path: root/core/commonMain/src/kotlinx/serialization/encoding/Decoding.kt

/*
 * Copyright 2017-2020 JetBrains s.r.o. Use of this source code is governed by the Apache 2.0 license.
 */

package kotlinx.serialization.encoding

import kotlinx.serialization.*
import kotlinx.serialization.builtins.*
import kotlinx.serialization.descriptors.*
import kotlinx.serialization.modules.*

/**
 * Decoder is a core deserialization primitive that encapsulates the knowledge of the underlying
 * format and an underlying storage, exposing only structural methods to the deserializer, making it completely
 * format-agnostic. Deserialization process takes a decoder and asks him for a sequence of primitive elements,
 * defined by a deserializer serial form, while decoder knows how to retrieve these primitive elements from an actual format
 * representations.
 *
 * Decoder provides high-level API that operates with basic primitive types, collections
 * and nested structures. Internally, the decoder represents input storage, and operates with its state
 * and lower level format-specific details.
 *
 * To be more specific, serialization asks a decoder for a sequence of "give me an int, give me
 * a double, give me a list of strings and give me another object that is a nested int", while decoding
 * transforms this sequence into a format-specific commands such as "parse the part of the string until the next quotation mark
 * as an int to retrieve an int, parse everything within the next curly braces to retrieve elements of a nested object etc."
 *
 * The symmetric interface for the serialization process is [Encoder].
 *
 * ### Deserialization. Primitives
 *
 * If a class is represented as a single [primitive][PrimitiveKind] value in its serialized form,
 * then one of the `decode*` methods (e.g. [decodeInt]) can be used directly.
 *
 * ### Deserialization. Structured types
 *
 * If a class is represented as a structure or has multiple values in its serialized form,
 * `decode*` methods are not that helpful, because format may not require a strict order of data
 * (e.g. JSON or XML), do not allow working with collection types or establish structure boundaries.
 * All these capabilities are delegated to the [CompositeDecoder] interface with a more specific API surface.
 * To denote a structure start, [beginStructure] should be used.
 * ```
 * // Denote the structure start,
 * val composite = decoder.beginStructure(descriptor)
 * // Decode all elements within the structure using 'composite'
 * ...
 * // Denote the structure end
 * composite.endStructure(descriptor)
 * ```
 *
 * E.g. if the decoder belongs to JSON format, then [beginStructure] will parse an opening bracket
 * (`{` or `[`, depending on the descriptor kind), returning the [CompositeDecoder] that is aware of colon separator,
 * that should be read after each key-value pair, whilst [CompositeDecoder.endStructure] will parse a closing bracket.
 *
 * ### Exception guarantees.
 * For the regular exceptions, such as invalid input, missing control symbols or attributes and unknown symbols,
 * [SerializationException] can be thrown by any decoder methods. It is recommended to declare a format-specific
 * subclass of [SerializationException] and throw it.
 *
 * ### Format encapsulation
 *
 * For example, for the following deserializer:
 * ```
 * class StringHolder(val stringValue: String)
 *
 * object StringPairDeserializer : DeserializationStrategy<StringHolder> {
 *    override val descriptor = ...
 *
 *    override fun deserializer(decoder: Decoder): StringHolder {
 *        // Denotes start of the structure, StringHolder is not a "plain" data type
 *        val composite = decoder.beginStructure(descriptor)
 *        if (composite.decodeElementIndex(descriptor) != 0)
 *            throw MissingFieldException("Field 'stringValue' is missing")
 *        // Decode the nested string value
 *        val value = composite.decodeStringElement(descriptor, index = 0)
 *        // Denotes end of the structure
 *        composite.endStructure(descriptor)
 *    }
 * }
 * ```
 *
 * ### Exception safety
 *
 * In general, catching [SerializationException] from any of `decode*` methods is not allowed and produces unspecified behaviour.
 * After thrown exception, current decoder is left in an arbitrary state, no longer suitable for further decoding.
 *
 * This deserializer does not know anything about the underlying data and will work with any properly-implemented decoder.
 * JSON, for example, parses an opening bracket `{` during the `beginStructure` call, checks that the next key
 * after this bracket is `stringValue` (using the descriptor), returns the value after the colon as string value
 * and parses closing bracket `}` during the `endStructure`.
 * XML would do roughly the same, but with different separators and parsing structures, while ProtoBuf
 * machinery could be completely different.
 * In any case, all these parsing details are encapsulated by a decoder.
 *
 * ### Decoder implementation
 *
 * While being strictly typed, an underlying format can transform actual types in the way it wants.
 * For example, a format can support only string types and encode/decode all primitives in a string form:
 * ```
 * StringFormatDecoder : Decoder {
 *
 *     ...
 *     override fun decodeDouble(): Double = decodeString().toDouble()
 *     override fun decodeInt(): Int = decodeString().toInt()
 *     ...
 * }
 * ```
 *
 * ### Not stable for inheritance
 *
 * `Decoder` interface is not stable for inheritance in 3rd party libraries, as new methods
 * might be added to this interface or contracts of the existing methods can be changed.
 */
public interface Decoder {
    /**
     * Context of the current serialization process, including contextual and polymorphic serialization and,
     * potentially, a format-specific configuration.
     */
    public val serializersModule: SerializersModule

    /**
     * Returns `true` if the current value in decoder is not null, false otherwise.
     * This method is usually used to decode potentially nullable data:
     * ```
     * // Could be String? deserialize() method
     * public fun deserialize(decoder: Decoder): String? {
     *     if (decoder.decodeNotNullMark()) {
     *         return decoder.decodeString()
     *     } else {
     *         return decoder.decodeNull()
     *     }
     * }
     * ```
     */
    @ExperimentalSerializationApi
    public fun decodeNotNullMark(): Boolean

    /**
     * Decodes the `null` value and returns it.
     *
     * It is expected that `decodeNotNullMark` was called
     * prior to `decodeNull` invocation and the case when it returned `true` was handled.
     */
    @ExperimentalSerializationApi
    public fun decodeNull(): Nothing?

    /**
     * Decodes a boolean value.
     * Corresponding kind is [PrimitiveKind.BOOLEAN].
     */
    public fun decodeBoolean(): Boolean

    /**
     * Decodes a single byte value.
     * Corresponding kind is [PrimitiveKind.BYTE].
     */
    public fun decodeByte(): Byte

    /**
     * Decodes a 16-bit short value.
     * Corresponding kind is [PrimitiveKind.SHORT].
     */
    public fun decodeShort(): Short

    /**
     * Decodes a 16-bit unicode character value.
     * Corresponding kind is [PrimitiveKind.CHAR].
     */
    public fun decodeChar(): Char

    /**
     * Decodes a 32-bit integer value.
     * Corresponding kind is [PrimitiveKind.INT].
     */
    public fun decodeInt(): Int

    /**
     * Decodes a 64-bit integer value.
     * Corresponding kind is [PrimitiveKind.LONG].
     */
    public fun decodeLong(): Long

    /**
     * Decodes a 32-bit IEEE 754 floating point value.
     * Corresponding kind is [PrimitiveKind.FLOAT].
     */
    public fun decodeFloat(): Float

    /**
     * Decodes a 64-bit IEEE 754 floating point value.
     * Corresponding kind is [PrimitiveKind.DOUBLE].
     */
    public fun decodeDouble(): Double

    /**
     * Decodes a string value.
     * Corresponding kind is [PrimitiveKind.STRING].
     */
    public fun decodeString(): String

    /**
     * Decodes a enum value and returns its index in [enumDescriptor] elements collection.
     * Corresponding kind is [SerialKind.ENUM].
     *
     * E.g. for the enum `enum class Letters { A, B, C, D }` and
     * underlying input "C", [decodeEnum] method should return `2` as a result.
     *
     * This method does not imply any restrictions on the input format,
     * the format is free to store the enum by its name, index, ordinal or any other enum representation.
     */
    public fun decodeEnum(enumDescriptor: SerialDescriptor): Int

    /**
     * Returns [Decoder] for decoding an underlying type of an inline class.
     * [inlineDescriptor] describes a target inline class.
     *
     * Namely, for the `@Serializable inline class MyInt(val my: Int)`,
     * the following sequence is used:
     * ```
     * thisDecoder.decodeInline(MyInt.serializer().descriptor).decodeInt()
     * ```
     *
     * Current decoder may return any other instance of [Decoder] class,
     * depending on the provided [inlineDescriptor].
     * For example, when this function is called on Json decoder with
     * `UInt.serializer().descriptor`, the returned decoder is able
     * to decode unsigned integers.
     *
     * Note that this function returns [Decoder] instead of the [CompositeDecoder]
     * because inline classes always have the single property.
     * Calling [Decoder.beginStructure] on returned instance leads to an undefined behavior.
     */
    @ExperimentalSerializationApi
    public fun decodeInline(inlineDescriptor: SerialDescriptor): Decoder

    /**
     * Decodes the beginning of the nested structure in a serialized form
     * and returns [CompositeDecoder] responsible for decoding this very structure.
     *
     * Typically, classes, collections and maps are represented as a nested structure in a serialized form.
     * E.g. the following JSON
     * ```
     * {
     *     "a": 2,
     *     "b": { "nested": "c" }
     *     "c": [1, 2, 3],
     *     "d": null
     * }
     * ```
     * has three nested structures: the very beginning of the data, "b" value and "c" value.
     */
    public fun beginStructure(descriptor: SerialDescriptor): CompositeDecoder

    /**
     * Decodes the value of type [T] by delegating the decoding process to the given [deserializer].
     * For example, `decodeInt` call us equivalent to delegating integer decoding to [Int.serializer][Int.Companion.serializer]:
     * `decodeSerializableValue(IntSerializer)`
     */
    public fun <T : Any?> decodeSerializableValue(deserializer: DeserializationStrategy<T>): T =
        deserializer.deserialize(this)

    /**
     * Decodes the nullable value of type [T] by delegating the decoding process to the given [deserializer].
     */
    @ExperimentalSerializationApi
    public fun <T : Any> decodeNullableSerializableValue(deserializer: DeserializationStrategy<T?>): T? {
        val isNullabilitySupported = deserializer.descriptor.isNullable
        return if (isNullabilitySupported || decodeNotNullMark()) decodeSerializableValue(deserializer) else decodeNull()
    }
}

/**
 * [CompositeDecoder] is a part of decoding process that is bound to a particular structured part of
 * the serialized form, described by the serial descriptor passed to [Decoder.beginStructure].
 *
 * Typically, for unordered data, [CompositeDecoder] is used by a serializer withing a [decodeElementIndex]-based
 * loop that decodes all the required data one-by-one in any order and then terminates by calling [endStructure].
 * Please refer to [decodeElementIndex] for example of such loop.
 *
 * All `decode*` methods have `index` and `serialDescriptor` parameters with a strict semantics and constraints:
 *   * `descriptor` argument is always the same as one used in [Decoder.beginStructure].
 *   * `index` of the element being decoded. For [sequential][decodeSequentially] decoding, it is always a monotonic
 *      sequence from `0` to `descriptor.elementsCount` and for indexing-loop it is always an index that [decodeElementIndex]
 *      has returned from the last call.
 *
 * The symmetric interface for the serialization process is [CompositeEncoder].
 *
 * ### Not stable for inheritance
 *
 * `CompositeDecoder` interface is not stable for inheritance in 3rd party libraries, as new methods
 * might be added to this interface or contracts of the existing methods can be changed.
 */
public interface CompositeDecoder {

    /**
     * Results of [decodeElementIndex] used for decoding control flow.
     */
    public companion object {
        /**
         * Value returned by [decodeElementIndex] when the underlying input has no more data in the current structure.
         * When this value is returned, no methods of the decoder should be called but [endStructure].
         */
        public const val DECODE_DONE: Int = -1

        /**
         * Value returned by [decodeElementIndex] when the format encountered an unknown element
         * (expected neither by the structure of serial descriptor, nor by the format itself).
         */
        public const val UNKNOWN_NAME: Int = -3
    }

    /**
     * Context of the current decoding process, including contextual and polymorphic serialization and,
     * potentially, a format-specific configuration.
     */
    public val serializersModule: SerializersModule

    /**
     * Denotes the end of the structure associated with current decoder.
     * For example, composite decoder of JSON format will expect (and parse)
     * a closing bracket in the underlying input.
     */
    public fun endStructure(descriptor: SerialDescriptor)

    /**
     * Checks whether the current decoder supports strictly ordered decoding of the data
     * without calling to [decodeElementIndex].
     * If the method returns `true`, the caller might skip [decodeElementIndex] calls
     * and start invoking `decode*Element` directly, incrementing the index of the element one by one.
     * This method can be called by serializers (either generated or user-defined) as a performance optimization,
     * but there is no guarantee that the method will be ever called. Practically, it means that implementations
     * that may benefit from sequential decoding should also support a regular [decodeElementIndex]-based decoding as well.
     *
     * Example of usage:
     * ```
     * class MyPair(i: Int, d: Double)
     *
     * object MyPairSerializer : KSerializer<MyPair> {
     *     // ... other methods omitted
     *
     *    fun deserialize(decoder: Decoder): MyPair {
     *        val composite = decoder.beginStructure(descriptor)
     *        if (composite.decodeSequentially()) {
     *            val i = composite.decodeIntElement(descriptor, index = 0) // Mind the sequential indexing
     *            val d = composite.decodeIntElement(descriptor, index = 1)
     *            composite.endStructure(descriptor)
     *            return MyPair(i, d)
     *        } else {
     *            // Fallback to `decodeElementIndex` loop, refer to its documentation for details
     *        }
     *    }
     * }
     * ```
     * This example is a rough equivalent of what serialization plugin generates for serializable pair class.
     *
     * Sequential decoding is a performance optimization for formats with strictly ordered schema,
     * usually binary ones. Regular formats such as JSON or ProtoBuf cannot use this optimization,
     * because e.g. in the latter example, the same data can be represented both as
     * `{"i": 1, "d": 1.0}`"` and `{"d": 1.0, "i": 1}` (thus, unordered).
     */
    @ExperimentalSerializationApi
    public fun decodeSequentially(): Boolean = false

    /**
     *  Decodes the index of the next element to be decoded.
     *  Index represents a position of the current element in the serial descriptor element that can be found
     *  with [SerialDescriptor.getElementIndex].
     *
     *  If this method returns non-negative index, the caller should call one of the `decode*Element` methods
     *  with a resulting index.
     *  Apart from positive values, this method can return [DECODE_DONE] to indicate that no more elements
     *  are left or [UNKNOWN_NAME] to indicate that symbol with an unknown name was encountered.
     *
     * Example of usage:
     * ```
     * class MyPair(i: Int, d: Double)
     *
     * object MyPairSerializer : KSerializer<MyPair> {
     *     // ... other methods omitted
     *
     *    fun deserialize(decoder: Decoder): MyPair {
     *        val composite = decoder.beginStructure(descriptor)
     *        var i: Int? = null
     *        var d: Double? = null
     *        while (true) {
     *            when (val index = composite.decodeElementIndex(descriptor)) {
     *                0 -> i = composite.decodeIntElement(descriptor, 0)
     *                1 -> d = composite.decodeDoubleElement(descriptor, 1)
     *                DECODE_DONE -> break // Input is over
     *                else -> error("Unexpected index: $index)
     *            }
     *        }
     *        composite.endStructure(descriptor)
     *        require(i != null && d != null)
     *        return MyPair(i, d)
     *    }
     * }
     * ```
     * This example is a rough equivalent of what serialization plugin generates for serializable pair class.
     *
     * The need in such a loop comes from unstructured nature of most serialization formats.
     * For example, JSON for the following input `{"d": 2.0, "i": 1}`, will first read `d` key with index `1`
     * and only after `i` with the index `0`.
     *
     * A potential implementation of this method for JSON format can be the following:
     * ```
     * fun decodeElementIndex(descriptor: SerialDescriptor): Int {
     *     // Ignore arrays
     *     val nextKey: String? = myStringJsonParser.nextKey()
     *     if (nextKey == null) return DECODE_DONE
     *     return descriptor.getElementIndex(nextKey) // getElementIndex can return UNKNOWN_NAME
     * }
     * ```
     *
     * If [decodeSequentially] returns `true`, the caller might skip calling this method.
     */
    public fun decodeElementIndex(descriptor: SerialDescriptor): Int

    /**
     * Method to decode collection size that may be called before the collection decoding.
     * Collection type includes [Collection], [Map] and [Array] (including primitive arrays).
     * Method can return `-1` if the size is not known in advance, though for [sequential decoding][decodeSequentially]
     * knowing precise size is a mandatory requirement.
     */
    public fun decodeCollectionSize(descriptor: SerialDescriptor): Int = -1

    /**
     * Decodes a boolean value from the underlying input.
     * The resulting value is associated with the [descriptor] element at the given [index].
     * The element at the given index should have [PrimitiveKind.BOOLEAN] kind.
     */
    public fun decodeBooleanElement(descriptor: SerialDescriptor, index: Int): Boolean

    /**
     * Decodes a single byte value from the underlying input.
     * The resulting value is associated with the [descriptor] element at the given [index].
     * The element at the given index should have [PrimitiveKind.BYTE] kind.
     */
    public fun decodeByteElement(descriptor: SerialDescriptor, index: Int): Byte

    /**
     * Decodes a 16-bit unicode character value from the underlying input.
     * The resulting value is associated with the [descriptor] element at the given [index].
     * The element at the given index should have [PrimitiveKind.CHAR] kind.
     */
    public fun decodeCharElement(descriptor: SerialDescriptor, index: Int): Char

    /**
     * Decodes a 16-bit short value from the underlying input.
     * The resulting value is associated with the [descriptor] element at the given [index].
     * The element at the given index should have [PrimitiveKind.SHORT] kind.
     */
    public fun decodeShortElement(descriptor: SerialDescriptor, index: Int): Short

    /**
     * Decodes a 32-bit integer value from the underlying input.
     * The resulting value is associated with the [descriptor] element at the given [index].
     * The element at the given index should have [PrimitiveKind.INT] kind.
     */
    public fun decodeIntElement(descriptor: SerialDescriptor, index: Int): Int

    /**
     * Decodes a 64-bit integer value from the underlying input.
     * The resulting value is associated with the [descriptor] element at the given [index].
     * The element at the given index should have [PrimitiveKind.LONG] kind.
     */
    public fun decodeLongElement(descriptor: SerialDescriptor, index: Int): Long

    /**
     * Decodes a 32-bit IEEE 754 floating point value from the underlying input.
     * The resulting value is associated with the [descriptor] element at the given [index].
     * The element at the given index should have [PrimitiveKind.FLOAT] kind.
     */
    public fun decodeFloatElement(descriptor: SerialDescriptor, index: Int): Float

    /**
     * Decodes a 64-bit IEEE 754 floating point value from the underlying input.
     * The resulting value is associated with the [descriptor] element at the given [index].
     * The element at the given index should have [PrimitiveKind.DOUBLE] kind.
     */
    public fun decodeDoubleElement(descriptor: SerialDescriptor, index: Int): Double

    /**
     * Decodes a string value from the underlying input.
     * The resulting value is associated with the [descriptor] element at the given [index].
     * The element at the given index should have [PrimitiveKind.STRING] kind.
     */
    public fun decodeStringElement(descriptor: SerialDescriptor, index: Int): String

    /**
     * Returns [Decoder] for decoding an underlying type of an inline class.
     * Serializable inline class is described by the [child descriptor][SerialDescriptor.getElementDescriptor]
     * of given [descriptor] at [index].
     *
     * Namely, for the `@Serializable inline class MyInt(val my: Int)`,
     * and `@Serializable class MyData(val myInt: MyInt)`
     * the following sequence is used:
     * ```
     * thisDecoder.decodeInlineElement(MyData.serializer().descriptor, 0).decodeInt()
     * ```
     *
     * This method provides an opportunity for the optimization and its invocation should be identical to
     * ```
     * thisDecoder.decodeSerializableElement(MyData.serializer.descriptor, 0, MyInt.serializer())
     * ```
     *
     * Current decoder may return any other instance of [Decoder] class, depending on the provided descriptor.
     * For example, when this function is called on Json decoder with descriptor that has
     * `UInt.serializer().descriptor` at the given [index], the returned decoder is able
     * to decode unsigned integers.
     *
     * Note that this function returns [Decoder] instead of the [CompositeDecoder]
     * because inline classes always have the single property.
     * Calling [Decoder.beginStructure] on returned instance leads to an undefined behavior.
     *
     * @see Decoder.decodeInline
     * @see SerialDescriptor.getElementDescriptor
     */
    @ExperimentalSerializationApi
    public fun decodeInlineElement(
        descriptor: SerialDescriptor,
        index: Int
    ): Decoder

    /**
     * Decodes value of the type [T] with the given [deserializer].
     *
     * Implementations of [CompositeDecoder] may use their format-specific deserializers
     * for particular data types, e.g. handle [ByteArray] specifically if format is binary.
     *
     * If value at given [index] was already decoded with previous [decodeSerializableElement] call with the same index,
     * [previousValue] would contain a previously decoded value.
     * This parameter can be used to aggregate multiple values of the given property to the only one.
     * Implementation can safely ignore it and return a new value, effectively using 'the last one wins' strategy,
     * or apply format-specific aggregating strategies, e.g. appending scattered Protobuf lists to a single one.
     */
    public fun <T : Any?> decodeSerializableElement(
        descriptor: SerialDescriptor,
        index: Int,
        deserializer: DeserializationStrategy<T>,
        previousValue: T? = null
    ): T

    /**
     * Decodes nullable value of the type [T] with the given [deserializer].
     *
     * If value at given [index] was already decoded with previous [decodeSerializableElement] call with the same index,
     * [previousValue] would contain a previously decoded value.
     * This parameter can be used to aggregate multiple values of the given property to the only one.
     * Implementation can safely ignore it and return a new value, efficiently using 'the last one wins' strategy,
     * or apply format-specific aggregating strategies, e.g. appending scattered Protobuf lists to a single one.
     */
    @ExperimentalSerializationApi
    public fun <T : Any> decodeNullableSerializableElement(
        descriptor: SerialDescriptor,
        index: Int,
        deserializer: DeserializationStrategy<T?>,
        previousValue: T? = null
    ): T?
}

/**
 * Begins a structure, decodes it using the given [block], ends it and returns decoded element.
 */
public inline fun <T> Decoder.decodeStructure(
    descriptor: SerialDescriptor,
    crossinline block: CompositeDecoder.() -> T
): T {
    val composite = beginStructure(descriptor)
    val result = composite.block()
    composite.endStructure(descriptor)
    return result
}

private const val decodeMethodDeprecated = "Please migrate to decodeElement method which accepts old value." +
        "Feel free to ignore it if your format does not support updates."