Rich arrays

docs/examples/reference0.nim

@@ -18,11 +18,8 @@ type
 var conf = defaultJsonReaderConf
 conf.nestedDepthLimit = 0
 
-let native =
-  Json.decode(rawJson, NimServer, flags = defaultJsonReaderFlags, conf = conf)
-
 # decode into native Nim
-#let native = Json.decode(rawJson, NimServer)
+let native = Json.decode(rawJson, NimServer)
 
 # decode into mixed Nim + JsonValueRef
 let mixed = Json.decode(rawJson, MixedServer)

docs/examples/streamwrite0.nim

@@ -0,0 +1,18 @@
+import json_serialization, faststreams/outputs
+
+let file = fileOutput("output.json")
+var writer = JsonWriter[DefaultFlavor].init(file, pretty = true)
+
+writer.beginArray()
+
+for i in 0 ..< 2:
+  writer.beginObjectElement()
+
+  writer.writeMember("id", i)
+  writer.writeMember("name", "item" & $i)
+
+  writer.endObjectElement()
+
+writer.endArray()
+
+file.close()

docs/examples/streamwrite1.nim

@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+import json_serialization, faststreams/outputs
+
+let file = fileOutput("output.json")
+var writer = JsonWriter[DefaultFlavor].init(file)
+
+# ANCHOR: Nesting
+writer.writeObject:
+  writer.writeMember("status", "ok")
+  writer.writeArrayMember("data"):
+    for i in 0 ..< 2:
+      writer.writeObjectElement:
+        writer.writeMember("id", i)
+        writer.writeMember("name", "item" & $i)
+# ANCHOR_END: Nesting
+
+file.close()

docs/src/SUMMARY.md

@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 # User guide
 
 - [Getting started](./getting_started.md)
+- [Streaming](./streaming.md)
 - [Reference](./reference.md)
 
 # Developer guide

docs/src/reference.md

@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ You can adjust these defaults to suit your needs:
 
 ### Common API
 
-Similar to parsing, the [common serialization API]() is used to produce JSON documents.
+Similar to parsing, the [common serialization API](https://github.com/status-im/nim-serialization?tab=readme-ov-file#common-api) is used to produce JSON documents.
 
 ```nim
 {{#include ../examples/reference0.nim:Encode}}
@@ -257,9 +257,6 @@ writeField(w: var JsonWriter, name: string, value: auto)
 iterator stepwiseArrayCreation[C](w: var JsonWriter, collection: C): auto
 writeIterable(w: var JsonWriter, collection: auto)
 writeArray[T](w: var JsonWriter, elements: openArray[T])
-
-writeNumber[F,T](w: var JsonWriter[F], value: JsonNumber[T])
-writeJsonValueRef[F,T](w: var JsonWriter[F], value: JsonValueRef[T])
 ```
 
 ## Enums

docs/src/streaming.md

@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+# Streaming
+
+`JsonWriter` can be used to incrementally write JSON data.
+
+Incremental processing is ideal for large documents or when you want to avoid building the entire JSON structure in memory.
+
+<!-- toc -->
+
+## Writing
+
+You can use `JsonWriter` to write JSON objects, arrays, and values step by step, directly to a file or any output stream.
+
+The process is similar to when you override `writeValue` to provide custom serialization.
+
+### Example: Writing a JSON Array of Objects
+
+Suppose you want to write a large array of objects to a file, one at a time:
+
+```nim
+{{#include ../examples/streamwrite0.nim}}
+```
+
+Resulting file (`output.json`):
+```json
+[
+  {
+    "id": 0,
+    "name": "item0"
+  },
+  {
+    "id": 1,
+    "name": "item1"
+  }
+]
+```
+
+```admonish warning "Elements in objects and array"
+In the example, we see `beginArray`, `beginElement` and `writeMember`. The functions follow a pattern:
+* functions without suffix, like `beginArray`, are used at the top-level
+* functions with `Element` suffix are used inside arrays
+* functions with `Member` suffix and accomanying name are used in objects
+
+Thus, if we were writing an array inside another array, we would have used `beginArray` for the outer array and `beginArrayMember` for the inner array. These rules also apply when implementing `writeValue`.
+```
+
+### Example: Writing Nested Structures
+
+Objects and arrays can be nested arbitrarily.
+
+Here is the same array of JSON objects, nested in an envelope containing an additional `status` field.
+
+Instead of manually placing `begin`/`end` pairs, we're using the convenience helpers `writeObjectElement` and `writeArrayMember`, along with `writeElement` to manage the required element markers:
+
+```nim
+{{#include ../examples/streamwrite1.nim:Nesting}}
+```
+
+This produces a the following output - notice the more compact representation when `pretty = true` is not used:
+```json
+{"status":"ok","data":[{"id":0,"name":"item0"},{"id":1,"name":"item1"}]}
+```
+
+```admonish tip
+Similar to `begin`, we're using the `Element` suffix in arrays!
+```

json_serialization/types.nim

@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@
 # This file may not be copied, modified, or distributed except according to
 # those terms.
 
+{.push gcsafe, raises: [].}
+
 import
   std/tables,
   serialization/errors
@@ -18,13 +20,13 @@ export
 type
   JsonError* = object of SerializationError
 
-  # This is a special type to parse whatever
-  # json value into string.
   JsonString* = distinct string
+    ## A string containing valid JSON.
+    ## Used to preserve and pass on parts of a JSON document to another parser
+    ## or layer without interpreting it further
 
-  # This is a special type to parse whatever
-  # json value into nothing/skip it.
   JsonVoid* = object
+    ## Marker used for skipping a JSON value during parsing
 
   JsonSign* {.pure.} = enum
     None
@@ -63,11 +65,11 @@ type
     stringLengthLimit*: int
 
   JsonValueKind* {.pure.} = enum
-    String,
-    Number,
-    Object,
-    Array,
-    Bool,
+    String
+    Number
+    Object
+    Array
+    Bool
     Null
 
   JsonObjectType*[T: string or uint64] = OrderedTable[string, JsonValueRef[T]]
@@ -88,7 +90,6 @@ type
     of JsonValueKind.Null:
       discard
 
-
 const
   minPortableInt* = -9007199254740991 # -2**53 + 1
   maxPortableInt* =  9007199254740991 # +2**53 - 1
@@ -110,8 +111,6 @@ const
     stringLengthLimit: 0,
   )
 
-{.push gcsafe, raises: [].}
-
 template `==`*(lhs, rhs: JsonString): bool =
   string(lhs) == string(rhs)
 
@@ -172,4 +171,7 @@ func `==`*(lhs, rhs: JsonValueRef): bool =
   of JsonValueKind.Null:
     true
 
+template `$`*(s: JsonString): string =
+  string(s)
+
 {.pop.}