The Go json package marshals and unmarshals JSON from and to Go structures.
Here’s a step-by-step example which sets the value of a struct field while carefully avoiding errors.
The Go reflect package has a CanAddr function.
func (v Value) CanAddr() bool
CanAddr returns true if the value’s
address can be obtained with Addr.
Such values are called addressable. A
value is addressable if it is an
element of a slice, an element of an
addressable array, a field of an
addressable struct, or the result of
dereferencing a pointer. If CanAddr
returns false, calling Addr will
panic.
The Go reflect package has a CanSet function, which, if true, implies that CanAddr is also true.
func (v Value) CanSet() bool
CanSet returns true if the value of v
can be changed. A Value can be changed
only if it is addressable and was not
obtained by the use of unexported
struct fields. If CanSet returns
false, calling Set or any
type-specific setter (e.g., SetBool,
SetInt64) will panic.
We need to make sure we can Set the struct field. For example,
package main
import (
"fmt"
"reflect"
)
func main() {
type t struct {
N int
}
var n = t{42}
// N at start
fmt.Println(n.N)
// pointer to struct - addressable
ps := reflect.ValueOf(&n)
// struct
s := ps.Elem()
if s.Kind() == reflect.Struct {
// exported field
f := s.FieldByName("N")
if f.IsValid() {
// A Value can be changed only if it is
// addressable and was not obtained by
// the use of unexported struct fields.
if f.CanSet() {
// change value of N
if f.Kind() == reflect.Int {
x := int64(7)
if !f.OverflowInt(x) {
f.SetInt(x)
}
}
}
}
}
// N at end
fmt.Println(n.N)
}
Output:
42
7
If we can be certain that all the error checks are unnecessary, the example simplifies to,
package main
import (
"fmt"
"reflect"
)
func main() {
type t struct {
N int
}
var n = t{42}
fmt.Println(n.N)
reflect.ValueOf(&n).Elem().FieldByName("N").SetInt(7)
fmt.Println(n.N)
}
BTW, Go is available as open source code. A good way to learn about reflection is to see how the core Go developers use it. For example, the Go fmt and json packages. The package documentation has links to the source code files under the heading Package files.