bevy/examples/reflection/reflection.rs
Gino Valente d30d3e752a bevy_reflect: Improve serialization format even more (#5723)
> Note: This is rebased off #4561 and can be viewed as a competitor to that PR. See `Comparison with #4561` section for details.

# Objective

The current serialization format used by `bevy_reflect` is both verbose and error-prone. Taking the following structs[^1] for example:

```rust
// -- src/inventory.rs

#[derive(Reflect)]
struct Inventory {
  id: String,
  max_storage: usize,
  items: Vec<Item>
}

#[derive(Reflect)]
struct Item {
  name: String
}
```

Given an inventory of a single item, this would serialize to something like:

```rust
// -- assets/inventory.ron

{
  "type": "my_game::inventory::Inventory",
  "struct": {
    "id": {
      "type": "alloc::string::String",
      "value": "inv001",
    },
    "max_storage": {
      "type": "usize",
      "value": 10
    },
    "items": {
      "type": "alloc::vec::Vec<alloc::string::String>",
      "list": [
        {
          "type": "my_game::inventory::Item",
          "struct": {
            "name": {
              "type": "alloc::string::String",
              "value": "Pickaxe"
            },
          },
        },
      ],
    },
  },
}
```

Aside from being really long and difficult to read, it also has a few "gotchas" that users need to be aware of if they want to edit the file manually. A major one is the requirement that you use the proper keys for a given type. For structs, you need `"struct"`. For lists, `"list"`. For tuple structs, `"tuple_struct"`. And so on.

It also ***requires*** that the `"type"` entry come before the actual data. Despite being a map— which in programming is almost always orderless by default— the entries need to be in a particular order. Failure to follow the ordering convention results in a failure to deserialize the data.

This makes it very prone to errors and annoyances.


## Solution

Using #4042, we can remove a lot of the boilerplate and metadata needed by this older system. Since we now have static access to type information, we can simplify our serialized data to look like:

```rust
// -- assets/inventory.ron

{
  "my_game::inventory::Inventory": (
    id: "inv001",
    max_storage: 10,
    items: [
      (
        name: "Pickaxe"
      ),
    ],
  ),
}
```

This is much more digestible and a lot less error-prone (no more key requirements and no more extra type names).

Additionally, it is a lot more familiar to users as it follows conventional serde mechanics. For example, the struct is represented with `(...)` when serialized to RON.

#### Custom Serialization

Additionally, this PR adds the opt-in ability to specify a custom serde implementation to be used rather than the one created via reflection. For example[^1]:

```rust
// -- src/inventory.rs

#[derive(Reflect, Serialize)]
#[reflect(Serialize)]
struct Item {
  #[serde(alias = "id")]
  name: String
}
```

```rust
// -- assets/inventory.ron

{
  "my_game::inventory::Inventory": (
    id: "inv001",
    max_storage: 10,
    items: [
      (
        id: "Pickaxe"
      ),
    ],
  ),
},
```

By allowing users to define their own serialization methods, we do two things:

1. We give more control over how data is serialized/deserialized to the end user
2. We avoid having to re-define serde's attributes and forcing users to apply both (e.g. we don't need a `#[reflect(alias)]` attribute).

### Improved Formats

One of the improvements this PR provides is the ability to represent data in ways that are more conventional and/or familiar to users. Many users are familiar with RON so here are some of the ways we can now represent data in RON:

###### Structs

```js
{
  "my_crate::Foo": (
    bar: 123
  )
}
// OR
{
  "my_crate::Foo": Foo(
    bar: 123
  )
}
```

<details>
<summary>Old Format</summary>

```js
{
  "type": "my_crate::Foo",
  "struct": {
    "bar": {
      "type": "usize",
      "value": 123
    }
  }
}
```

</details>

###### Tuples

```js
{
  "(f32, f32)": (1.0, 2.0)
}
```

<details>
<summary>Old Format</summary>

```js
{
  "type": "(f32, f32)",
  "tuple": [
    {
      "type": "f32",
      "value": 1.0
    },
    {
      "type": "f32",
      "value": 2.0
    }
  ]
}
```

</details>

###### Tuple Structs

```js
{
  "my_crate::Bar": ("Hello World!")
}
// OR
{
  "my_crate::Bar": Bar("Hello World!")
}
```

<details>
<summary>Old Format</summary>

```js
{
  "type": "my_crate::Bar",
  "tuple_struct": [
    {
      "type": "alloc::string::String",
      "value": "Hello World!"
    }
  ]
}
```

</details>

###### Arrays

It may be a bit surprising to some, but arrays now also use the tuple format. This is because they essentially _are_ tuples (a sequence of values with a fixed size), but only allow for homogenous types. Additionally, this is how RON handles them and is probably a result of the 32-capacity limit imposed on them (both by [serde](https://docs.rs/serde/latest/serde/trait.Serialize.html#impl-Serialize-for-%5BT%3B%2032%5D) and by [bevy_reflect](https://docs.rs/bevy/latest/bevy/reflect/trait.GetTypeRegistration.html#impl-GetTypeRegistration-for-%5BT%3B%2032%5D)).

```js
{
  "[i32; 3]": (1, 2, 3)
}
```

<details>
<summary>Old Format</summary>

```js
{
  "type": "[i32; 3]",
  "array": [
    {
      "type": "i32",
      "value": 1
    },
    {
      "type": "i32",
      "value": 2
    },
    {
      "type": "i32",
      "value": 3
    }
  ]
}
```

</details>

###### Enums

To make things simple, I'll just put a struct variant here, but the style applies to all variant types:

```js
{
  "my_crate::ItemType": Consumable(
    name: "Healing potion"
  )
}
```

<details>
<summary>Old Format</summary>

```js
{
  "type": "my_crate::ItemType",
  "enum": {
    "variant": "Consumable",
    "struct": {
      "name": {
        "type": "alloc::string::String",
        "value": "Healing potion"
      }
    }
  }
}
```

</details>

### Comparison with #4561

This PR is a rebased version of #4561. The reason for the split between the two is because this PR creates a _very_ different scene format. You may notice that the PR descriptions for either PR are pretty similar. This was done to better convey the changes depending on which (if any) gets merged first. If #4561 makes it in first, I will update this PR description accordingly.

---

## Changelog

* Re-worked serialization/deserialization for reflected types
* Added `TypedReflectDeserializer` for deserializing data with known `TypeInfo`
* Renamed `ReflectDeserializer` to `UntypedReflectDeserializer` 
* ~~Replaced usages of `deserialize_any` with `deserialize_map` for non-self-describing formats~~ Reverted this change since there are still some issues that need to be sorted out (in a separate PR). By reverting this, crates like `bincode` can throw an error when attempting to deserialize non-self-describing formats (`bincode` results in `DeserializeAnyNotSupported`)
* Structs, tuples, tuple structs, arrays, and enums are now all de/serialized using conventional serde methods

## Migration Guide

* This PR reduces the verbosity of the scene format. Scenes will need to be updated accordingly:

```js
// Old format
{
  "type": "my_game::item::Item",
  "struct": {
    "id": {
      "type": "alloc::string::String",
      "value": "bevycraft:stone",
    },
    "tags": {
      "type": "alloc::vec::Vec<alloc::string::String>",
      "list": [
        {
          "type": "alloc::string::String",
          "value": "material"
        },
      ],
    },
}

// New format
{
  "my_game::item::Item": (
    id: "bevycraft:stone",
    tags: ["material"]
  )
}
```

[^1]: Some derives omitted for brevity.
2022-09-20 19:38:18 +00:00

101 lines
3.8 KiB
Rust

//! Illustrates how "reflection" works in Bevy.
//!
//! Reflection provides a way to dynamically interact with Rust types, such as accessing fields
//! by their string name. Reflection is a core part of Bevy and enables a number of interesting
//! features (like scenes).
use bevy::{
prelude::*,
reflect::{
serde::{ReflectSerializer, UntypedReflectDeserializer},
DynamicStruct,
},
};
use serde::de::DeserializeSeed;
fn main() {
App::new()
.add_plugins(DefaultPlugins)
.register_type::<Foo>()
.register_type::<Bar>()
.add_startup_system(setup)
.run();
}
/// Deriving `Reflect` implements the relevant reflection traits. In this case, it implements the
/// `Reflect` trait and the `Struct` trait `derive(Reflect)` assumes that all fields also implement
/// Reflect.
#[derive(Reflect)]
pub struct Foo {
a: usize,
nested: Bar,
#[reflect(ignore)]
_ignored: NonReflectedValue,
}
/// This `Bar` type is used in the `nested` field on the `Test` type. We must derive `Reflect` here
/// too (or ignore it)
#[derive(Reflect)]
pub struct Bar {
b: usize,
}
pub struct NonReflectedValue {
_a: usize,
}
fn setup(type_registry: Res<AppTypeRegistry>) {
let mut value = Foo {
a: 1,
_ignored: NonReflectedValue { _a: 10 },
nested: Bar { b: 8 },
};
// You can set field values like this. The type must match exactly or this will fail.
*value.get_field_mut("a").unwrap() = 2usize;
assert_eq!(value.a, 2);
assert_eq!(*value.get_field::<usize>("a").unwrap(), 2);
// You can also get the &dyn Reflect value of a field like this
let field = value.field("a").unwrap();
// you can downcast Reflect values like this:
assert_eq!(*field.downcast_ref::<usize>().unwrap(), 2);
// DynamicStruct also implements the `Struct` and `Reflect` traits.
let mut patch = DynamicStruct::default();
patch.insert("a", 4usize);
// You can "apply" Reflect implementations on top of other Reflect implementations.
// This will only set fields with the same name, and it will fail if the types don't match.
// You can use this to "patch" your types with new values.
value.apply(&patch);
assert_eq!(value.a, 4);
let type_registry = type_registry.read();
// By default, all derived `Reflect` types can be Serialized using serde. No need to derive
// Serialize!
let serializer = ReflectSerializer::new(&value, &type_registry);
let ron_string =
ron::ser::to_string_pretty(&serializer, ron::ser::PrettyConfig::default()).unwrap();
info!("{}\n", ron_string);
// Dynamic properties can be deserialized
let reflect_deserializer = UntypedReflectDeserializer::new(&type_registry);
let mut deserializer = ron::de::Deserializer::from_str(&ron_string).unwrap();
let reflect_value = reflect_deserializer.deserialize(&mut deserializer).unwrap();
// Deserializing returns a Box<dyn Reflect> value. Generally, deserializing a value will return
// the "dynamic" variant of a type. For example, deserializing a struct will return the
// DynamicStruct type. "Value types" will be deserialized as themselves.
let _deserialized_struct = reflect_value.downcast_ref::<DynamicStruct>();
// Reflect has its own `partial_eq` implementation, named `reflect_partial_eq`. This behaves
// like normal `partial_eq`, but it treats "dynamic" and "non-dynamic" types the same. The
// `Foo` struct and deserialized `DynamicStruct` are considered equal for this reason:
assert!(reflect_value.reflect_partial_eq(&value).unwrap());
// By "patching" `Foo` with the deserialized DynamicStruct, we can "Deserialize" Foo.
// This means we can serialize and deserialize with a single `Reflect` derive!
value.apply(&*reflect_value);
}