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https://github.com/elado/jastor

Auto translates NSDictionary to instances of Objective-C classes, supporting nested types and arrays
https://github.com/elado/jastor

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Auto translates NSDictionary to instances of Objective-C classes, supporting nested types and arrays

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README 

        
Jastor

===



### Jastor is not maintained anymore. No worries, there are some really good alternatives: [JSONModel](https://github.com/icanzilb/JSONModel) or [Mantle](https://github.com/Mantle/Mantle)



Jastor is an Objective-C base class that is initialized with a dictionary (probably from your JSON response), and assigns dictionary values to all its (derived class's) typed @properties.



It supports nested types, arrays, NSString, NSNumber, NSDate and more.



Jastor is NOT a JSON parser. For that, you have [JSONKit](https://github.com/johnezang/JSONKit), [yajl](https://github.com/gabriel/yajl-objc) and many others.



The name sounds like **JSON to Object**er. Or something.



**Upgrade from previous version:**



Add `dealloc` mehtods to your models and nillify your peoperties. Automattic `dealloc` is no longer done by Jastor.



Support

---

Need help with getting Jastor up and running? Got a time-consuming problem you want to get solved quickly?  

Get [Jastor support on CodersClan](http://codersclan.net/?repo_id=327).






Examples

---



You have the following JSON:



```json

{

	"name": "Foo",

	"amount": 13

}

```



and the following class:



```objc

@interface Product

@property (nonatomic, copy) NSString *name;

@property (nonatomic, retain) NSNumber *amount;

@end



@implementation Product

@synthesize name, amount;



- (void)dealloc {

	self.name = nil;

	self.amount = nil;

	

	[super dealloc];

}

@end

```



with Jastor, you can just inherit from `Jastor` class, and use `initWithDictionary:`



```objc

// Product.h

@interface Product : Jastor

@property (nonatomic, copy) NSString *name;

@property (nonatomic, retain) NSNumber *amount;

@end



// Product.m

@implementation Product

@synthesize name, amount;



- (void)dealloc {

	self.name = nil;

	self.amount = nil;

	

	[super dealloc];

}

@end



// Some other code

NSDictionary *dictionary = /* parse the JSON response to a dictionary */;

Product *product = [[Product alloc] initWithDictionary:dictionary];



// Log

product.name // => Foo

product.amount // => 13

```



Nested Objects

---

Jastor also converts nested objects to their destination type:



```js

// JSON

{

	"name": "Foo",

	"category": {

		"name": "Bar Category"

	}

}

```



```objc

// ProductCategory.h

@interface ProductCategory : Jastor

@property (nonatomic, copy) NSString *name;

@end



// ProductCategory.m

@implementation ProductCategory

@synthesize name;



- (void)dealloc {

	self.name = nil;

	

	[super dealloc];

}

@end



// Product.h

@interface Product : Jastor

@property (nonatomic, copy) NSString *name;

@property (nonatomic, retain) ProductCategory *category;

@end



// Product.m

@implementation Product

@synthesize name, category;



- (void)dealloc {

	self.name = nil;

	self.category = nil;

	

	[super dealloc];

}

@end



// Code

NSDictionary *dictionary = /* parse the JSON response to a dictionary */;

Product *product = [[Product alloc] initWithDictionary:dictionary];



// Log

product.name // => Foo

product.category // => 

product.category.name // => Bar Category

```



Arrays

---

Having fun so far?



Jastor also supports arrays of a certain type:



```js

// JSON

{

	"name": "Foo",

	"categories": [

		{ "name": "Bar Category 1" },

		{ "name": "Bar Category 2" },

		{ "name": "Bar Category 3" }

	]

}

```



```objc

// ProductCategory.h

@interface ProductCategory : Jastor

@property (nonatomic, copy) NSString *name;

@end



// ProductCategory.m

@implementation ProductCategory

@synthesize name;



- (void)dealloc {

	self.name = nil;

	

	[super dealloc];

}

@end



// Product.h

@interface Product : Jastor

@property (nonatomic, copy) NSString *name;

@property (nonatomic, retain) NSArray *categories;

@end



// Product.m

@implementation Product

@synthesize name, categories;



+ (Class)categories_class {

	return [ProductCategory class];

}



- (void)dealloc {

	self.name = nil;

	self.categories = nil;

	

	[super dealloc];

}

@end



// Code

NSDictionary *dictionary = /* parse the JSON response to a dictionary */;

Product *product = [[Product alloc] initWithDictionary:dictionary];



// Log

product.name // => Foo

product.categories // => 

[product.categories count] // => 3

[product.categories objectAtIndex:1] // => 

[[product.categories objectAtIndex:1] name] // => Bar Category 2

```



Notice the declaration of 



```objc

+ (Class)categories_class {

	return [ProductCategory class];

}

```



it tells Jastor what class of items the array holds.



Nested + Arrays = Trees

---

Jastor can handle trees of data:



```js

// JSON

{

	"name": "1",

	"children": [

		{ "name": "1.1" },

		{ "name": "1.2",

		  children: [

			{ "name": "1.2.1",

			  children: [

				{ "name": "1.2.1.1" },

				{ "name": "1.2.1.2" },

			  ]

			},

			{ "name": "1.2.2" },

		  ]

		},

		{ "name": "1.3" }

	]

}

```



```objc

// ProductCategory.h

@interface ProductCategory : Jastor

@property (nonatomic, copy) NSString *name;

@property (nonatomic, retain) NSArray *children;

@end



// ProductCategory.m

@implementation ProductCategory

@synthesize name, children;



+ (Class)children_class {

	return [ProductCategory class];

}



- (void)dealloc {

	self.name = nil;

	self.children = nil;

	

	[super dealloc];

}

@end



// Code

NSDictionary *dictionary = /* parse the JSON response to a dictionary */;

ProductCategory *category = [[ProductCategory alloc] initWithDictionary:dictionary];



// Log

category.name // => 1

category.children // => 

[category.children count] // => 3

[category.children objectAtIndex:1] // => 

[[category.categories objectAtIndex:1] name] // => 1.2



[[[category.children objectAtIndex:1] children] objectAtIndex:0] // => 

[[[[category.children objectAtIndex:1] children] objectAtIndex:0] name] // => 1.2.1.2

```



Custom mapping

---



If you are receiving a json from a web server:



```json

{

	"first_name": "John",

	"last_name": "Doe"

}

```



```objc

// Person.h

@interface Person : Jastor

@property (nonatomic, copy) NSString *firstName;

@property (nonatomic, copy) NSString *lastName;

@end



// Person.m

@implementation Person

@synthesize firstName, lastName;



- (void)dealloc {

	[firstName release]; firstName = nil;

	[lastName release]; lastName = nil;



	[super dealloc];

}



- (NSDictionary *)map{

    NSMutableDictionary *map = [NSMutableDictionary dictionaryWithDictionary:[super map]];

    [map setObject:@"first_name" forKey:@"firstName"];

    [map setObject:@"last_name" forKey:@"lastName"];

    return [NSDictionary dictionaryWithDictionary:map];

}



@end



// Code

NSDictionary *dictionary = /* parse the JSON response to a dictionary */;

Person *person = [[Person alloc] initWithDictionary:dictionary];



// Log

person.firstName // => John

person.lastName // => Doe

```



How does it work?

---

Runtime API. The class's properties are read in runtime and assigns all values from dictionary to these properties with `NSObject setValue:forKey:`. For Dictionaries, Jastor instantiates a new class, based on the property type, and issues another `initWithDictionary`. Arrays are only a list of items such as strings (which are not converted) or dictionaries (which are treated the same as other dictionaries).



Installation

---

Just copy Jastor.m+.h and JastorRuntimeHelper.m+.h to your project, create a class, inherit, use the `initWithDictionary` and enjoy!



Testing

---



Make sure to initialize git submodules.



```bash

git submodules init

git submodules update

```



In Xcode, hit CMD+U under iPhone simulator scheme.



REALLY Good to know

---



**What about properties that are reserved words?**



As for now, `id` is converted to `objectId` automatically. Maybe someday Jastor will have ability to map server and obj-c fields.



**Jastor classes also conforms to NSCoding protocol**



So you get `initWithCoder`/`encodeWithCoder` for free.



**You can look at the tests for real samples**.



Alternatives

---



* [KVCObjectMapping](https://github.com/tuyennguyencanada/KVCObjectMapping)

* [ManagedJastor](https://github.com/patternoia/ManagedJastor) - for `NSManageObject`s

* [RestKit](http://restkit.org/)



Contributors

---



* **Elad Ossadon** [@elado](http://twitter.com/elado)

* **Yosi Taguri** [@yosit](http://github.com/yosit)