Files
deb-python-colander/docs/manipulation.rst
2012-09-18 08:09:41 +00:00

117 lines
3.4 KiB
ReStructuredText

.. _manipulating_data_structures:
Manipulating Data Structures
============================
Colander schemas have some utility functions which can be used to manipulate
an :term:`appstruct` or a :term:`cstruct`. Nested data structures can be
flattened into a single dictionary or a single flattened dictionary can be used
to produce a nested data structure. Values of particular nodes can also be set
or retrieved based on a flattened path spec.
Flattening a Data Structure
---------------------------
:meth:`colander.SchemaNode.flatten` can be used to convert a datastructure with
nested dictionaries and/or lists into a single flattened dictionary where each
key in the dictionary is a dotted name path to the node in the nested structure.
Consider the following schema:
.. code-block:: python
:linenos:
import colander
class Friend(colander.TupleSchema):
rank = colander.SchemaNode(colander.Int(),
validator=colander.Range(0, 9999))
name = colander.SchemaNode(colander.String())
class Phone(colander.MappingSchema):
location = colander.SchemaNode(colander.String(),
validator=colander.OneOf(['home', 'work']))
number = colander.SchemaNode(colander.String())
class Friends(colander.SequenceSchema):
friend = Friend()
class Phones(colander.SequenceSchema):
phone = Phone()
class Person(colander.MappingSchema):
name = colander.SchemaNode(colander.String())
age = colander.SchemaNode(colander.Int(),
validator=colander.Range(0, 200))
friends = Friends()
phones = Phones()
Consider also a particular serialization of data using that schema:
.. code-block:: python
:linenos:
appstruct = {
'name':'keith',
'age':20,
'friends':[(1, 'jim'),(2, 'bob'), (3, 'joe'), (4, 'fred')],
'phones':[{'location':'home', 'number':'555-1212'},
{'location':'work', 'number':'555-8989'},],
}
This data can be flattened:
.. code-block:: python
:linenos:
schema = Person()
fstruct = schema.flatten(appstruct)
The resulting flattened structure would look like this:
.. code-block:: python
:linenos:
{
'name': 'keith',
'age': 20,
'friends.0.rank': 1,
'friends.0.name': 'jim',
'friends.1.rank': 2,
'friends.1.name': 'bob',
'friends.2.rank': 3,
'friends.2.name': 'joe',
'friends.3.rank': 4,
'friends.3.name': 'fred',
'phones.0.location': 'home',
'phones.0.number': '555-1212',
'phones.1.location': 'work',
'phones.1.number': '555-8989',
}
The process can be reversed using :meth:`colandar.SchemaNode.unflatten`:
.. code-block:: python
:linenos:
appstruct = schema.unflatten(fstruct)
Either an :term:`appstruct` or a :term:`cstruct` can be flattened or unflattened
in this way.
Accessing and Mutating Nodes in a Data Structure
------------------------------------------------
:attr:`colander.SchemaNode.get_value` and :attr:`colander.SchemaNode.set_value`
can be used to access and mutate nodes in an :term:`appstruct` or
:term:`cstruct`. Using the example from above:
.. code-block:: python
:linenos:
# How much do I like Joe?
rank = schema.get_value(appstruct, 'friends.2.rank')
# Joe bought me beer. Let's promote Joe.
schema.set_value(appstruct, 'friends.2.rank', rank + 5000)