Enhancement: Add parsers and serializers for JSON, YAML and XML

include/gul17/data_processors.h

@@ -0,0 +1,167 @@
+/**
+ * \file   data_processors.h
+ * \author Jan Behrens
+ * \date   Created on 20 November 2025
+ * \brief  Declaration of the data processor utility functions.
+ *
+ * \copyright Copyright 2018-2025 Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Hamburg
+ *
+ * This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+ * it under the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published
+ * by the Free Software Foundation, either version 2.1 of the license, or
+ * (at your option) any later version.
+ *
+ * This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+ * but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+ * MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. See the
+ * GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+ * along with this program.  If not, see <https://www.gnu.or
+ */
+
+#ifndef GUL17_DATA_PROCESSORS_H_
+#define GUL17_DATA_PROCESSORS_H_
+
+#include "DataTree.h"
+
+#include "gul17/internal.h"
+
+#include <string>
+
+namespace gul17 {
+
+/**
+ * \addtogroup data_processors_h gul17/data_processors.h
+ * \brief Various data processor utility functions.
+ * @{
+ */
+
+/**
+ * Parse a JSON string and return the corresponding DataTree representation.
+ *
+ * The function parses the input JSON string and constructs a DataTree object
+ * representing the hierarchical structure and data contained in the JSON.
+ * Throws a std::runtime_error if the input string is not valid JSON.
+ *
+ * \code
+ * auto a = from_json_string(R"({"foo": "bar"})");  // a == DataTree{"foo": "bar"}
+ * \endcode
+ *
+ * \param data      The JSON string to be parsed.
+ *
+ * \see to_json_string()
+ *
+ * \since GUL version x.y.z
+ */
+GUL_EXPORT
+DataTree from_json_string(const std::string_view& data);
+
+/**
+ * Serialize a DataTree object to a JSON string.
+ *
+ * The function serializes the given DataTree object into a JSON-formatted string.
+ * The optional \c indent parameter specifies the number of spaces to use for
+ * indentation in the output string (default is 0, meaning no pretty-printing).
+ *
+ * \code
+ * auto a = to_json_string(DataTree{"foo": "bar"});  // a == "{\"foo\": \"bar\"}"
+ * \endcode
+ *
+ * \param value     The DataTree object to be serialized.
+ *
+ * \see from_json_string()
+ *
+ * \since GUL version x.y.z
+ */
+GUL_EXPORT
+std::string to_json_string(const DataTree& value, size_t indent = 0);
+
+/**
+ * Parse an XML string and return the corresponding DataTree representation.
+ *
+ * The function parses the input XML string and constructs a DataTree object
+ * representing the hierarchical structure and data contained in the XML.
+ * Throws a std::runtime_error if the input string is not valid XML.
+ *
+ * \code
+ * auto a = from_xml_string(R"(<root><foo>bar</foo></root>)");  // a == DataTree{"foo": "bar"}
+ * \endcode
+ *
+ * \param data      The XML string to be parsed.
+ *
+ * \see to_xml_string()
+ *
+ * \since GUL version x.y.z
+ */
+GUL_EXPORT
+DataTree from_xml_string(const std::string_view& data);
+
+/**
+ * Serialize a DataTree object to an XML string.
+ *
+ * The function serializes the given DataTree object into a XML-formatted string.
+ * The optional \c indent parameter specifies the number of spaces to use for
+ * indentation in the output string (default is 0, meaning no pretty-printing).
+ *
+ * \code
+ * auto a = to_xml_string(DataTree{"foo": "bar"});  // a == "<root><foo>bar</foo></root>"
+ * \endcode
+ *
+ * \param value     The DataTree object to be serialized.
+ *
+ * \see from_xml_string()
+ *
+ * \since GUL version x.y.z
+ */
+GUL_EXPORT
+std::string to_xml_string(const DataTree& value, size_t indent = 0,
+                          const std::string& root_tag_name = "root");
+
+/**
+ * Parse an YAML string and return the corresponding DataTree representation.
+ *
+ * The function parses the input YAML string and constructs a DataTree object
+ * representing the hierarchical structure and data contained in the YAML.
+ * Throws a std::runtime_error if the input string is not valid YAML.
+ *
+ * \code
+ * auto a = from_yaml_string(R"(foo: bar)");  // a == DataTree{"foo": "bar"}
+ * \endcode
+ *
+ * \param data      The YAML string to be parsed.
+ *
+ * \see to_yaml_string()
+ *
+ * \since GUL version x.y.z
+ */
+GUL_EXPORT
+DataTree from_yaml_string(const std::string_view& data);
+
+/**
+ * Serialize a DataTree object to a YAML string.
+ *
+ * The function serializes the given DataTree object into a YAML-formatted string.
+ * The optional \c indent parameter specifies the number of spaces to use for
+ * indentation in the output string (default is 2).
+ *
+ * \code
+ * auto a = to_yaml_string(DataTree{"foo": "bar"});  // a == "foo: bar\n"
+ * \endcode
+ *
+ * \param value     The DataTree object to be serialized.
+ *
+ * \see from_yaml_string()
+ *
+ * \since GUL version x.y.z
+ */
+GUL_EXPORT
+std::string to_yaml_string(const DataTree& value, size_t indent = 2);
+
+/// @}
+
+} // namespace gul17
+
+#endif // GUL17_DATA_PROCESSORS_H_
+
+// vi:ts=4:sw=4:sts=4:et

include/gul17/gul.h

@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@
 #include "gul17/cat.h"
 // #include "gul17/catch.h" not included because it is only useful for unit tests
 // #include "gul17/date.h" not included by default to reduce compile times
+#include "gul17/data_processors.h"
 #include "gul17/escape.h"
 #include "gul17/expected.h"
 #include "gul17/finalizer.h"

include/gul17/meson.build

@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ standalone_headers = [
     'case_ascii.h',
     'cat.h',
     'date.h',
+    'data_processors.h',
+    'DataTree.h',
     'escape.h',
     'expected.h',
     'finalizer.h',