Flattening JSON when keys are known only at runtime

Question

Let\'s say we have a JSON structure like the following (commonly used in Firebase\'s Realtime Database):

{
  \"18348b9b-9a49-4e04-ac35-37e38a8db1e2\": {
             


        

Answer 1

A couple things before I answer your question:

1: The comment (// id) makes the JSON invalid. JSON does not allow comments.

2: Where does the id property in BoringEntity come from?

struct BoringEntity: Decodable {
    let id: String          // where is it stored in the JSON???
    let isActive: Bool
    let age: Int
    let company: String
}

---

If I overlook these things, you can wrap the array of BoringEntity in a struct (BoringEntities). Using [BoringEntity] directly is not advisable since you have to overshadow the default init(from decoder:) of Array.

The trick here is to make JSONDecoder gives you back the list of keys via the container.allKeys property:

struct BoringEntity: Decodable {
    let isActive: Bool
    let age: Int
    let company: String
}

struct BoringEntities: Decodable {
    var entities = [BoringEntity]()

    // This really is just a stand-in to make the compiler happy.
    // It doesn't actually do anything.
    private struct PhantomKeys: CodingKey {
        var intValue: Int?
        var stringValue: String 
        init?(intValue: Int) { self.intValue = intValue; self.stringValue = "\(intValue)" }
        init?(stringValue: String) { self.stringValue = stringValue }
    }

    init(from decoder: Decoder) throws {
        let container = try decoder.container(keyedBy: PhantomKeys.self)

        for key in container.allKeys {
            let entity = try container.decode(BoringEntity.self, forKey: key)
            entities.append(entity)
        }
    }
}

Usage:

let jsonData = """
{
  "18348b9b-9a49-4e04-ac35-37e38a8db1e2": {
    "isActive": false,
    "age": 29,
    "company": "BALOOBA"
  },
  "20aca96e-663a-493c-8e9b-cb7b8272f817": {
    "isActive": false,
    "age": 39,
    "company": "QUONATA"
  },
  "bd0c389b-2736-481a-9cf0-170600d36b6d": {
    "isActive": false,
    "age": 35,
    "company": "EARTHMARK"
  }
}
""".data(using: .utf8)!

let entities = try JSONDecoder().decode(BoringEntities.self, from: jsonData).entities

Answer 2

Base entity:

struct BoringEntity: Decodable {
    let id: String
    let isActive: Bool
    let age: Int
    let company: String
}

---

Solution 1: Using an extra struct without the key

/// Incomplete BoringEntity version to make Decodable conformance possible.
private struct BoringEntityBare: Decodable {
    let isActive: Bool
    let age: Int
    let company: String
}

// Decode to aux struct
private let decoded = try! JSONDecoder().decode([String : BoringEntityBare].self, from: jsonData)
// Map aux entities to BoringEntity
let entities = decoded.map { BoringEntity(id: $0.key, isActive: $0.value.isActive, age: $0.value.age, company: $0.value.company) }
print(entities)

---

Solution 2: Using a wrapper

Thanks to Code Different I was able to combine my approach with his PhantomKeys idea, but there's no way around it: an extra entity must always be used.

struct BoringEntities: Decodable {
    var entities = [BoringEntity]()

    // This really is just a stand-in to make the compiler happy.
    // It doesn't actually do anything.
    private struct PhantomKeys: CodingKey {
        var intValue: Int?
        var stringValue: String
        init?(intValue: Int) { self.intValue = intValue; self.stringValue = "\(intValue)" }
        init?(stringValue: String) { self.stringValue = stringValue }
    }

    private enum BareKeys: String, CodingKey {
        case isActive, age, company
    }

    init(from decoder: Decoder) throws {
        let container = try decoder.container(keyedBy: PhantomKeys.self)

        // There's only one key
        for key in container.allKeys {
            let aux = try container.nestedContainer(keyedBy: BareKeys.self, forKey: key)

            let age = try aux.decode(Int.self, forKey: .age)
            let company = try aux.decode(String.self, forKey: .company)
            let isActive = try aux.decode(Bool.self, forKey: .isActive)

            let entity = BoringEntity(id: key.stringValue, isActive: isActive, age: age, company: company)
            entities.append(entity)
        }
    }
}

let entities = try JSONDecoder().decode(BoringEntities.self, from: jsonData).entities
print(entities)