there are two classes Foo
and Bar
. Foo
contains a field of Bar
. The question is, how do I implement an implicit json Writes
for class Foo
?
Here is the code:
package models
import play.api.libs.json._
case class Foo(id: String, bar: Bar)
object Foo {
implicit val implicitFooWrites = new Writes[Foo] {
def writes(foo: Foo): JsValue = {
Json.obj(
"id" -> foo.id,
"bar" -> foo.bar
)
}
}
}
case class Bar(x: String, y: Int)
object Bar {
implicit val implicitBarWrites = new Writes[Bar] {
def writes(bar: Bar): JsValue = {
Json.obj(
"x" -> bar.x,
"y" -> bar.y
)
}
}
}
When I try to compile, I get the following error:
No Json deserializer found for type models.Bar. Try to implement an implicit Writes or Format for this type.
I don't understand this compiler error, since I implemented an implicit Writes for models.Bar class. What is the problem here?
It's a question of visibility, when declaring the implicit Writes[Foo] you are not making visible the implicit Writes[Bar] to it:
scala> :paste
// Entering paste mode (ctrl-D to finish)
import play.api.libs.json._
case class Bar(x: String, y: Int)
object Bar {
implicit val implicitBarWrites = new Writes[Bar] {
def writes(bar: Bar): JsValue = {
Json.obj(
"x" -> bar.x,
"y" -> bar.y
)
}
}
}
case class Foo(id: String, bar: Bar)
object Foo {
import Bar._
implicit val implicitFooWrites = new Writes[Foo] {
def writes(foo: Foo): JsValue = {
Json.obj(
"id" -> foo.id,
"bar" -> foo.bar
)
}
}
}
// Exiting paste mode, now interpreting.
import play.api.libs.json._
defined class Bar
defined module Bar
defined class Foo
defined module Foo
scala> Json.prettyPrint(Json.toJson(Foo("23", Bar("x", 1))))
res0: String =
{
"id" : "23",
"bar" : {
"x" : "x",
"y" : 1
}
}
Also, if you're using Play 2.1+ make sure to check out the brand new use of 2.10's macros: http://www.playframework.com/documentation/2.1.0/ScalaJsonInception
If you're happy with the use of the case classes and the val/vars' names being used as keys in the json output, as in your case BTW, then you can use the two one-liners:
implicit val barFormat = Json.writes[Bar]
implicit val fooFormat = Json.writes[Foo]
That will give you the exact equivalent:
scala> import play.api.libs.json._
import play.api.libs.json._
scala> case class Bar(x: String, y: Int)
defined class Bar
scala> case class Foo(id: String, bar: Bar)
defined class Foo
scala> implicit val barWrites = Json.writes[Bar]
barWrites: play.api.libs.json.OWrites[Bar] = play.api.libs.json.OWrites$$anon$2@257cae95
scala> implicit val fooWrites = Json.writes[Foo]
fooWrites: play.api.libs.json.OWrites[Foo] = play.api.libs.json.OWrites$$anon$2@48f97e2a
scala> Json.prettyPrint(Json.toJson(Foo("23", Bar("x", 1))))
res0: String =
{
"id" : "23",
"bar" : {
"x" : "x",
"y" : 1
}
}