Assert interface to slice of struct - go

Why am I facing error that first arg to append must be slice after being already asserted interface to a slice of structs?
package main
import (
"fmt"
)
type AccessKeys struct {
AccessKeys interface{}
}
type AccessKey struct {
AccessKeyID string
}
func main() {
var b AccessKey
b.AccessKeyID = "ye"
var bs AccessKeys
bs.AccessKeys = bs.AccessKeys.([]AccessKey) // Assert
bs.AccessKeys = append(bs.AccessKeys, b) // Error: first argument to append must be slice; have interface {}
fmt.Println(bs)
}
https://play.golang.org/p/OfT3i1AbkMe

It cannot work because you try to append AccessKey to type interface{} which is not a slice.
package main
import (
"fmt"
)
type AccessKeys struct {
AccessKeys []interface{}
}
type AccessKey struct {
AccessKeyID string
}
func main() {
var b AccessKey
b.AccessKeyID = "ye"
var bs AccessKeys
bs.AccessKeys = append(bs.AccessKeys, b)
fmt.Println(bs)
}
But in my opinion this is not very idiomatic way to do something, but depends what are you trying to achieve. What I would even replace
AccessKeys []interface{}
with
AccessKeys []AccessKey

Thanks to a kind poster who deleted his comment later.
It doesn't work because AccessKeys interface{} makes AccessKeys an untyped nil type as the zero value for an interface is untyped nil. As Go is a statically typed language, it will give an error at compile time.
If this makes sense, its for the same reason you can't do this in Go:
n := nil
Even if that is fixed, it will fail at runtime while asserting saying panic: interface conversion: interface {} is nil, not []main.AccessKey. Though I am not sure why.

Related

Why can't i pass this pointer to other function as an argument in go?

I'm just learning GO (with javascript background)
So, i use this excelize package to create excel document using go.
Here's my code:
package main
import (
"fmt"
"github.com/360EntSecGroup-Skylar/excelize"
)
func main() {
f := excelize.NewFile()
create(f)
}
func create(f *int) {
fmt.Println(&f)
}
It's giving me an error cannot use f (type *excelize.File) as type *int in argument to create
Is there anything wrong with my code ?
I'm pretty bad with this whole pointer things, but i have to learn go in 2 weeks.
I also put my code in this GO playground site just in case someone want to test it.
create() expects a value of type *int, that is, a pointer to int. f in main() is of type *excelize.File, that is, a pointer to excelize.File.
The value you pass to create() must be assignable to the type of the parameter, and *excelize.File is not assignable to *int. Details: Spec: Calls.
For example, a value of type *int is assignable to the param of create(), so this is valid:
var i int
create(&i) // i is of type int, so &i is of type *int
Or this:
j := new(int) // j is of type *int
create(j)
If you want your create() function to accept a value of any type, use the empty interface: interface{}
func create(f interface{}) {
fmt.Println(f)
}
Then passing f from main() (or any other value) will be valid:
f := excelize.NewFile()
create(f)

In golang, struct with a slice variable of any type is possible?

Simple golang app gives below error
.\test.go:13: cannot use ds (type Data_A) as type []interface {} in field value
for below code
package main
type Data_A struct {
a string
}
type DTResponse struct {
Data []interface{} `json:"data"`
}
func main() {
ds := Data_A{"1"}
dtResp := &DTResponse{ Data:ds}
print(dtResp)
}
I would like to have a struct with slice variable of any type. Using struct{} gives the same error.
In Java I could use Object as it is the parent object of any object. But I could not find such one in golang.
Any help would be appreciated.
Yes, as a slice of interface{} which can hold any arbitrary value.
var s = []interface{}{1, 2, "three", SomeFunction}
fmt.Printf("Hello, %#v \n", s)
Output:
Hello, []interface {}{1, 2, "three", (func())(0xd4b60)}
https://play.golang.org/p/MQMc689StO
But I do not recommend simulate dynamic-typed languages (like Python, JavaScript, PHP, etc) this way. Better to use all static-typed benefits from Go, and leave this feature as a last resort, or as a container for user input. Just to receive it and convert to strict types.
Typing
Go is a strongly explicitly typed language thus you can't substitute an object of one type with another (it is already compiled in this way). Also when you do type Data_A struct {... you define new type named Data_A. []interface{} and Data_A are completely different types and these types (like any other) are not interchangeable. Note, even interface{} is not interchangeable with anything. You can pass any type in a function like this func f(a interface{}){... but inside the function you will have exactly interface{} type and you should assert it to use properly.
Fix#1
package main
type Data_A struct {
a string
}
type DTResponse struct {
Data Data_A `json:"data"`
}
func main() {
ds := Data_A{"1"}
dtResp := &DTResponse{ Data:ds}
print(dtResp)
}
Fix#2
package main
type DTResponse struct {
Data []interface{} `json:"data"`
}
func main() {
ds := []interface{}{"1"}
dtResp := &DTResponse{ Data:ds}
print(dtResp)
}
Possibly the cause of confusion: struct is not slice or array.

Golang type conversion/assertion issue with unmarshalling json

package main
import (
"fmt"
"encoding/json"
"reflect"
)
type GeneralConfig map[string]interface{}
var data string = `
{
"key":"value",
"important_key":
{"foo":"bar"}
}`
func main() {
jsonData := &GeneralConfig{}
json.Unmarshal([]byte(data), jsonData)
fmt.Println(reflect.TypeOf(jsonData)) //main.GeneralConfig
jsonTemp := (*jsonData)["important_key"]
fmt.Println(reflect.TypeOf(jsonTemp)) //map[string]interface {}
//newGeneralConfig := GeneralConfig(jsonTemp)
//cannot convert jsonTemp (type interface {}) to type GeneralConfig:
//need type assertion
newGeneralConfig := jsonTemp.(GeneralConfig)
//fmt.Println(reflect.TypeOf(newGeneralConfig))
//panic: interface conversion: interface {} is map[string]interface {},
//not main.GeneralConfig
}
Available at the playground
I understand that I can use a nested struct in lieu of GeneralConfig, but that would require me knowing the exact structure of the payload, ie it wouldn't work for different keys (I would be locked into "important_key").
Is there a golang workaround for when I don't know what the value of "important_key" is? I say golang, because if possible, one could require all "important_keys" to have a constant parent key, which could resolve this issue.
To summarize, given an arbitrary json object, there must be a way that I can traverse its keys, and if a value is a custom type, convert the value to that type. Right now it seems that if I use type conversion, it tells me that the type is interface{} and I need to use type assertion; however, if I use type assertion, it tells me that interface{} is map[string]interface{} not main.GeneralConfig.
I agree the comments about trying to utilise the expected structure of the incoming JSON in order to write well-defined Structs, but I'll attempt to answer the question anyway.
The thing to take away from what you're seeing printed versus the error messages that you're seeing is that the compiler knows less about the type than the runtime because the runtime can look at the actual value. To bring the compiler up-to-speed we must (i) assert (*jsonData)["important_key"] is a map[string]interface{} -- the compiler only knows it to be an interface{} -- and then (ii) type-cast that to a GeneralConfig type. See:
package main
import (
"fmt"
"encoding/json"
)
type GeneralConfig map[string]interface{}
func main() {
jsonStruct := new(GeneralConfig)
json.Unmarshal([]byte(`{"parent_key": {"foo": "bar"}}`), jsonStruct)
fmt.Printf("%#v\n", jsonStruct)
// => &main.GeneralConfig{"parent_key":map[string]interface {}{"foo":"bar"}}
nestedStruct := (*jsonStruct)["parent_key"]
fmt.Printf("%#v\n", nestedStruct)
// => map[string]interface {}{"foo":"bar"}
// Whilst this shows the runtime knows its actual type is
// map[string]interface, the compiler only knows it to be an interface{}.
// First we assert for the compiler that it is indeed a
// map[string]interface{} we are working with. You can imagine the issues
// that might arrise if we has passed in `{"parent_key": 123}`.
mapConfig, ok := nestedStruct.(map[string]interface{})
if !ok {
// TODO: Error-handling.
}
// Now that the compiler can be sure mapConfig is a map[string]interface{}
// we can type-cast it to GeneralConfig:
config := GeneralConfig(mapConfig)
fmt.Printf("%#v\n", config)
// => main.GeneralConfig{"foo":"bar"}
}
You are looking for json.RawMessage.
You can delay unmarshalling based upon some other value and then force it to unmarshal to a specific type.
This is not a good idea, but might be closer to what you are looking for.
http://play.golang.org/p/PWwAUDySE0
This is a standard "workaround" if get what you're after. When handling unknown data you can implement this pattern (modified from your example) of switching on the type recursively to get to the concrete values in an unknown body of json data.
package main
import (
"encoding/json"
"fmt"
"reflect"
)
var data = `
{
"key":"value",
"important_key":
{"foo":"bar"}
}`
func main() {
var jsonData interface{}
json.Unmarshal([]byte(data), &jsonData)
fmt.Println(reflect.TypeOf(jsonData))
parseArbitraryJSON(jsonData.(map[string]interface{}))
}
func parseArbitraryJSON(data map[string]interface{}) {
for k, v := range data {
switch a := v.(type) {
case string:
fmt.Printf("%v:%v\n", k, a)
case map[string]interface{}:
fmt.Printf("%v:%v\n", k, a)
parseArbitraryJSON(a)
}
}
}
The resulting output is:
map[string]interface {}
key:value
important_key:map[foo:bar]
foo:bar
This example only accounts for the base data being a string type but you can switch on any type that you expect to receive, and like any switch you can group your cases, so you can treat all numbers similarly for example.

Why can't I assign a *Struct to an *Interface?

I'm just working through the Go tour, and I'm confused about pointers and interfaces. Why doesn't this Go code compile?
package main
type Interface interface {}
type Struct struct {}
func main() {
var ps *Struct
var pi *Interface
pi = ps
_, _ = pi, ps
}
i.e. if Struct is an Interface, why wouldn't a *Struct be a *Interface?
The error message I get is:
prog.go:10: cannot use ps (type *Struct) as type *Interface in assignment:
*Interface is pointer to interface, not interface
When you have a struct implementing an interface, a pointer to that struct implements automatically that interface too. That's why you never have *SomeInterface in the prototype of functions, as this wouldn't add anything to SomeInterface, and you don't need such a type in variable declaration (see this related question).
An interface value isn't the value of the concrete struct (as it has a variable size, this wouldn't be possible), but it's a kind of pointer (to be more precise a pointer to the struct and a pointer to the type). Russ Cox describes it exactly here :
Interface values are represented as a two-word pair giving a pointer
to information about the type stored in the interface and a pointer to
the associated data.
This is why Interface, and not *Interface is the correct type to hold a pointer to a struct implementing Interface.
So you must simply use
var pi Interface
This is perhaps what you meant:
package main
type Interface interface{}
type Struct struct{}
func main() {
var ps *Struct
var pi *Interface
pi = new(Interface)
*pi = ps
_, _ = pi, ps
}
Compiles OK. See also here.
Here's a very simple way of assigning a struct to an interface:
package main
type Interface interface{}
type Struct struct{}
func main() {
ps := new(Struct)
pi := Interface(ps)
_, _ = pi, ps
}
https://play.golang.org/p/BRTaTA5AG0S
Im using the following way of interface{} while im just consuming eventsI interface{} as arguments, im still able to send a Struct Pointers as you can see below.
func Wait(seconds float64) *WaitEvent {
return WaitEventCreate(seconds)
}
main.go
var introScene = []interface{}{
storyboard.Wait(5),
storyboard.Wait(2),
}
var storyboardI = storyboard.Create(stack, introScene)
stack.Push(&storyboardI)
Now inside storyboard.go file Create function
type Storyboard struct {
Stack *gui.StateStack
Events []interface{} //always keep as last args
}
func Create(stack *gui.StateStack, eventsI interface{}) Storyboard {
sb := Storyboard{
Stack: stack,
}
if eventsI != nil {
events := reflect.ValueOf(eventsI)
if events.Len() > 0 {
sb.Events = make([]interface{}, events.Len())
for i := 0; i < events.Len(); i++ {
sb.Events[i] = events.Index(i).Interface()
}
}
}
return sb
}
As you can see above the Storyboard.go is consuming just Events []interface{} but in-fact Im sending is a Struct pointer and it works fine.
another more example here

Using reflect, how do you set the value of a struct field?

having a rough time working with struct fields using reflect package. in particular, have not figured out how to set the field value.
type t struct { fi int; fs string }
var r t = t{ 123, "jblow" }
var i64 int64 = 456
getting Name of field i - this seems to work
var field = reflect.TypeOf(r).Field(i).Name
getting value of field i as a) interface{}, b) int - this seems to work
var iface interface{} = reflect.ValueOf(r).Field(i).Interface()
var i int = int(reflect.ValueOf(r).Field(i).Int())
setting value of field i - try one - panic
reflect.ValueOf(r).Field(i).SetInt( i64 )
panic: reflect.Value·SetInt using value obtained using unexported field
assuming it did not like field names "id" and "name", so renamed to "Id" and "Name"
a) is this assumption correct?
b) if correct, thought not necessary since in same file / package
setting value of field i - try two (with field names capitalized ) - panic
reflect.ValueOf(r).Field(i).SetInt( 465 )
reflect.ValueOf(r).Field(i).SetInt( i64 )
panic: reflect.Value·SetInt using unaddressable value
Instructions below by #peterSO are thorough and high quality
Four. this works:
reflect.ValueOf(&r).Elem().Field(i).SetInt( i64 )
he documents as well that the field names must be exportable (begin with capital letter)
The Go json package marshals and unmarshals JSON from and to Go structures.
Here's a step-by-step example which sets the value of a struct field while carefully avoiding errors.
The Go reflect package has a CanAddr function.
func (v Value) CanAddr() bool
CanAddr returns true if the value's
address can be obtained with Addr.
Such values are called addressable. A
value is addressable if it is an
element of a slice, an element of an
addressable array, a field of an
addressable struct, or the result of
dereferencing a pointer. If CanAddr
returns false, calling Addr will
panic.
The Go reflect package has a CanSet function, which, if true, implies that CanAddr is also true.
func (v Value) CanSet() bool
CanSet returns true if the value of v
can be changed. A Value can be changed
only if it is addressable and was not
obtained by the use of unexported
struct fields. If CanSet returns
false, calling Set or any
type-specific setter (e.g., SetBool,
SetInt64) will panic.
We need to make sure we can Set the struct field. For example,
package main
import (
"fmt"
"reflect"
)
func main() {
type t struct {
N int
}
var n = t{42}
// N at start
fmt.Println(n.N)
// pointer to struct - addressable
ps := reflect.ValueOf(&n)
// struct
s := ps.Elem()
if s.Kind() == reflect.Struct {
// exported field
f := s.FieldByName("N")
if f.IsValid() {
// A Value can be changed only if it is
// addressable and was not obtained by
// the use of unexported struct fields.
if f.CanSet() {
// change value of N
if f.Kind() == reflect.Int {
x := int64(7)
if !f.OverflowInt(x) {
f.SetInt(x)
}
}
}
}
}
// N at end
fmt.Println(n.N)
}
Output:
42
7
If we can be certain that all the error checks are unnecessary, the example simplifies to,
package main
import (
"fmt"
"reflect"
)
func main() {
type t struct {
N int
}
var n = t{42}
fmt.Println(n.N)
reflect.ValueOf(&n).Elem().FieldByName("N").SetInt(7)
fmt.Println(n.N)
}
BTW, Go is available as open source code. A good way to learn about reflection is to see how the core Go developers use it. For example, the Go fmt and json packages. The package documentation has links to the source code files under the heading Package files.
This seems to work:
package main
import (
"fmt"
"reflect"
)
type Foo struct {
Number int
Text string
}
func main() {
foo := Foo{123, "Hello"}
fmt.Println(int(reflect.ValueOf(foo).Field(0).Int()))
reflect.ValueOf(&foo).Elem().Field(0).SetInt(321)
fmt.Println(int(reflect.ValueOf(foo).Field(0).Int()))
}
Prints:
123
321

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