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Convert

Vision elements have what is called the flat representation, which is a data layout designed for exporting the element. If you want to export the element into a custom-designed file format, you will probably first want to convert it to flat, and then save each of the fields of the flat object to the file.

  • Ve → Flat → Custom file format: Convert to flat, then save the flat representation with a custom-made file format.

The following operations are equivalent in terms of the result:

  • Ve → Flat → JSON string → JSON file: Convert to flat, convert the flat object to JSON (string), then save the JSON string to a file.
  • Ve → JSON string → JSON file: Convert directly to JSON (string), save the JSON string to a file.
  • Ve → JSON file: Use a built-in function to save the vision element to a file.

The flat object has the following characteristics:

  • All data is accessible through first-level fields (thus the name "flat").
  • It contains exactly the same data as the original vision element and the conversions are reversible: A converstion "to flat" and then "from flat" will result in the same vision element.
  • It is directly convertable to JSON: Converting a vision element to flat, and the the flat object to JSON will have the same result as converting the vision element directly to JSON.
  • Cannot be used in the functions of the vision elements library. It has to be first converted back to a vision element.

Conversion to flat​

veToFlat()​

Conversion of a vision element to flat object.

function veToFlat(ve: VisionElement): IVisionElementFlat;

listToFlat()​

Conversion of a list of vision elements to flat.

function listToFlat(veList: VisionElement[]): IVisionElementFlat[];

dictionaryToFlat()​

Conversion of a dictionary of vision elements to flat.

function dictionaryToFlat(dict: Dictionary): DictionaryFlat;

Conversion from flat​

veFromFlat()​

Conversion of a flat object to a vision element.

function veFromFlat(flat: IVisionElementFlat): IVisionElementFlat;

listFromFlat()​

Conversion of a list of flat objects to a list of vision elements.

function listFromFlat(flatList: IVisionElementFlat[]): IVisionElement[];

dictionaryFromFlat()​

Conversion of a dictionary of flat objects to a dictionary of vision elements.

function dictionaryFromFlat(flatDict: DictionaryFlat[]): IVisionElementFlat[];

Conversion to JSON​

veToJson()​

Conversion of a vision element to a JSON string.

function veToJson(ve: VisionElement): string;

flatToJson()​

Conversion of a flat object to a JSON string.

function flatToJson(flat: IVisionElementFlat): string;

listToJson()​

Conversion of a list of vision elements to a JSON string.

function listToJson(veList: VisionElement[]): string;

dictionaryToJson()​

Conversion of a dictionary of vision elements to a JSON string.

function dictionaryToJson(dict: Dictionary): string;

Conversion from JSON​

veFromJson()​

Parses a JSON string to a vision element. If the string is not a valid JSON or a not a valid vision element, an error is thrown.

function veFromJson(json: string): VisionElement;

flatFromJson()​

Parses a JSON string to flat value. If the string is not a valid JSON or a not a valid flat value, an error is thrown.

function flatFromJson(json: string): IVisionElementFlat;

listFromJson()​

Parses a JSON string to a list of vision elements. If the string is not a valid JSON or a not a valid list of vision elements, an error is thrown.

function listFromJson(json: string): VisionElement[];

dictionaryFromJson()​

Parses a JSON string to a dictionary of vision elements. If the string is not a valid JSON or a not a valid dictionary of vision elements, an error is thrown.

function dictionaryFromJson(json: string): Dictionary;

Conversion to file​

veToFile()​

Writes a single vision element to a file (data is internally stored as JSON).

function veToFile(ve: VisionElement, filePath: string): void;

flatToFile()​

Writes a single flat object to a file (data is internally stored as JSON).

function flatToFile(float: IVisionElementFlat, filePath: string): void;

listToFile()​

Writes a list of vision elements to file (data is internally stored as JSON).

function listToFile(veList: VisionElement[], filePath: string): void;

flatToFile()​

Writes a dictionary of vision elements to file (data is internally stored as JSON).

function dictionaryToFile(dict: Dictionary, filePath: string): void;

Conversion from file​

veFromFile()​

Reads a single vision element from file. If the file doesn't contain a valid vision element, an error is thrown.

function veFromFile(filePath: string): VisionElement;

flatFromFile()​

Reads a single flat object from file. If the file doesn't contain a valid flat object, an error is thrown.

function flatFromFile(filePath: string): IVisionElementFlat;

listFromFile()​

Reads a list of vision elements from file. If the file doesn't contain a valid list of vision elements, an error is thrown.

function listFromFile(filePath: string): VisionElement[];

dictionaryFromFile()​

Reads a dictionary from file. If the file doesn't contain a valid dictionary, an error is thrown.

function dictionaryFromFile(filePath: string): Dictionary;