HttpParamsSerializer

A small library to serialize deeply nested datastructures into HTTP parameters that most backends do understand

tl;dr

Turns this Map

%{ a: %{ b: %{ d: [1,2], f: 4 } }, c: 3 }

or the equivalent Keyword list:

[a: [b: [d: [1, 2], f: 4]], c: 3]

into a list of key-value tuples:

[
  {"a[b][d][]", 1},
  {"a[b][d][]", 2},
  {"a[b][f]", 4},
  {"c", 3}
]

which can be easily turned into

"a[b][d][]=1&a[b][d][]=2&a[b][f]=4&c=3"

for communication with backend APIs.

Longer Explanation

I couldn't find an Elixir package that serializes HTTP params as maps or nested keyword lists into a list of key-value pairs that many REST APIs (in Rails or similar MVC frameworks) require. So I've build one. Enjoy!

This is supposed to be the Elixir equivalent of Jquery.param in JS world.

Features

serialization of arbirary deeply nested datastructures
sorted keys for more predictable output
the output (list with tuples) can be directly consumed by following Elixir/Erlang HTTP clients:
- HTTPoison
- Hackney

Usage

iex> params = %{id: "aaa-1234",
  account: %{name: "Best", last_name: "User Eva"},
  balance: %{limit: 1000, currency: "$", balance: 1500},
  roles: ["admin", "manager", "staff"]
}
%{account: %{last_name: "User Eva", name: "Best"},
  balance: %{balance: 1500, currency: "$", limit: 1000}, id: "aaa-1234"}
iex> params |> HttpParamsSerializer.serialize
[{"account[last_name]", "User Eva"}, {"account[name]", "Best"},
 {"balance[balance]", 1500}, {"balance[currency]", "$"},
 {"balance[limit]", 1000}, {"id", "aaa-1234"}, {"roles[]", "staff"},
 {"roles[]", "manager"}, {"roles[]", "admin"}]

Installation

Add http_params_serializer to your list of dependencies in mix.exs:
def deps do
```
 [{:http_params_serializer, "~> 0.1"}]
```
end

License

This work is free. You can redistribute it and/or modify it under the terms of the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for more details.