How to print struct variables in console?
StructGoStruct Problem Overview
How can I print (to the console) the Id, Title, Name, etc. of this struct in Golang?
type Project struct {
Id int64 `json:"project_id"`
Title string `json:"title"`
Name string `json:"name"`
Data Data `json:"data"`
Commits Commits `json:"commits"`
}
Struct Solutions
Solution 1 - Struct
To print the name of the fields in a struct:
fmt.Printf("%+v\n", yourProject)
From the fmt package:
> when printing structs, the plus flag (%+v) adds field names
That supposes you have an instance of Project (in 'yourProject')
The article JSON and Go will give more details on how to retrieve the values from a JSON struct.
This Go by example page provides another technique:
type Response2 struct {
Page int `json:"page"`
Fruits []string `json:"fruits"`
}
res2D := &Response2{
Page: 1,
Fruits: []string{"apple", "peach", "pear"}}
res2B, _ := json.Marshal(res2D)
fmt.Println(string(res2B))
That would print:
{"page":1,"fruits":["apple","peach","pear"]}
If you don't have any instance, then you need to use reflection to display the name of the field of a given struct, as in this example.
type T struct {
A int
B string
}
t := T{23, "skidoo"}
s := reflect.ValueOf(&t).Elem()
typeOfT := s.Type()
for i := 0; i < s.NumField(); i++ {
f := s.Field(i)
fmt.Printf("%d: %s %s = %v\n", i,
typeOfT.Field(i).Name, f.Type(), f.Interface())
}
Solution 2 - Struct
I want to recommend go-spew, which according to their github "Implements a deep pretty printer for Go data structures to aid in debugging"
go get -u github.com/davecgh/go-spew/spew
usage example:
package main
import (
"github.com/davecgh/go-spew/spew"
)
type Project struct {
Id int64 `json:"project_id"`
Title string `json:"title"`
Name string `json:"name"`
Data string `json:"data"`
Commits string `json:"commits"`
}
func main() {
o := Project{Name: "hello", Title: "world"}
spew.Dump(o)
}
output:
(main.Project) {
Id: (int64) 0,
Title: (string) (len=5) "world",
Name: (string) (len=5) "hello",
Data: (string) "",
Commits: (string) ""
}
Solution 3 - Struct
my 2cents would be to use json.MarshalIndent -- surprised this isn't suggested, as it is the most straightforward. for example:
func prettyPrint(i interface{}) string {
s, _ := json.MarshalIndent(i, "", "\t")
return string(s)
}
no external deps and results in nicely formatted output.
Solution 4 - Struct
I think it would be better to implement a custom stringer if you want some kind of formatted output of a struct
for example
package main
import "fmt"
type Project struct {
Id int64 `json:"project_id"`
Title string `json:"title"`
Name string `json:"name"`
}
func (p Project) String() string {
return fmt.Sprintf("{Id:%d, Title:%s, Name:%s}", p.Id, p.Title, p.Name)
}
func main() {
o := Project{Id: 4, Name: "hello", Title: "world"}
fmt.Printf("%+v\n", o)
}
Solution 5 - Struct
p = Project{...}
fmt.Printf("%+v", p)
fmt.Printf("%#v", p) //with type
Solution 6 - Struct
Alternatively, try using this function PrettyPrint()
// print the contents of the obj
func PrettyPrint(data interface{}) {
var p []byte
// var err := error
p, err := json.MarshalIndent(data, "", "\t")
if err != nil {
fmt.Println(err)
return
}
fmt.Printf("%s \n", p)
}
In order to use this you do not need any additional packages with the exception of fmt and encoding/json, just a reference, pointer to, or literal of the struct you have created.
To use just take your struct, initialize it in main or whatever package you are in and pass it into PrettyPrint().
type Prefix struct {
Network string
Mask int
}
func valueStruct() {
// struct as a value
var nw Prefix
nw.Network = "10.1.1.0"
nw.Mask = 24
fmt.Println("### struct as a pointer ###")
PrettyPrint(&nw)
}
It's output would be
### struct as a pointer ###
{
"Network": "10.1.1.0",
"Mask": 24
}
Play around with the code here.
Solution 7 - Struct
It is very convenient to use package fmt to output:
fmt.Printf("%+v \n", yourProject)
if you want to see the full type of the sturct, you can use # replace + :
fmt.Printf("%#v \n", yourProject)
Solution 8 - Struct
I recommend to use Pretty Printer Library. In that you can print any struct very easily.
-
Install Library
or
go get github.com/kr/pretty
Now do like this in your code
package main
import (
fmt
github.com/kr/pretty
)
func main(){
type Project struct {
Id int64 `json:"project_id"`
Title string `json:"title"`
Name string `json:"name"`
Data Data `json:"data"`
Commits Commits `json:"commits"`
}
fmt.Printf("%# v", pretty.Formatter(Project)) //It will print all struct details
fmt.Printf("%# v", pretty.Formatter(Project.Id)) //It will print component one by one.
}
Also you can get difference between component through this library and so more. You can also have a look on library Docs here.
Solution 9 - Struct
I like litter.
From their readme:
type Person struct {
Name string
Age int
Parent *Person
}
litter.Dump(Person{
Name: "Bob",
Age: 20,
Parent: &Person{
Name: "Jane",
Age: 50,
},
})
Sdump is pretty handy in tests:
func TestSearch(t *testing.T) {
result := DoSearch()
actual := litterOpts.Sdump(result)
expected, err := ioutil.ReadFile("testdata.txt")
if err != nil {
// First run, write test data since it doesn't exist
if !os.IsNotExist(err) {
t.Error(err)
}
ioutil.Write("testdata.txt", actual, 0644)
actual = expected
}
if expected != actual {
t.Errorf("Expected %s, got %s", expected, actual)
}
}
Solution 10 - Struct
To print the struct as JSON:
fmt.Printf("%#v\n", yourProject)
Also possible with (as it was mentioned above):
fmt.Printf("%+v\n", yourProject)
But the second option prints string values without "" so it is harder to read.
Solution 11 - Struct
When you have more complex structures, you might need to convert to JSON before printing:
// Convert structs to JSON.
data, err := json.Marshal(myComplexStruct)
fmt.Printf("%s\n", data)
Solution 12 - Struct
You can do the json mashal first and print it as a string. There you can see it the whole struct value completely.
package main
import "fmt"
import "json"
type Project struct {
Id int64 `json:"project_id"`
Title string `json:"title"`
Name string `json:"name"`
}
func main() {
o := Project{Id: 4, Name: "hello", Title: "world"}
om, _ := json.marshal(o)
log.Printf("%s\n", string(om))
}
Solution 13 - Struct
Sometimes, it might be handy to print the struct as valid Go code (the go/ast equivalent). For this purpose, https://github.com/hexops/valast does a great job:
package main
import (
"fmt"
"github.com/hexops/valast"
)
type ProjectData struct {
Title string `json:"title"`
Name string `json:"name"`
Data string `json:"data"`
Commits string `json:"commits"`
}
type Project struct {
Id int64 `json:"project_id"`
Data *ProjectData `json:"data"`
}
func main() {
p := Project{
Id: 1,
Data: &ProjectData{
Title: "Test",
Name: "Mihai",
Data: "Some data",
Commits: "Test Message",
},
}
fmt.Println(valast.String(p))
}
Output:
go run main.go
Project{Id: 1, Data: &ProjectData{
Title: "Test",
Name: "Mihai",
Data: "Some data",
Commits: "Test Message",
}}
Solution 14 - Struct
Visit https://gist.github.com/hygull/0fbc428dc77bef4a665b19d598f865d8">here</a> to see the complete code. Here you will also find a link for an online terminal where the complete code can be run and the program represents how to extract structure's information(field's name their type & value). Below is the program snippet that only prints the field names.
package main
import "fmt"
import "reflect"
func main() {
type Book struct {
Id int
Name string
Title string
}
book := Book{1, "Let us C", "Enjoy programming with practice"}
e := reflect.ValueOf(&book).Elem()
for i := 0; i < e.NumField(); i++ {
fieldName := e.Type().Field(i).Name
fmt.Printf("%v\n", fieldName)
}
}
/*
Id
Name
Title
*/
Solution 15 - Struct
i suggest to use json.Unmarshal()
i try to print the id with this hope its helpfull:
var jsonString = `{"Id": 1, "Title": "the title", "Name": "the name","Data": "the data","Commits" : "the commits"}`
var jsonData = []byte(jsonString)
var data Project
var err = json.Unmarshal(jsonData, &data)
if err != nil {
fmt.Println(err.Error())
return
}
fmt.Println("Id :", data.Id)
Solution 16 - Struct
Maybe this shouldn't be applied for production requests but if you are on debugging mode I suggest you follow the below approach.
marshalledText, _ := json.MarshalIndent(inputStruct, "", " ")
fmt.Println(string(marshalledText))
This results in formatting the data in json format with increased readability.
Solution 17 - Struct
There's also go-render, which handles pointer recursion and lots of key sorting for string and int maps.
Installation:
go get github.com/luci/go-render/render
Example:
type customType int
type testStruct struct {
S string
V *map[string]int
I interface{}
}
a := testStruct{
S: "hello",
V: &map[string]int{"foo": 0, "bar": 1},
I: customType(42),
}
fmt.Println("Render test:")
fmt.Printf("fmt.Printf: %#v\n", a)))
fmt.Printf("render.Render: %s\n", Render(a))
Which prints:
fmt.Printf: render.testStruct{S:"hello", V:(*map[string]int)(0x600dd065), I:42}
render.Render: render.testStruct{S:"hello", V:(*map[string]int){"bar":1, "foo":0}, I:render.customType(42)}
Solution 18 - Struct
fmt.Printf("%+v\n", project)
This is the basic way of printing the details
Solution 19 - Struct
A lot of answers for a simple question. I might as well throw my hat in the ring.
package main
import "fmt"
type Project struct {
Id int64 `json:"project_id"`
Title string `json:"title"`
Name string `json:"name"`
//Data Data `json:"data"`
//Commits Commits `json:"commits"`
}
var (
Testy Project
)
func dump_project(foo Project) {
fmt.Println("== Dump Project Struct ====")
fmt.Printf("Id: %d\n", foo.Id)
fmt.Println("Title: ", foo.Title)
fmt.Printf("Name: %v\n", foo.Name)
}
func main() {
fmt.Println("hello from go")
Testy.Id = 3
Testy.Title = "yo"
Testy.Name = "my name"
fmt.Println(Testy)
dump_project(Testy)
}
The output of the various print methods
hello from go
{3 yo my name}
== Dump Project Struct ====
Id: 3
Title: yo
Name: my name
Solution 20 - Struct
very simple I don't have the structure of Data and Commits So I changed the
package main
import (
"fmt"
)
type Project struct {
Id int64 `json:"project_id"`
Title string `json:"title"`
Name string `json:"name"`
Data string `json:"data"`
Commits string `json:"commits"`
}
func main() {
p := Project{
1,
"First",
"Ankit",
"your data",
"Commit message",
}
fmt.Println(p)
}
For learning you can take help from here : https://gobyexample.com/structs
Solution 21 - Struct
If you want to write in a log file, as I was searching previously. Then you should use:
log.Infof("Information %+v", structure)
Note:: This will not work with log.Info or log.Debug. In this case, "%v" will get printed, and all the values of the structure will be printed without printing the key/variable name.
Solution 22 - Struct
Without using external libraries and with new line after each field:
log.Println(
strings.Replace(
fmt.Sprintf("%#v", post), ", ", "\n", -1))
Solution 23 - Struct
type Response struct {
UserId int `json:"userId"`
Id int `json:"id"`
Title string `json:"title"`
Body string `json:"body"`
}
func PostsGet() gin.HandlerFunc {
return func(c *gin.Context) {
xs, err := http.Get("https://jsonplaceholder.typicode.com/posts")
if err != nil {
log.Println("The HTTP request failed with error: ", err)
}
data, _ := ioutil.ReadAll(xs`enter code here`.Body)
// this will print the struct in console
fmt.Println(string(data))
// this is to send as response for the API
bytes := []byte(string(data))
var res []Response
json.Unmarshal(bytes, &res)
c.JSON(http.StatusOK, res)
}
}
Solution 24 - Struct
Another way is, create a func called toString that takes struct, format the
fields as you wish.
import (
"fmt"
)
type T struct {
x, y string
}
func (r T) toString() string {
return "Formate as u need :" + r.x + r.y
}
func main() {
r1 := T{"csa", "ac"}
fmt.Println("toStringed : ", r1.toString())
}
Solution 25 - Struct
Most of these packages are relying on the reflect package to make such things possible.
fmt.Sprintf() is using -> func (p *pp) printArg(arg interface{}, verb rune) of standard lib
Go to line 638 -> https://golang.org/src/fmt/print.go
Reflection:
https://golang.org/pkg/reflect/
Example code:
https://github.com/donutloop/toolkit/blob/master/debugutil/prettysprint.go
Solution 26 - Struct
fmt.Println("%+v", structure variable)
A better way to do this would be to create a global constant for the string "%+v" in a package called "commons"(maybe) and use it everywhere in your code
//In commons package
const STRUCTURE_DATA_FMT = "%+v"
//In your code everywhere
fmt.Println(commons.STRUCTURE_DATA_FMT, structure variable)