StructureFlatter

When transforming data from one format to another, sometimes we end up with structures that have redundant information or a sub-optimal structure. One type of such structure is an array of hash tables where the hash table has a redundant root element that is the singular version of the attribute on the parent object.

For example,

{
  attribute_one: "foo",
  cars: [
    { car: { name: "c1", content: "car one" } },
    { car: { name: "c2", content: "car two" } },
    { car: { name: "c3", content: "car three" } }
  ]
}

The "structure_flatter" library flattens all occurrences of the above type of structure from a given array or hash consisting of other hashes, arrays or attributes to arbitrary depth and complexity.

The result of providing the above example will be:

{
  attribute_one: "foo",
  cars: [
    { name: "c1", content: "car one" },
    { name: "c2", content: "car two" },
    { name: "c3", content: "car three" }
  ]
}

Installation

Add this line to your application's Gemfile:

gem 'structure_flatter'

And then execute:

$ bundle

Or install it yourself as:

$ gem install structure_flatter

Usage

Let str holds an array-hash structure that is to be flattened

str = an_array_hash_structure_to_be_flatten

Use flatten_structure! method of ArrayHashStructure class to flatten the structure

require 'structure_flatter'

flattened_str = StructureFlatter::ArrayHashStructure.new(str).flatten_structure!

Contributing

1. Fork it
2. Create your feature branch (git checkout -b my-new-feature)
3. Commit your changes (git commit -am 'Add some feature')
4. Push to the branch (git push origin my-new-feature)
5. Create new Pull Request