[serde] help on empty json + custom deserializer

#1

Hello people,
i am having problems with serde (deserialization).
here's the playground link: https://play.rust-lang.org/?version=stable&mode=debug&edition=2018&gist=c684bca43433c2dcabc6c4209f4a6e5f
i did put some comments in line 57

Basically I can't get the two json strings to work (one requires a custom deserializer, and in the other one i don't need the custom deserializer but it appear to be forced).

Can someone enlighten me on what I should do?

Thanks

#[macro_use]
extern crate serde_derive;

use serde_json::Result;

fn main() -> Result<()> {
    /*
    if let Data::Pusher {
        activity_timeout,
        socket_id,
    } = response.data
    {
        println!("{:#?}", activity_timeout);
    };
    */
    
    /*
    println!("{:#?}", response.data);

    let data3 = r#"
    {
        "data": [
                ["109.00000", "0.02563590"],
                ["109.00000", "0.03673540"]
        ],
        "event": "updated"
    }"#;

    let response: Response = serde_json::from_str(data3)?;
    println!("{:#?}", response);

    if let Data::Updated(a) = response.data {
        println!("{:#?}", a.first());
    };
    */

    let data4 = r#"
        {"data":"{\"activity_timeout\":120,\"socket_id\":\"blalba\"}","event":"pusher:connection_established"}
    "#;

    let response: Response = serde_json::from_str(data4)?;
    println!("{:#?}", response);

    let data5 = r#"
        {"channel":"test","event":"test:subscription_succeeded", "data": {}}
    "#;

    let response: Response = serde_json::from_str(data5)?;
    println!("{:#?}", response);

    Ok(())
}

#[derive(Deserialize, Debug)]
pub struct Response {
    event: String,
    // problem: data5 fails even if 'skip_serializing_if = "Map::is_empty"' is set
    // apparently the error comes from json_string
    #[serde(default, skip_serializing_if = "Map::is_empty", with = "json_string")]
    pub data: Option<Data>,
}

use std::collections::HashMap;

#[derive(Deserialize, Debug)]
#[serde(untagged)]
pub enum Data {
    Pusher {
        activity_timeout: u32,
        socket_id: String,
    },
    Updated(Vec<[String; 2]>),
}

mod json_string {
    use serde::de::{self, Deserialize, DeserializeOwned, Deserializer};
    use serde::ser::{self, Serialize, Serializer};
    use serde_json;

    pub fn serialize<T, S>(value: &T, serializer: S) -> Result<S::Ok, S::Error>
    where
        T: Serialize,
        S: Serializer,
    {
        let j = serde_json::to_string(value).map_err(ser::Error::custom)?;
        j.serialize(serializer)
    }

    pub fn deserialize<'de, T, D>(deserializer: D) -> Result<T, D::Error>
    where
        T: DeserializeOwned,
        D: Deserializer<'de>,
    {
        let j = String::deserialize(deserializer)?;
        serde_json::from_str(&j).map_err(de::Error::custom)
    }
}

(Playground)

Output:

Response {
    event: "pusher:connection_established",
    data: Some(
        Pusher {
            activity_timeout: 120,
            socket_id: "blalba",
        },
    ),
}

Errors:

   Compiling playground v0.0.1 (/playground)
warning: unused import: `std::collections::HashMap`
  --> src/main.rs:61:5
   |
61 | use std::collections::HashMap;
   |     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
   |
   = note: `#[warn(unused_imports)]` on by default

warning: function is never used: `serialize`
  --> src/main.rs:78:12
   |
78 |     pub fn serialize<T, S>(value: &T, serializer: S) -> Result<S::Ok, S::Error>
   |            ^^^^^^^^^
   |
   = note: `#[warn(dead_code)]` on by default

warning: 2 warnings emitted

    Finished dev [unoptimized + debuginfo] target(s) in 1.05s
     Running `target/debug/playground`
Error: Error("invalid type: map, expected a string", line: 2, column: 73)
#2

Did you mean to write

{"channel":"test","event":"test:subscription_succeeded", "data": "{}"}

(with "" around the data object)?

#3

solved it thanks to the help of a user (Sampersand, saved my day) via another channel (discord).
had to implement an enum inside the deserializer

mod json_string {
    use serde::de::{self, Deserialize, DeserializeOwned, Deserializer};
    use serde::ser::{self, Serialize, Serializer};
    use serde_json;

    pub fn serialize<T, S>(value: &T, serializer: S) -> Result<S::Ok, S::Error>
    where
        T: Serialize,
        S: Serializer,
    {
        let j = serde_json::to_string(value).map_err(ser::Error::custom)?;
        j.serialize(serializer)
    }

    #[derive(Deserialize)]
    #[serde(untagged)]
    enum DataOrString<T> {
        Data(T),
        Empty {},
        String(String),
    }

    pub fn deserialize<'de, T, D>(deserializer: D) -> Result<Option<T>, D::Error>
    where
        T: DeserializeOwned,
        D: Deserializer<'de>,
    {
        match DataOrString::deserialize(deserializer)? {
            DataOrString::Data(data) => Ok(data),
            DataOrString::Empty {} => Ok(None),
            DataOrString::String(data_string) => {
                serde_json::from_str(&data_string).map_err(de::Error::custom)
            }
        }
    }
}
#4

No, data came in as described.
Someone recommended the solution posted below.

Thanks for your help!