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4 changes: 2 additions & 2 deletions README.md
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Expand Up @@ -839,9 +839,9 @@ Some important things:

#### Simplify your life with macros

If you just want to serialize/deserialize some structs, the `to_json`/`from_json` functions can be a lot of boilerplate. There are [**several macros**](https://json.nlohmann.me/features/arbitrary_types/#simplify-your-life-with-macros) to make your life easier as long as you (1) want to use a JSON object as serialization and (2) want to use the member variable names as object keys in that object.
If you just want to serialize/deserialize some structs, the `to_json`/`from_json` functions can be a lot of boilerplate. There are [**several macros**](https://json.nlohmann.me/api/macros/#serializationdeserialization-macros) to make your life easier as long as you want to use a dedicated DTO for JSON serialization.

Which macro to choose depends on whether private member variables need to be accessed, a deserialization is needed, missing values should yield an error or should be replaced by default values, and if derived classes are used. See [this overview to choose the right one for your use case](https://json.nlohmann.me/api/macros/#serializationdeserialization-macros).
Which macro to choose depends on whether private member variables need to be accessed, a deserialization is needed, missing values should yield an error or should be replaced by default values, and if derived classes are used. See [this overview to choose the right one for your use case](https://json.nlohmann.me/features/arbitrary_types/#simplify-your-life-with-macros).

##### Example usage of macros

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25 changes: 25 additions & 0 deletions docs/mkdocs/docs/api/macros/index.md
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Expand Up @@ -81,3 +81,28 @@ header. See also the [macro overview page](../../features/macros.md).
a derived class; uses default values
- [**NLOHMANN_DEFINE_DERIVED_TYPE_NON_INTRUSIVE_ONLY_SERIALIZE**](nlohmann_define_derived_type.md) - serialize a derived
class
- [**NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_INTRUSIVE_WITH_NAMES**](nlohmann_define_type_with_names.md) - serialize/deserialize a non-derived class
with private members; uses custom names
- [**NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_INTRUSIVE_WITH_DEFAULT_WITH_NAMES**](nlohmann_define_type_with_names.md) - serialize/deserialize a
non-derived class with private members; uses default values; uses custom names
- [**NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_INTRUSIVE_ONLY_SERIALIZE_WITH_NAMES**](nlohmann_define_type_with_names.md) - serialize a non-derived class
with private members; uses custom names
- [**NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_NON_INTRUSIVE_WITH_NAMES**](nlohmann_define_type_with_names.md) - serialize/deserialize a non-derived
class; uses custom names
- [**NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_NON_INTRUSIVE_WITH_DEFAULT_WITH_NAMES**](nlohmann_define_type_with_names.md) - serialize/deserialize a
non-derived class; uses default values; uses custom names
- [**NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_NON_INTRUSIVE_ONLY_SERIALIZE_WITH_NAMES**](nlohmann_define_type_with_names.md) - serialize a
non-derived class; uses custom names

- [**NLOHMANN_DEFINE_DERIVED_TYPE_INTRUSIVE_WITH_NAMES**](nlohmann_define_type_with_names.md) - serialize/deserialize a derived class
with private members; uses custom names
- [**NLOHMANN_DEFINE_DERIVED_TYPE_INTRUSIVE_WITH_DEFAULT_WITH_NAMES**](nlohmann_define_type_with_names.md) - serialize/deserialize a
derived class with private members; uses default values; uses custom names
- [**NLOHMANN_DEFINE_DERIVED_TYPE_INTRUSIVE_ONLY_SERIALIZE_WITH_NAMES**](nlohmann_define_type_with_names.md) - serialize a derived
class with private members; uses custom names
- [**NLOHMANN_DEFINE_DERIVED_TYPE_NON_INTRUSIVE_WITH_NAMES**](nlohmann_define_type_with_names.md) - serialize/deserialize a derived
class; uses custom names
- [**NLOHMANN_DEFINE_DERIVED_TYPE_NON_INTRUSIVE_WITH_DEFAULT_WITH_NAMES**](nlohmann_define_type_with_names.md) - serialize/deserialize
a derived class; uses default values; uses custom names
- [**NLOHMANN_DEFINE_DERIVED_TYPE_NON_INTRUSIVE_ONLY_SERIALIZE_WITH_NAMES**](nlohmann_define_type_with_names.md) - serialize a derived
class
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Expand Up @@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ See examples below for the concrete generated code.
!!! warning "Implementation limits"

- The current implementation is limited to at most 63 member variables. If you want to serialize/deserialize types
with more than 64 member variables, you need to define the `to_json`/`from_json` functions manually.
with more than 63 member variables, you need to define the `to_json`/`from_json` functions manually.

## Examples

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Expand Up @@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ See examples below for the concrete generated code.
!!! warning "Implementation limits"

- The current implementation is limited to at most 63 member variables. If you want to serialize/deserialize types
with more than 64 member variables, you need to define the `to_json`/`from_json` functions manually.
with more than 63 member variables, you need to define the `to_json`/`from_json` functions manually.

## Examples

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Expand Up @@ -33,14 +33,14 @@ For further information please refer to the corresponding macros without `WITH_N
: name of the base type (class, struct) `type` is derived from (used only in `DEFINE_DERIVED_TYPE` macros)
`json_member_name` (in)
: used in named conversion macros, must be provided for each member variable and will be used as a member variable name in the resulting json
: json name that will be used for the next member variable
`member` (in)
: name of the member variable to serialize/deserialize
## Examples
??? example "Example (1): NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_NON_INTRUSIVE"
??? example "Example (1): NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_NON_INTRUSIVE_WITH_NAMES"
Consider the following complete example:
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85 changes: 49 additions & 36 deletions docs/mkdocs/docs/features/arbitrary_types.md
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Expand Up @@ -85,43 +85,26 @@ Some important things:

If you just want to serialize/deserialize some structs, the `to_json`/`from_json` functions can be a lot of boilerplate.

There are six macros to make your life easier as long as you (1) want to use a JSON object as serialization and (2) want to use the member variable names as object keys in that object:

- [`NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_NON_INTRUSIVE(name, member1, member2, ...)`](../api/macros/nlohmann_define_type_non_intrusive.md) is to be defined inside the namespace of the class/struct to create code for. It will throw an exception in `from_json()` due to a missing value in the JSON object.
- [`NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_NON_INTRUSIVE_WITH_DEFAULT(name, member1, member2, ...)`](../api/macros/nlohmann_define_type_non_intrusive.md) is to be defined inside the namespace of the class/struct to create code for. It will not throw an exception in `from_json()` due to a missing value in the JSON object, but fills in values from object which is default-constructed by the type.
- [`NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_NON_INTRUSIVE_ONLY_SERIALIZE(name, member1, member2, ...)`](../api/macros/nlohmann_define_type_non_intrusive.md) is to be defined inside the namespace of the class/struct to create code for. It does not define a `from_json()` function which is needed in case the type does not have a default constructor.
- [`NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_INTRUSIVE(name, member1, member2, ...)`](../api/macros/nlohmann_define_type_intrusive.md) is to be defined inside the class/struct to create code for. This macro can also access private members. It will throw an exception in `from_json()` due to a missing value in the JSON object.
- [`NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_INTRUSIVE_WITH_DEFAULT(name, member1, member2, ...)`](../api/macros/nlohmann_define_type_intrusive.md) is to be defined inside the class/struct to create code for. This macro can also access private members. It will not throw an exception in `from_json()` due to a missing value in the JSON object, but fills in values from object which is default-constructed by the type.
- [`NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_INTRUSIVE_ONLY_SERIALIZE(name, member1, member2, ...)`](../api/macros/nlohmann_define_type_intrusive.md) is to be defined inside the class/struct to create code for. This macro can also access private members. It does not define a `from_json()` function which is needed in case the type does not have a default constructor.

Furthermore, there exist versions to use in case of derived classes:

| Need access to private members | Need only de-serialization | Allow missing values when de-serializing | macro |
|------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| <div style="color: green;">:octicons-check-circle-fill-24:</div> | <div style="color: red;">:octicons-x-circle-fill-24:</div> | <div style="color: red;">:octicons-x-circle-fill-24:</div> | [**NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_INTRUSIVE**](../api/macros/nlohmann_define_type_intrusive.md) |
| <div style="color: green;">:octicons-check-circle-fill-24:</div> | <div style="color: red;">:octicons-x-circle-fill-24:</div> | <div style="color: green;">:octicons-check-circle-fill-24:</div> | [**NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_INTRUSIVE_WITH_DEFAULT**](../api/macros/nlohmann_define_type_intrusive.md) |
| <div style="color: green;">:octicons-check-circle-fill-24:</div> | <div style="color: green;">:octicons-check-circle-fill-24:</div> | <div style="color: grey;">:octicons-skip-fill-24:</div> | [**NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_INTRUSIVE_ONLY_SERIALIZE**](../api/macros/nlohmann_define_type_intrusive.md) |
| <div style="color: red;">:octicons-x-circle-fill-24:</div> | <div style="color: red;">:octicons-x-circle-fill-24:</div> | <div style="color: red;">:octicons-x-circle-fill-24:</div> | [**NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_NON_INTRUSIVE**](../api/macros/nlohmann_define_type_non_intrusive.md) |
| <div style="color: red;">:octicons-x-circle-fill-24:</div> | <div style="color: red;">:octicons-x-circle-fill-24:</div> | <div style="color: green;">:octicons-check-circle-fill-24:</div> | [**NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_NON_INTRUSIVE_WITH_DEFAULT**](../api/macros/nlohmann_define_type_non_intrusive.md) |
| <div style="color: red;">:octicons-x-circle-fill-24:</div> | <div style="color: green;">:octicons-check-circle-fill-24:</div> | <div style="color: grey;">:octicons-skip-fill-24:</div> | [**NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_NON_INTRUSIVE_ONLY_SERIALIZE**](../api/macros/nlohmann_define_type_non_intrusive.md) |

For _derived_ classes and structs, use the following macros

| Need access to private members | Need only de-serialization | Allow missing values when de-serializing | macro |
|------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| <div style="color: green;">:octicons-check-circle-fill-24:</div> | <div style="color: red;">:octicons-x-circle-fill-24:</div> | <div style="color: red;">:octicons-x-circle-fill-24:</div> | [**NLOHMANN_DEFINE_DERIVED_TYPE_INTRUSIVE**](../api/macros/nlohmann_define_derived_type.md) |
| <div style="color: green;">:octicons-check-circle-fill-24:</div> | <div style="color: red;">:octicons-x-circle-fill-24:</div> | <div style="color: green;">:octicons-check-circle-fill-24:</div> | [**NLOHMANN_DEFINE_DERIVED_TYPE_INTRUSIVE_WITH_DEFAULT**](../api/macros/nlohmann_define_derived_type.md) |
| <div style="color: green;">:octicons-check-circle-fill-24:</div> | <div style="color: green;">:octicons-check-circle-fill-24:</div> | <div style="color: grey;">:octicons-skip-fill-24:</div> | [**NLOHMANN_DEFINE_DERIVED_TYPE_INTRUSIVE_ONLY_SERIALIZE**](../api/macros/nlohmann_define_derived_type.md) |
| <div style="color: red;">:octicons-x-circle-fill-24:</div> | <div style="color: red;">:octicons-x-circle-fill-24:</div> | <div style="color: red;">:octicons-x-circle-fill-24:</div> | [**NLOHMANN_DEFINE_DERIVED_TYPE_NON_INTRUSIVE**](../api/macros/nlohmann_define_derived_type.md) |
| <div style="color: red;">:octicons-x-circle-fill-24:</div> | <div style="color: red;">:octicons-x-circle-fill-24:</div> | <div style="color: green;">:octicons-check-circle-fill-24:</div> | [**NLOHMANN_DEFINE_DERIVED_TYPE_NON_INTRUSIVE_WITH_DEFAULT**](../api/macros/nlohmann_define_derived_type.md) |
| <div style="color: red;">:octicons-x-circle-fill-24:</div> | <div style="color: green;">:octicons-check-circle-fill-24:</div> | <div style="color: grey;">:octicons-skip-fill-24:</div> | [**NLOHMANN_DEFINE_DERIVED_TYPE_NON_INTRUSIVE_ONLY_SERIALIZE**](../api/macros/nlohmann_define_derived_type.md) |
There are several macros to make your life easier as long as you want to use a dedicated DTO for JSON serialization. The macros are following the naming pattern, and you can chose the macro based on the needed features:

- All the macros start with `NLOHMANN_DEFINE`.
- If you want a macro for the derived object, use the [`DERIVED_TYPE`](../api/macros/nlohmann_define_derived_type.md) variant, otherwise use `TYPE`.
- The `DERIVED_TYPE` variant requires an additional parameter of a base type, which should have the `to_json`/`from_json` functions defined. For instance, with a macro of its own.
- If you need access to the private fields use [`INTRUSIVE`](../api/macros/nlohmann_define_type_intrusive.md) variant, otherwise use [`NON_INTRUSIVE`](../api/macros/nlohmann_define_type_non_intrusive.md).
- The `INTRUSIVE` macro should be defined **inside** the target class/struct, `NON_INTRUSIVE` should be defined within the same namespace.
- If you want to deserialize the incomplete JSONs, use the `WITH_DEFAULTS` variant, which will use the default values for the member variables absent in JSON, the variant without `WITH_DEFAULTS` will raise an exception.
- If you do not need deserialization at all and only interested in `to_json` function, you can use the `ONLY_SERIALIZE` variant.
- If you want to use the custom JSON names for member variables, use [`WITH_NAMES`](../api/macros/nlohmann_define_type_with_names.md) variant, otherwise the JSON name of the variable will be the same as its regular name.

For all the macros, the first parameter is the name of the class/struct. The `DERIVED_TYPE` macros require a second parameter of a base class. All the remaining parameters name the member variables. The `WITH_NAMES` macros require a JSON name before each of the variables.

!!! info "Implementation limits"

- The current macro implementations are limited to at most 64 member variables. If you want to serialize/deserialize
types with more than 64 member variables, you need to define the `to_json`/`from_json` functions manually.
- The current macro implementations are limited to at most 63 member variables. If you want to serialize/deserialize
types with more than 63 member variables, you need to define the `to_json`/`from_json` functions manually.
- For the `WITH_NAMES` variants the limit is halved to 31 member variables.

??? example
??? examples

The `to_json`/`from_json` functions for the `person` struct above can be created with:

Expand All @@ -131,21 +114,51 @@ For _derived_ classes and structs, use the following macros
}
```

Here is an example with private members, where `NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_INTRUSIVE` is needed:

If you want to inherit the `person` struct and add a field to it, it can be done with:

```cpp
namespace ns {
struct person_derived : person {
std:string email;
};

NLOHMANN_DEFINE_DERIVED_TYPE_NON_INTRUSIVE(person_derived, person, email)
}
```

Here is another example with private members, where `NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_INTRUSIVE` is needed:

```cpp
namespace ns {
class address {
private:
std::string street;
int housenumber;
int postcode;

public:
NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_INTRUSIVE(address, street, housenumber, postcode)
};
}
```

Or in case if you use some naming convention that you do not want to expose to JSON:

```cpp
namespace ns {
class address {
private:
std::string m_street;
int m_housenumber;
int m_postcode;

public:
NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_INTRUSIVE_WITH_NAMES(address, "street", m_street,
"housenumber", m_housenumber,
"postcode", m_postcode)
};
}
```

## How do I convert third-party types?

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2 changes: 1 addition & 1 deletion docs/mkdocs/mkdocs.yml
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Expand Up @@ -284,7 +284,7 @@ nav:
- 'NLOHMANN_DEFINE_DERIVED_TYPE_INTRUSIVE, NLOHMANN_DEFINE_DERIVED_TYPE_INTRUSIVE_WITH_DEFAULT, NLOHMANN_DEFINE_DERIVED_TYPE_INTRUSIVE_ONLY_SERIALIZE, NLOHMANN_DEFINE_DERIVED_TYPE_NON_INTRUSIVE, NLOHMANN_DEFINE_DERIVED_TYPE_NON_INTRUSIVE_WITH_DEFAULT, NLOHMANN_DEFINE_DERIVED_TYPE_NON_INTRUSIVE_ONLY_SERIALIZE': api/macros/nlohmann_define_derived_type.md
- 'NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_INTRUSIVE, NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_INTRUSIVE_WITH_DEFAULT, NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_INTRUSIVE_ONLY_SERIALIZE': api/macros/nlohmann_define_type_intrusive.md
- 'NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_NON_INTRUSIVE, NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_NON_INTRUSIVE_WITH_DEFAULT, NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_NON_INTRUSIVE_ONLY_SERIALIZE': api/macros/nlohmann_define_type_non_intrusive.md
- 'NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_INTRUSIVE_WITH_NAMES', 'NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_INTRUSIVE_WITH_DEFAULT_WITH_NAMES', 'NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_INTRUSIVE_ONLY_SERIALIZE_WITH_NAMES', 'NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_NON_INTRUSIVE_WITH_NAMES', 'NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_NON_INTRUSIVE_WITH_DEFAULT_WITH_NAMES', 'NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_NON_INTRUSIVE_ONLY_SERIALIZE_WITH_NAMES', 'NLOHMANN_DEFINE_DERIVED_TYPE_INTRUSIVE_WITH_NAMES', 'NLOHMANN_DEFINE_DERIVED_TYPE_INTRUSIVE_WITH_DEFAULT_WITH_NAMES', 'NLOHMANN_DEFINE_DERIVED_TYPE_INTRUSIVE_ONLY_SERIALIZE_WITH_NAMES', 'NLOHMANN_DEFINE_DERIVED_TYPE_NON_INTRUSIVE_WITH_NAMES', 'NLOHMANN_DEFINE_DERIVED_TYPE_NON_INTRUSIVE_WITH_DEFAULT_WITH_NAMES', 'NLOHMANN_DEFINE_DERIVED_TYPE_NON_INTRUSIVE_ONLY_SERIALIZE_WITH_NAMES'
- 'NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_INTRUSIVE_WITH_NAMES, NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_INTRUSIVE_WITH_DEFAULT_WITH_NAMES, NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_INTRUSIVE_ONLY_SERIALIZE_WITH_NAMES, NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_NON_INTRUSIVE_WITH_NAMES, NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_NON_INTRUSIVE_WITH_DEFAULT_WITH_NAMES, NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_NON_INTRUSIVE_ONLY_SERIALIZE_WITH_NAMES, NLOHMANN_DEFINE_DERIVED_TYPE_INTRUSIVE_WITH_NAMES, NLOHMANN_DEFINE_DERIVED_TYPE_INTRUSIVE_WITH_DEFAULT_WITH_NAMES, NLOHMANN_DEFINE_DERIVED_TYPE_INTRUSIVE_ONLY_SERIALIZE_WITH_NAMES, NLOHMANN_DEFINE_DERIVED_TYPE_NON_INTRUSIVE_WITH_NAMES, NLOHMANN_DEFINE_DERIVED_TYPE_NON_INTRUSIVE_WITH_DEFAULT_WITH_NAMES, NLOHMANN_DEFINE_DERIVED_TYPE_NON_INTRUSIVE_ONLY_SERIALIZE_WITH_NAMES': api/macros/nlohmann_define_type_with_names.md
- 'NLOHMANN_JSON_NAMESPACE': api/macros/nlohmann_json_namespace.md
- 'NLOHMANN_JSON_NAMESPACE_BEGIN, NLOHMANN_JSON_NAMESPACE_END': api/macros/nlohmann_json_namespace_begin.md
- 'NLOHMANN_JSON_NAMESPACE_NO_VERSION': api/macros/nlohmann_json_namespace_no_version.md
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