In this post, I am going to walkthrough the creation of a C++ mixin that will allow any structure to serialize itself to Json, using the magical power of Boost::Fusion.

To do this, you will need the following installed:

libboost-dev

The Json serializer will support any structure composed of the following:

Primitives

Arrays

Containers

Nested Structures

First, we need a test structure that we want to serialize to Json. It needs to include some arrays, containers, and nested structures to test all the abilities of the serializer:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 struct inner { int a ; double b ; bool c ; typedef std :: vector < int > vec_t ; vec_t d ; }; struct outer { int one ; double two ; bool three ; typedef inner array_t [ 2 ]; array_t array ; typedef std :: set < int > set_t ; set_t s ; typedef std :: map < int , int > map_t ; map_t m ; };

Boost::Fusion is a library that enables reflection in C++ with only a small amount of boilerplate. Pay careful attention to the use of () instead of {} , and the placement of the , :

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 BOOST_FUSION_ADAPT_STRUCT ( inner , ( int , a ) ( double , b ) ( bool , c ) ( inner :: vec_t , d ) ) BOOST_FUSION_ADAPT_STRUCT ( outer , ( int , one ) ( double , two ) ( bool , three ) ( outer :: array_t , array ) ( outer :: set_t , s ) ( outer :: map_t , m ) )

Next, we define a serializer for each meta-type that needs to be supported. Each serializer will take a reference to an output stream that will be appended to, a type to serialize, and the current recursion depth. The depth is useful for pretty-printing with the proper indentation. All four will start off following the same pattern before we complete the implementation:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 template < typename T > struct primitive_serializer { typedef primitive_serializer < T > type ; template < typename Ostream > static inline void serialize ( Ostream & os , T const & t , int depth ) { } }; template < typename T > struct array_serializer { typedef array_serializer < T > type ; template < typename Ostream > static inline void serialize ( Ostream & os , T const & t , int depth ) { } }; template < typename T > struct container_serializer { typedef container_serializer < T > type ; template < typename Ostream > static inline void serialize ( Ostream & os , T const & t , int depth ) { } }; template < typename T > struct struct_serializer { typedef struct_serializer < T > type ; template < typename Ostream > static inline void serialize ( Ostream & os , T const & t , int depth ) { } };

The primitive_serializer is the simplest one to implement, so lets start with that one. It will enclose the value in quotation marks and append it to the stream:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 template < typename T > struct primitive_serializer { typedef primitive_serializer < T > type ; template < typename Ostream > static inline void serialize ( Ostream & os , T const & t , int depth ) { os << " \" " << t << " \" " ; } };

Next, lets implement the array_serializer . We need to get the size of the array, and iterate over it while serializing each element. Notice the use of newlines and tabs, and the increase in the recursion depth; we want the Json output to be pretty, as opposed to compressed (Switching to a compressed version is as simple as removing the newlines, tabs, and whitespace). Finally, we want to insert commas between each element, but we don’t want a comma trailing after the final element:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 // Helper method for generating a tab as 3 spaces static inline std :: string tab ( int depth ) { std :: string retval ; for ( int i = 0 ; i < depth ; ++ i ){ retval += " " ;} return retval ; } template < typename T > struct array_serializer { typedef array_serializer < T > type ; // If T is an array type then removes the top level array qualifier from T, otherwise leaves T unchanged. // For example "int[2][3]" becomes "int[3]". typedef typename boost :: remove_bounds < T >:: type slice_t ; // Determine the size of the array by dividing out the size of its elements static const size_t size = sizeof ( T ) / sizeof ( slice_t ); template < typename Ostream > static inline void serialize ( Ostream & os , T const & t , int depth ) { // Indent the stream os << "

" + tab ( depth ) + "[" ; // For each element in the array for ( unsigned int i = 0 ; i < size ; ++ i ) { // Serialize the element json_serializer < slice_t >:: serialize ( os , t [ i ], depth + 1 ); // As long as we are not after the last element if ( i != size - 1 ) { // Add a comma separator os << ", " ; } } // Close the array representation os << "

" + tab ( depth ) + "]" ; } };

The container serializer is very similar; we use BOOST_FOREACH to do the iteration, and pull the value_type out of the container, but everything else is the same:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 template < typename T > struct container_serializer { typedef container_serializer < T > type ; template < typename Ostream > static inline void serialize ( Ostream & os , T const & t , int depth ) { os << "

" + tab ( depth ) + "[" ; // Use the container's size method std :: size_t size = t . size (); std :: size_t count = 0 ; // STL containers all have a "value_type" typedef BOOST_FOREACH ( typename T :: value_type const & v , t ) { // Serialize each value json_serializer < typename T :: value_type >:: serialize ( os , v , depth + 1 ); if ( count != size - 1 ) { os << ", " ; } // Keep track of the count so we can tell when a comma separator is needed ++ count ; } os << "

" + tab ( depth ) + "]" ; } };

The last serializer is the struct_serializer . This one is trickier. Structures are adapted as Boost::Fusion sequences by the boilerplate we defined above. A sequence is basically a vector, except each element can have a different type. In this case, the type/value pairs correspond directly with the members of the structure, and we can iterate over these members. We will accomplish this through recursion.

Before we get to the serializer, lets define some wrappers for interacting with the sequences in a friendlier way. We can get properties of the sequence as a whole, or we can get properties of a certain element in the sequence by using it’s index. You can even get an element’s member name and member type as a string (which is very handy when writing an XML serializer):

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 template < typename S > struct sequence { // Point to the first element typedef boost :: mpl :: int_ < 0 > begin ; // Point to the element after the last element in the sequence typedef typename boost :: fusion :: result_of :: size < S >:: type end ; // Point to the first element typedef boost :: mpl :: int_ < 0 > first ; // Point to the second element (for pairs) typedef boost :: mpl :: int_ < 1 > second ; // Point to the last element in the sequence typedef typename boost :: mpl :: prior < end >:: type last ; // Number of elements in the sequence typedef typename boost :: fusion :: result_of :: size < S >:: type size ; }; template < typename S , typename N > struct element_at { // Type of the element at this index typedef typename boost :: fusion :: result_of :: value_at < S , N >:: type type ; // Previous element typedef typename boost :: mpl :: prior < N >:: type previous ; // Next element typedef typename boost :: mpl :: next < N >:: type next ; // Member name of the element at this index static inline std :: string name ( void ) { return boost :: fusion :: extension :: struct_member_name < S , N :: value >:: call (); } // Type name of the element at this index static inline std :: string type_name ( void ) { return boost :: units :: detail :: demangle ( typeid ( type ). name ()); } // Access the element static inline typename boost :: fusion :: result_of :: at < S const , N >:: type get ( S const & s ) { return boost :: fusion :: at < N > ( s ); } };

Next we define the recursive struct serializer. The layout is similar to our other serializers, except this time there are two template parameters: the sequence and the element index.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 template < typename S , typename N > struct struct_serializer_recursive { template < typename Ostream > static inline void serialize ( Ostream & os , S const & s , int depth ) { } };

Using the above sequence helpers, we can obtain the type of the current element, and the index of the next element. We can also get the name of the element being serialized, it’s type, and it’s value:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 // Current element typedef typename element_at < S , N >:: type current_t ; // Next element typedef typename element_at < S , N >:: next next_t ; // Name of current element std :: string name = element_at < S , N >:: name (); // Value of current element current_t const & t = element_at < S , N >:: get ( s );

Structures will be represented as key/value pairs separated by commas. Each value might be an array, container, or nested structure; therefore we need to call the json_serializer on each element. The final step is to recurse to the next element of the sequence. So a complete implementation would look like this:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 template < typename S , typename N > struct struct_serializer_recursive { // Get the current and next elements typedef typename element_at < S , N >:: type current_t ; typedef typename element_at < S , N >:: next next_t ; template < typename Ostream > static inline void serialize ( Ostream & os , S const & s , int depth ) { // The name of the element is the key std :: string name = element_at < S , N >:: name (); // The element itself is the value current_t const & t = element_at < S , N >:: get ( s ); // Output the key os << "

" + tab ( depth ) + " \" " << name << " \" : " ; // Recursively output the value json_serializer < current_t >:: serialize ( os , t , depth ); // Add a separator for the next element // (Pay attention to this, we will revisit it later) os << ", " ; // Perform a recursive call to the next element struct_serializer_recursive < S , next_t >:: serialize ( os , s , depth ); } };

We need to define the base case to stop the recursion. To do this, we use template specialization for the last element of the sequence. Then, we initiate the recursion by calling into the first element of the sequence:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 // Specialize on the last element in the sequence template < typename S > struct struct_serializer_recursive < S , typename sequence < S >:: end > { template < typename Ostream > static inline void serialize ( Ostream & os , S const & s , int depth ) { // No output } }; // Initiate the recursion by calling into the first element template < typename S > struct struct_serializer_initiate : struct_serializer_recursive < S , typename sequence < S >:: begin > { };

With the help of these pieces, we can implement the struct_serializer :

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 template < typename T > struct struct_serializer { typedef struct_serializer < T > type ; template < typename Ostream > static inline void serialize ( Ostream & os , T const & t , int depth ) { // Begin recursing into the structure sequence os << "

" + tab ( depth ) + "{" ; struct_serializer_initiate < T >:: serialize ( os , t , depth + 1 ); os << "

" + tab ( depth ) + "}" ; } };

Now that all four serializers are implemented, we need a way to determine which one to use. To do this, we will utilize Boost’s type traits to determine the properties of each type. Boost provides type traits for arrays and classes (which we have adapted into sequences), as well as a hidden one that identifies containers. Anything left over is treated as a primitive. This can be accomplished with some metaprogramming magic and a series of if-then-else statements:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 template < typename T > struct choose_serializer { // Very large typedef, indented to show the different nested levels typedef typename boost :: mpl :: eval_if < boost :: is_array < T > , // If the type is an array, boost :: mpl :: identity < array_serializer < T > > , // use the array serializer typename boost :: mpl :: eval_if < boost :: spirit :: traits :: is_container < T > , // Otherwise, check to see if it is a container (using the hidden type-trait) boost :: mpl :: identity < container_serializer < T > > , // If so, use the container serializer typename boost :: mpl :: eval_if < boost :: is_class < T > , // Otherwise, check to see if it is a structure boost :: mpl :: identity < struct_serializer < T > > , // If so, use the structure serializer boost :: mpl :: identity < primitive_serializer < T > > // If all else fails, treat it as a primitive. > > >:: type type ; };

The last piece is to wrap all this code up into a json_serializer and utilize it with a mixin. The mixin uses CRTP in which a structure inherits from the mixin and passes itself in as the template parameter. The mixin can then cast itself to the class type and begin iterating over itself:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 // The json serializer adapts itself to the top level type template < typename T > struct json_serializer : public choose_serializer < T >:: type { }; // This is the mixin to inherit from template < typename T > struct json { // Returns the json representation of this class std :: string to_json ( void ) { // Serialize to a stringstream, convert booleans to strings. Start at a depth of 0. std :: stringstream ss ; json_serializer < T >:: serialize ( ss << std :: boolalpha , self (), 0 ); return ss . str (); } private : // Cast ourselves to the template parameter since this is a mixin via CRTP T const & self ( void ) const { return * static_cast < T const *> ( this ); } };

Time to test it out! Instantiate the structure and populate it. Remember to apply the mixin via inheritance ( struct outer : public json<outer> ):

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 int main ( int argc , char * argv []) { outer o ; o . one = 1 ; o . two = 2.2 ; o . three = false ; o . array [ 0 ]. a = 3 ; o . array [ 0 ]. b = 4.4 ; o . array [ 0 ]. c = true ; o . array [ 0 ]. d . push_back ( 11 ); o . array [ 0 ]. d . push_back ( 22 ); o . array [ 1 ]. a = 5 ; o . array [ 1 ]. b = 6.6 ; o . array [ 1 ]. c = false ; o . array [ 1 ]. d . push_back ( 33 ); o . array [ 1 ]. d . push_back ( 44 ); o . s . insert ( 55 ); o . s . insert ( 66 ); o . m [ 77 ] = 88 ; o . m [ 99 ] = 111 ; std :: cout << o . to_json (); std :: cout << std :: endl ; }

The resulting Json printed out looks like this:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 { "one" : "1" , "two" : "2.2" , "three" : "false" , "array" : [ { "a" : "3" , "b" : "4.4" , "c" : "true" , "d" : [ "11" , "22" ], }, { "a" : "5" , "b" : "6.6" , "c" : "false" , "d" : [ "33" , "44" ], } ], "s" : [ "55" , "66" ], "m" : [ { "first" : "77" , "second" : "88" , }, { "first" : "99" , "second" : "111" , } ], }

Close, but not quite. There are multiple issues:

Arrays are formatted goofy (lines 12, 20, 25)

Trailing commas (lines 21, 37)

The map is represented as an array of pairs (lines 29-36)

Fortunately, these issues are easily fixed.

The first issue is caused by the primitive_serializer not adding newlines for array values. This can be fixed with an extra boolean parameter that gets set when calling it from the array_serializer . You will find that you also want to set this extra parameter to true when calling from the container_serializer , since the containers are formatted as arrays. Note that all the serializer signatures need to be updated so they match, as well as each call to the serializer.:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 template < typename T > struct primitive_serializer { typedef primitive_serializer < T > type ; template < typename Ostream > static inline void serialize ( Ostream & os , T const & t , int depth , bool array_value ) { // Put in tabs if this is a value from an array (called from an array serializer) if ( array_value ) { os << "

" + tab ( depth ) + " \" " << t << " \" " ; } else { os << " \" " << t << " \" " ; } } };

Fixing the second issue (trailing commas) involves a little more template magic. The problem is caused by the comma being added inside struct_serializer_recursive . A comma is added just before the recursion hits the base case and stops. Instead, we should conditionally add this comma, but skip that step on the last element. To do this, we outsource the comma-insertion to a functor and specialize it for the last element:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 // Return a proper comma separator for any element in the sequence. template < typename S , typename N > struct separator { static inline std :: string comma () { return "," ; } }; // Specialize on the last element and prevent a comma from being returned. template < typename S > struct separator < S , typename sequence < S >:: last > { static inline std :: string comma () { return "" ; } };

Now os << ", "; can be replaced with os << separator<S, N>::comma(); .

The third issue is caused by the map container’s value_type being a pair. Boost is kind enough to adapt pairs into structures for us, but the output isn’t quite the way we want it. Instead, we want first to be treated as the key, and second to be treated as the value. To fix this, we make a modified copy of struct_serializer_recursive for pairs that doesn’t access the member name…

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 template < typename S , typename N > struct pair_serializer_recursive { typedef typename element_at < S , N >:: type current_t ; typedef typename element_at < S , N >:: next next_t ; template < typename Ostream > static inline void serialize ( Ostream & os , S const & s , int depth , bool array_value , bool pair ) { // For pairs, the member name will be "first" or "second". // Instead, treat the value of "first" as the key current_t const & t = element_at < S , N >:: get ( s ); os << "

" + tab ( depth ) + " \" " << t << " \" : " ; // Then recurse and treat the value of "second" as the value pair_serializer_recursive < S , next_t >:: serialize ( os , s , depth , false , false ); } }; // Specialize on the second element of the pair to stop the recursion template < typename S > struct pair_serializer_recursive < S , typename sequence < S >:: second > { typedef typename element_at < S , typename sequence < S >:: second >:: type current_t ; template < typename Ostream > static inline void serialize ( Ostream & os , S const & s , int depth , bool array_value , bool pair ) { current_t const & t = element_at < S , typename sequence < S >:: second >:: get ( s ); // Mimic the primitive serializer os << " \" " << t << " \" " ; } }; // Initiate the recursion template < typename T > struct pair_serializer_initiate : public pair_serializer_recursive < T , typename sequence < T >:: begin > { };

…specialize the container_serializer for std::map to change the boolean flags being set on the serializer…

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 // Specialize the container serializer on std::map template < typename K , typename V , typename C , typename A > struct container_serializer < std :: map < K , V , C , A > > { typedef std :: map < K , V , C , A > T ; typedef container_serializer < T > type ; template < typename Ostream > static inline void serialize ( Ostream & os , T const & t , int depth , bool array_value , bool pair ) { os << "

" + tab ( depth ) + "{" ; std :: size_t size = t . size (); std :: size_t count = 0 ; BOOST_FOREACH ( typename T :: value_type v , t ) { // This will end up calling the structure serializer, but we set the "pair" flag to true json_serializer < typename T :: value_type >:: serialize ( os , v , depth + 1 , true , true ); if ( count != size - 1 ) { os << ", " ; } ++ count ; } os << "

" + tab ( depth ) + "}" ; } };

…and conditonally use the pair_serializer inside the struct_serializer :

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 template < typename T > struct struct_serializer { typedef struct_serializer < T > type ; template < typename Ostream > static inline void serialize ( Ostream & os , T const & t , int depth , bool array_value , bool pair ) { // If being called from the std::map specialization of the container serializer, // we should treat the values as pairs, so forward to the appropriate serializer if ( pair ) { pair_serializer_initiate < T >:: serialize ( os , t , depth , false , false ); } else { os << "

" + tab ( depth ) + "{" ; struct_serializer_initiate < T >:: serialize ( os , t , depth + 1 , false , false ); os << "

" + tab ( depth ) + "}" ; } } };

Unfortunately, this means we needed to add another boolean parameter for our serialize function (and all serializers must do this so the signatures all match). After all that, we get the following Json output:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 { "one" : "1" , "two" : "2.2" , "three" : "false" , "array" : [ { "a" : "3" , "b" : "4.4" , "c" : "true" , "d" : [ "11" , "22" ] }, { "a" : "5" , "b" : "6.6" , "c" : "false" , "d" : [ "33" , "44" ] } ], "s" : [ "55" , "66" ], "m" : { "77" : "88" , "99" : "111" } }

It validates! While it is quite a bit, the nice thing is that all a user needs to do is perform the fusion adaption of their structure and inherit from the mixin; the rest is hidden behind the scenes. Hopefully you learned some cool C++ tricks from this.

This post was inspired by Andres Senac.