serialize method

@override String? serialize(DartType targetType, String expression, TypeHelperContextWithConfig context)

Returns Dart code that serializes an expression representing a Dart object of type targetType.

If targetType is not supported, returns null.

Let's say you want to serialize a class Foo as just its id property of type int.

Treating expression as a opaque Dart expression, the serialize implementation could be a simple as:

String serialize(DartType targetType, String expression) =>
  "$expression.id";
```.

Implementation

@override
String? serialize(DartType targetType, String expression,
    TypeHelperContextWithConfig context) {
  if ((!typeChecker.isAssignableFromType(targetType)) ||
      _isDartCoreIterable<T>()) {
    return null;
  }

  // This block will yield a regular list, which works fine for JSON
  // Although it's possible that child elements may be marked unsafe

  final itemType = genericType(targetType);

  final subField = context.serialize(itemType, closureArg)!;

  final targetTypeIsNullable = targetType.isNullableType;

  final optionalQuestion = targetTypeIsNullable ? '?' : '';

  // In the case of trivial JSON types (int, String, etc), `subField`
  // will be identical to `substitute` – so no explicit mapping is needed.
  // If they are not equal, then we to write out the substitution.
  if (subField != closureArg) {
    final lambda = LambdaResult.process(subField);

    expression = '$expression$optionalQuestion.map($lambda)';

    // expression now represents an Iterable (even if it started as a List
    // ...resetting `isList` to `false`.
    //isList = false;
  }

  /*if (!isList) {
    // If the static type is not a List, generate one.
    return expression += '$optionalQuestion.iter$optionalQuestion.toList()';
  }

  return expression + optionalQuestion + '.asList()';*/

  return serializeToList(expression, itemType, targetTypeIsNullable);
}