != nil {
return err
}
r.Total = temp.Total
return temp.Documents.Unmarshal(r.Documents)
}
With that you would use it in the function like so:
func getListWithCount(ctx context.Context, receiver interface{}) (int, error) {
//my mongo query here
mongoResp := MongoResp{Documents: receiver}
if err := cursor.Decode(&mongoResp); err != nil {
return 0, err
}
return mongoResp.Total, nil
}

Answer 2

Dynamically create a struct type that matches the queried document. See commentary below for details.
func getListWithCount(receiver interface{}) (int, error) {
dst := reflect.ValueOf(receiver).Elem()
// Your mongo query here
// Create a struct type that matches the document.
doct := reflect.StructOf([]reflect.StructField{
reflect.StructField{Name: "Total", Type: reflect.TypeOf(0), Tag: `bson:"total"`},
reflect.StructField{Name: "Documents", Type: dst.Type(), Tag: `bson:"documents"`},
})
// Decode to a value of the type.
docp := reflect.New(doct)
if err := cursor.Decode(docp.Interface()); err != nil {
return 0, err
}
docv := docp.Elem()
// Copy the Documents field to *receiver.
dst.Set(docv.Field(1))
// Return the total
return docv.Field(0).Interface().(int), nil
}

Answer 3

there is no need to use reflect here, you can decode it directly to your Person slices
func getPersons(ctx context.Context, coll *mongo.Collection, results interface{}) error {
cur, err := coll.Find(ctx, bson.D{})
if err != nil {
return err
}
err = cur.All(ctx, results)
if err != nil {
return err
}
return nil
}
and the len is the count of the results.
err = getPersons(ctx, coll, &persons)
require.NoError(t, err)
t.Logf("Got %d persons: %v", len(persons), persons)
see https://gist.github.com/xingyongtao/459f92490bdcbf7d5afe9f5d1ae6c04a