C# Code Generation in Avrotize

Avrotize is can generates C# classes from Avro schema files with the "a2csharp" command. The generated classes reflect the type model described by the Avro schema.

With the --avro-annotation option, the code generator is an alternative to the avrogen tool provided by the Avro project. Unlike avrogen, Avrotize generates classes that directly support type unions and it allows combining Avro annotations with annotations for System.Text.Json serialization.

With the --system-text-json-annotation option, the code generator emits annotations for System.Text.Json serialization. This option can be used standalone and is not dependent on the --avro-annotation option, which means that Avro Schema can be used to generate classes with System.Text.Json serialization annotations as an alternative to JSON Schema, without the Avro serialization framework being required. The generated classes fully support type unions (equivalent to JSN Schema's oneOf) without requiring a "discriminator" field, but rather deduce the type from the serialized data's structure.

Code generation for example schema `RecordType1`

{
    "type": "record",
    "name": "RecordType1",
    "namespace": "MyNamespace",
    "fields": [
        {
            "name": "field1",
            "type": "string"
        },
        {
            "name": "field2",
            "type": "int"
        },
        {
            "name": "field3",
            "type": "string"
        },
        {
            "name": "field4",
            "type": "double"
        },
        {
            "name": "field5",
            "type": "long"
        },
        {
            "name": "fieldB",
            "type": ["string", "null"]
        }
    ]
}

The following is an example of the generated code for the schema above, with the --avro-annotation option and the --system-text-json-annotation option turned on. We will discuss the generated code in detail below and which parts are generated by which option.

Pragma Directives

The generated code starts with two pragma directives to suppress warnings about uninitialized fields and nullable fields. These directives are necessary because the generated code uses nullable reference types and shall work for C# 8.0 and later, with the nullable reference types feature enabled.

#pragma warning disable CS8618
#pragma warning disable CS8603

Using Directives

The generated code includes the necessary using directives for the System, System.Collections.Generic, System.Text.Json, and System.Text.Json.Serialization namespaces. The Avro references are generated without the using directive.

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text.Json;
using System.Text.Json.Serialization;

Namespace Declaration

The generated code includes a namespace declaration that is derived from the namespace of the Avro schema. The namespace is used to avoid naming conflicts with other classes in the project. When the --namespace option is provided, the given namespace is prepended to the namespace found in the Avro schema.

namespace MyNamespace
{

Record Class

The generated code includes a class declaration for the record type defined in the Avro schema. The class name is derived from the name of the record type in the Avro schema.

If the --avro-annotation option is provided, the class implements the ISpecificRecord interface from the Avro library. The interface provides methods to access the fields of the record and to convert the record to and from byte arrays. The interface is used by the Avro serialization framework to serialize and deserialize the record.

The Avro serialization uses the 'Specific' API, which is a strongly typed API that generates classes for each record type in the Avro schema. Avro deserialization however uses the 'Generic' API due to limitations in how the Specific API resolves type references during union handling.

    /// <summary>
    /// RecordType1
    /// </summary>
    public partial class RecordType1 : global::Avro.Specific.ISpecificRecord
    {

Fields

The generated code includes fields for each field in the record type defined in the Avro schema, with Avro types mapped to C# types.

The mapping for Avro types to C# types is as follows:

Avro Type	C# Type
string	string
int	int
long	long
float	float
double	double
boolean	bool
bytes	byte[]
fixed	byte[]
enum	enum
array	List
map	Dictionary<string, T>
union	xxxUnion() class

Logical Type	C# Type
decimal	decimal
date	DateTime
time-millis	TimeSpan
time-micros	TimeSpan
timestamp-millis	DateTime
timestamp-micros	DateTime
duration	TimeSpan

If the --system-text-json-annotation option is used, fields are annotated with the JsonPropertyName attribute from the System.Text.Json.Serialization namespace. The attribute specifies the name of the field in the JSON representation of the record.

        /// <summary>
        /// Field1
        /// </summary>
        [System.Text.Json.Serialization.JsonPropertyName("field1")]
        public string Field1 { get; set; }
        /// <summary>
        /// Field2
        /// </summary>
        [System.Text.Json.Serialization.JsonPropertyName("field2")]
        public int Field2 { get; set; }
        /// <summary>
        /// Field3
        /// </summary>
        [System.Text.Json.Serialization.JsonPropertyName("field3")]
        public string Field3 { get; set; }
        /// <summary>
        /// Field4
        /// </summary>
        [System.Text.Json.Serialization.JsonPropertyName("field4")]
        public double Field4 { get; set; }
        /// <summary>
        /// Field5
        /// </summary>
        [System.Text.Json.Serialization.JsonPropertyName("field5")]
        public long Field5 { get; set; }
        /// <summary>
        /// FieldB
        /// </summary>
        [System.Text.Json.Serialization.JsonPropertyName("fieldB")]
        public string? FieldB { get; set; }

Constructor

The generated code includes a default constructor for the record type. The constructor initializes the fields of the record to their default values.

        /// <summary>
        /// Default constructor
        ///</summary>
        public RecordType1()
        {
        }

Constructor from Avro GenericRecord

If the --avro-annotation option is used, the generated code includes a constructor that takes an Avro GenericRecord object as a parameter. The constructor initializes the fields of the record from the values in the GenericRecord.

        /// <summary>
        /// Constructor from Avro GenericRecord
        ///</summary>
        public RecordType1(global::Avro.Generic.GenericRecord obj)
        {
            global::Avro.Specific.ISpecificRecord self = this;
            for (int i = 0; obj.Schema.Fields.Count > i; ++i)
            {
                self.Put(i, obj.GetValue(i));
            }
        }

Avro Schema

If the --avro-annotation option is used, the generated code includes a static field that contains the Avro schema for the record type. The schema is parsed from a JSON string that represents the schema.

        /// <summary>
        /// Avro schema for this class
        /// </summary>
        public static global::Avro.Schema AvroSchema = global::Avro.Schema.Parse(
        "{\"type\": \"record\", \"name\": \"RecordType1\", \"fields\": [{\"name\": \"field1\", \"type\": "+
        "\"string\"}, {\"name\": \"field2\", \"type\": \"int\"}, {\"name\": \"field3\", \"type\": \"string"+
        "\"}, {\"name\": \"field4\", \"type\": \"double\"}, {\"name\": \"field5\", \"type\": \"long\"}, {\""+
        "name\": \"fieldB\", \"type\": [\"string\", \"null\"]}], \"namespace\": \"MyNamespace\"}");
        global::Avro.Schema global::Avro.Specific.ISpecificRecord.Schema => AvroSchema;

ISpecificRecord Interface Implementation

If the --avro-annotation option is used, the generated code includes implementations of the Get and Put methods from the Avro framework's ISpecificRecord interface. The methods provide access to the fields of the record and allow the record to be serialized and deserialized by the Avro serialization framework.

        object global::Avro.Specific.ISpecificRecord.Get(int fieldPos)
        {
            switch (fieldPos)
            {
                case 0: return this.Field1;
                case 1: return this.Field2;
                case 2: return this.Field3;
                case 3: return this.Field4;
                case 4: return this.Field5;
                case 5: return this.FieldB;
                default: throw new global::Avro.AvroRuntimeException($"Bad index {fieldPos} in Get()");
            }
        }
        void global::Avro.Specific.ISpecificRecord.Put(int fieldPos, object fieldValue)
        {
            switch (fieldPos)
            {
                case 0: this.Field1 = (string)fieldValue; break;
                case 1: this.Field2 = (int)fieldValue; break;
                case 2: this.Field3 = (string)fieldValue; break;
                case 3: this.Field4 = (double)fieldValue; break;
                case 4: this.Field5 = (long)fieldValue; break;
                case 5: this.FieldB = (string?)fieldValue; break;
                default: throw new global::Avro.AvroRuntimeException($"Bad index {fieldPos} in Put()");
            }
        }

ToByteArray Method

If either or both the --avro-annotation and --system-text-json-annotation options are used, the generated code includes a ToByteArray method that converts the record to a byte array. The method takes a content type string as a parameter that specifies the encoding of the data. The method encodes the record in the specified format and returns the encoded data as a byte array.

The following encodings are supported:

Enabled Option	Content Type String	Encoding
--avro-annotation	`avro/binary`	Avro binary encoding
--avro-annotation	`avro/vnd.apache.avro+avro`	Avro binary encoding
--avro-annotation	`avro/vnd.apache.avro+avro+gzip`	Avro binary encoding with GZIP compression
--avro-annotation	`avro/json`	Avro JSON encoding
--avro-annotation	`application/vnd.apache.avro+json`	Avro JSON encoding
--avro-annotation	`avro/vnd.apache.avro+json+gzip`	Avro JSON encoding with GZIP compression
--system-text-json-annotation	`application/json`	JSON encoding
--system-text-json-annotation	`application/json+gzip`	JSON encoding with GZIP compression

        /// <summary>
        /// Converts the object to a byte array
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="contentTypeString">The content type string of the desired encoding</param>
        /// <returns>The encoded data</returns>
        public byte[] ToByteArray(string contentTypeString)
        {
            var contentType = new System.Net.Mime.ContentType(contentTypeString);
            byte[]? result = null;
            
            if (contentType.MediaType.StartsWith("avro/binary") || contentType.MediaType.StartsWith("application/vnd.apache.avro+avro"))
            {
                var stream = new System.IO.MemoryStream();
                var writer = new global::Avro.Specific.SpecificDatumWriter<RecordType1>(RecordType1.AvroSchema);
                var encoder = new global::Avro.IO.BinaryEncoder(stream);
                writer.Write(this, encoder);
                encoder.Flush();
                result = stream.ToArray();
            }
            else if (contentType.MediaType.StartsWith("avro/json") || contentType.MediaType.StartsWith("application/vnd.apache.avro+json"))
            {
                var stream = new System.IO.MemoryStream();
                var writer = new global::Avro.Specific.SpecificDatumWriter<RecordType1>(RecordType1.AvroSchema);
                var encoder = new global::Avro.IO.JsonEncoder(RecordType1.AvroSchema, stream);
                writer.Write(this, encoder);
                encoder.Flush();
                result = stream.ToArray();
            }
            if (contentType.MediaType.StartsWith(System.Net.Mime.MediaTypeNames.Application.Json))
            {
                result = System.Text.Json.JsonSerializer.SerializeToUtf8Bytes(this);
            }
            if (result != null && contentType.MediaType.EndsWith("+gzip"))
            {
                var stream = new System.IO.MemoryStream();
                using (var gzip = new System.IO.Compression.GZipStream(stream, System.IO.Compression.CompressionMode.Compress))
                {
                    gzip.Write(result, 0, result.Length);
                }
                result = stream.ToArray();
            }
            
            return ( result != null ) ? result : throw new System.NotSupportedException($"Unsupported media type {contentType.MediaType}");
            
        }

FromData Method

If either or both the --avro-annotation and --system-text-json-annotation options are used, the generated code includes a FromData method that converts a byte array to a record object. The method takes the encoded data and a content type string as parameters and returns the decoded record object.

The method supports the same encodings as the ToByteArray method.

        /// <summary>
        /// Creates an object from the data
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="data">The input data to convert</param>
        /// <param name="contentTypeString">The content type string of the derired encoding</param>
        /// <returns>The converted object</returns>
        public static RecordType1? FromData(object? data, string? contentTypeString )
        {
            if ( data == null ) return null;
            if ( data is RecordType1) return (RecordType1)data;
            if ( contentTypeString == null ) contentTypeString = System.Net.Mime.MediaTypeNames.Application.Octet;
            var contentType = new System.Net.Mime.ContentType(contentTypeString);

If the content type string specifies a GZIP encoding, the first step is to decompress the data and make it available to the subsequent steps.

            if ( contentType.MediaType.EndsWith("+gzip"))
            {
                var stream = data switch
                {
                    System.IO.Stream s => s, System.BinaryData bd => bd.ToStream(), byte[] bytes => new System.IO.MemoryStream(bytes),
                    _ => throw new NotSupportedException("Data is not of a supported type for gzip decompression")
                };
                using (var gzip = new System.IO.Compression.GZipStream(stream, System.IO.Compression.CompressionMode.Decompress))
                {
                    System.IO.MemoryStream memoryStream = new System.IO.MemoryStream();
                    gzip.CopyTo(memoryStream);
                    memoryStream.Position = 0;
                    data = memoryStream.ToArray();
                }
            }

The method then decodes the data based on the content type string and returns the decoded record object.

            if ( contentType.MediaType.StartsWith("avro/") || contentType.MediaType.StartsWith("application/vnd.apache.avro") )
            {
                var stream = data switch
                {
                    System.IO.Stream s => s, System.BinaryData bd => bd.ToStream(), byte[] bytes => new System.IO.MemoryStream(bytes),
                    _ => throw new NotSupportedException("Data is not of a supported type for conversion to Stream")
                };
                #pragma warning disable CS8625 // Cannot convert null literal to non-nullable reference type.
                if (contentType.MediaType.StartsWith("avro/binary") || contentType.MediaType.StartsWith("application/vnd.apache.avro+avro"))
                {
                    var reader = new global::Avro.Generic.GenericDatumReader<global::Avro.Generic.GenericRecord>(RecordType1.AvroSchema, RecordType1.AvroSchema);
                    return new RecordType1(reader.Read(null, new global::Avro.IO.BinaryDecoder(stream)));
                }
                if ( contentType.MediaType.StartsWith("avro/json") || contentType.MediaType.StartsWith("application/vnd.apache.avro+json"))
                {
                    var reader = new global::Avro.Generic.GenericDatumReader<global::Avro.Generic.GenericRecord>(RecordType1.AvroSchema, RecordType1.AvroSchema);
                    return new RecordType1(reader.Read(null, new global::Avro.IO.JsonDecoder(RecordType1.AvroSchema, stream)));
                }
                #pragma warning restore CS8625
            }
            if ( contentType.MediaType.StartsWith(System.Net.Mime.MediaTypeNames.Application.Json))
            {
                if (data is System.Text.Json.JsonElement) 
                {
                    return System.Text.Json.JsonSerializer.Deserialize<RecordType1>((System.Text.Json.JsonElement)data);
                }
                else if ( data is string)
                {
                    return System.Text.Json.JsonSerializer.Deserialize<RecordType1>((string)data);
                }
                else if (data is System.BinaryData)
                {
                    return ((System.BinaryData)data).ToObjectFromJson<RecordType1>();
                }
                else if (data is byte[])
                {
                    return System.Text.Json.JsonSerializer.Deserialize<RecordType1>(new ReadOnlySpan<byte>((byte[])data));
                }
                else if (data is System.IO.Stream)
                {
                    return System.Text.Json.JsonSerializer.DeserializeAsync<RecordType1>((System.IO.Stream)data).Result;
                }
            }
            throw new System.NotSupportedException($"Unsupported media type {contentType.MediaType}");
            
        }

IsJsonMatch Method

If the --system-text-json-annotation option is used, the generated code includes an IsJsonMatch method that checks if a JSON element matches the schema. The method takes a JsonElement object as a parameter and returns a boolean value that indicates whether the JSON element matches the schema.

The method checks if the JSON element contains the fields defined in the Avro schema and if the values of the fields have the correct data types.

The method is used in the Read method of union classes (discussed below) to determine whether the JSON element matches the schema of one of the types in the union.

    
        /// <summary>
        /// Checks if the JSON element matches the schema
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="element">The JSON element to check</param>
        public static bool IsJsonMatch(System.Text.Json.JsonElement element)
        {
            return (element.TryGetProperty("field1", out System.Text.Json.JsonElement field1) && 
                        (field1.ValueKind == System.Text.Json.JsonValueKind.String)) && 
                (element.TryGetProperty("field2", out System.Text.Json.JsonElement field2) && 
                        (field2.ValueKind == System.Text.Json.JsonValueKind.Number)) && 
                (element.TryGetProperty("field3", out System.Text.Json.JsonElement field3) && 
                        (field3.ValueKind == System.Text.Json.JsonValueKind.String)) && 
                (element.TryGetProperty("field4", out System.Text.Json.JsonElement field4) && 
                        (field4.ValueKind == System.Text.Json.JsonValueKind.Number)) && 
                (element.TryGetProperty("field5", out System.Text.Json.JsonElement field5) && 
                        (field5.ValueKind == System.Text.Json.JsonValueKind.Number)) && 
                (!element.TryGetProperty("fieldB", out System.Text.Json.JsonElement fieldB) || 
                        (fieldB.ValueKind == System.Text.Json.JsonValueKind.String) || 
                         fieldB.ValueKind == System.Text.Json.JsonValueKind.Null);
        }
    }
}

Handling Record Type Unions

The generated code supports type unions in Avro schemas. A type union is represented as a C# class that contains fields for each type in the union.

Extending from the example above, the following is a property declaration for a type union where the field schema is a union of RecordType1 and RecordType2:

{
    "name": "document",
    "type": ["RecordType1", "RecordType2"]
}

The RecordType2 looks similar to RecordType1 shown above, but is structually different. As with JSON Schema's oneOf clause, the union is resolved by the structure of the serialized data and the structure MUST be unique for each type.

In this case:

field3 is a boolean instead of a string
field4 is a double or null instead of a double
field5 is a long or null instead of a long
fieldA instead of fieldB

A coming version of Avrotize will support a const extension to the Avro schema to define a constant values for fields, which can then be used as discriminator for type unions.

{
    "type": "record",
    "name": "RecordType2",
    "namespace": "MyNamespace",
    "fields": [
        {
            "name": "field1",
            "type": "string"
        },
        {
            "name": "field2",
            "type": "int"
        },
        {
            "name": "field3",
            "type": "boolean"
        },
        {
            "name": "field4",
            "type": ["double", "null"]
        },
        {
            "name": "field5",
            "type": ["long", "null"]
        },
        {
            "name": "fieldA",
            "type": "string"
        }
    ]
}

The following generated code refers to the DocumentUnion class that is produced for the document field shown above. If the --system-text-json-annotation option is used, the union class is annotated with the JsonConverter attribute from the System.Text.Json.Serialization namespace. The attribute specifies the converter class that is used to serialize and deserialize the union.

    /// <summary>
    /// Document
    /// </summary>
    [System.Text.Json.Serialization.JsonPropertyName("document")]
    [System.Text.Json.Serialization.JsonConverter(typeof(DocumentUnion))]
    public DocumentUnion Document { get; set; }

The DocumentUnion class is embedded in the generated record class, into a separate file, but into the same partial class.

If the --system-text-json-annotation option is used, the DocumentUnion class is derived from the JsonConverter class from the System.Text.Json.Serialization namespace. The class provides methods to serialize and deserialize the union.

    /// <summary>
    /// Union class for document
    /// </summary>
    public sealed class DocumentUnion: System.Text.Json.Serialization.JsonConverter<DocumentUnion>
    {

Constructor

The generated code includes constructors for each type in the union. The constructors take the value of the type as a parameter and initialize the corresponding field in the union.

        /// <summary>
        /// Default constructor
        /// </summary>
        public DocumentUnion() { }
        /// <summary>
        /// Constructor for RecordType1 values
        /// </summary>
        public DocumentUnion(global::MyNamespace.RecordType1? RecordType1)
        {
            this.RecordType1 = RecordType1;
        }
        /// <summary>
        /// Constructor for RecordType2 values
        /// </summary>
        public DocumentUnion(global::MyNamespace.RecordType2? RecordType2)
        {
            this.RecordType2 = RecordType2;
        }

FromObject Method

The generated code includes a static FromObject method that converts an object to a union value. The method takes an object as a parameter and returns the union value that corresponds to the type of the object. This is a factory method instead of a constructor to disambiguate from generated constructors for maps, which are also represented as Object in some cases.

If the --avro-annotation option is used, the method checks whether the object is a GenericRecord and creates a union value from the GenericRecord with the respective constructor.

        /// <summary>
        /// Constructor for Avro decoder
        /// </summary>
        internal static DocumentUnion FromObject(object obj)
        {
            if (obj is global::Avro.Generic.GenericRecord)
            {
                return new DocumentUnion((global::Avro.Generic.GenericRecord)obj);
            }
            var self = new DocumentUnion();
            if (obj is global::MyNamespace.RecordType1)
            {
                self.RecordType1 = (global::MyNamespace.RecordType1)obj;
                return self;
            }
            if (obj is global::MyNamespace.RecordType2)
            {
                self.RecordType2 = (global::MyNamespace.RecordType2)obj;
                return self;
            }
            throw new NotSupportedException("No record type matched the type");
        }

Constructor from Avro GenericRecord

If the --avro-annotation option is used, the generated code includes a constructor that takes an Avro GenericRecord object as a parameter. The constructor initializes the fields of the union from the values in the GenericRecord.

        /// <summary>
        /// Constructor from Avro GenericRecord
        /// </summary>
        public DocumentUnion(global::Avro.Generic.GenericRecord obj)
        {
            if (obj.Schema.Fullname == global::MyNamespace.RecordType1.AvroSchema.Fullname)
            {
                this.RecordType1 = new global::MyNamespace.RecordType1(obj);
                return;
            }
            if (obj.Schema.Fullname == global::MyNamespace.RecordType2.AvroSchema.Fullname)
            {
                this.RecordType2 = new global::MyNamespace.RecordType2(obj);
                return;
            }
            throw new NotSupportedException("No record type matched the type");
        }

Properties

The generated code includes properties for each field in the union. The properties are read-only and return the value of the field.

        /// <summary>
        /// Gets the RecordType1 value
        /// </summary>
        public global::MyNamespace.RecordType1? RecordType1 { get; private set; } = null;
        /// <summary>
        /// Gets the RecordType2 value
        /// </summary>
        public global::MyNamespace.RecordType2? RecordType2 { get; private set; } = null;

ToObject Method

The generated code includes a ToObject method that yields the current value of the union.

        /// <summary>
        /// Yields the current value of the union
        /// </summary>

        public Object ToObject()
        {
            if (RecordType1 != null) {
                return RecordType1;
            }
            if (RecordType2 != null) {
                return RecordType2;
            }
            throw new NotSupportedException("No record type is set in the union");
        }

Since union classes are not a feature of the Avro serialization framework, they are effectively hidden from the Avro serializer and deserializer logic in the containing record's ISpecificRecord.Put and ISpecificRecord.Get methods.

In Get, the union class instance's ToObject method is called to get the value of the union, which is then returned. In Put, the union class instance's FromObject method is called to set the value of the union.

object global::Avro.Specific.ISpecificRecord.Get(int fieldPos)
{
    switch (fieldPos)
    {
        case 0: return this.Document?.ToObject();
        default: throw new global::Avro.AvroRuntimeException($"Bad index {fieldPos} in Get()");
    }
}
void global::Avro.Specific.ISpecificRecord.Put(int fieldPos, object fieldValue)
{
    switch (fieldPos)
    {
        case 0: this.Document = DocumentUnion.FromObject(fieldValue); break;
        default: throw new global::Avro.AvroRuntimeException($"Bad index {fieldPos} in Put()");
    }
}

Read Method

If the --system-text-json-annotation option is used, the generated code includes a Read method that reads the JSON representation of the object. The method takes a Utf8JsonReader object as a parameter and returns the union value that corresponds to the JSON data.

The method checks if the JSON element matches the schema of one of the types in the union using the IsJsonMatch method. If the JSON element matches the schema of one of the types, the method creates a union value from the JSON element with the respective constructor.

        /// <summary>
        /// Reads the JSON representation of the object.
        /// </summary>
        public override DocumentUnion? Read(ref Utf8JsonReader reader, Type typeToConvert, JsonSerializerOptions options)
        {
            var element = JsonElement.ParseValue(ref reader);
            if (global::MyNamespace.RecordType1.IsJsonMatch(element))
            {
                return new DocumentUnion(global::MyNamespace.RecordType1.FromData(element, System.Net.Mime.MediaTypeNames.Application.Json));
            }
            if (global::MyNamespace.RecordType2.IsJsonMatch(element))
            {
                return new DocumentUnion(global::MyNamespace.RecordType2.FromData(element, System.Net.Mime.MediaTypeNames.Application.Json));
            }
            throw new NotSupportedException("No record type matched the JSON data");
        }

Write Method

If the --system-text-json-annotation option is used, the generated code includes a Write method that writes the JSON representation of the object. The method takes a Utf8JsonWriter object as a parameter and writes the JSON representation of the union value.

The method checks which type is set in the union and serializes the value of the field that corresponds to the type.

        /// <summary>
        /// Writes the JSON representation of the object.
        /// </summary>
        public override void Write(Utf8JsonWriter writer, DocumentUnion value, JsonSerializerOptions options)
        {
            if (value.RecordType1 != null)
            {
                System.Text.Json.JsonSerializer.Serialize(writer, value.RecordType1, options);
            }
            else if (value.RecordType2 != null)
            {
                System.Text.Json.JsonSerializer.Serialize(writer, value.RecordType2, options);
            }
            else
            {
                throw new NotSupportedException("No record type is set in the union");
            }
        }

IsJsonMatch Method

If the --system-text-json-annotation option is used, the generated code includes an IsJsonMatch method that checks if a JSON element matches the schema. The method takes a JsonElement object as a parameter and returns a boolean value that indicates whether the JSON element matches the schema.

The method checks if the JSON element contains the fields defined in the Avro schema and if the values of the fields have the correct data types.

            /// <summary>
            /// Checks if the JSON element matches the schema
            /// </summary>
            public static bool IsJsonMatch(System.Text.Json.JsonElement element)
            {
                return (global::MyNamespace.RecordType1.IsJsonMatch(element))
                 || (global::MyNamespace.RecordType2.IsJsonMatch(element));
            }
        }
    }
}

Handling Primitive Type and Mixed Type Unions

The following schema illustrates several other type union scenarios, which we will discuss below.

test1 is a union of string and int
test2 is a union of int and null, indicating that the field is optional
test3 is a union of string, boolean, and a record type SubRecord
test4 is a union of an integer and a string array
test5 is a union of a string map and an integer map

{
    "type": "record",
    "name": "Example",
    "namespace": "MyNamespace",
    "fields": [
        {
            "name": "test1",
            "type": ["string", "int"]
        },
        {
            "name": "test2",
            "type": ["int", "null"]
        },
        {
            "name": "test3",
            "type": [
                "string", 
                "boolean",
                {
                    "type": "record",
                    "name": "SubRecord",
                    "fields": [
                        {
                            "name": "sub",
                            "type": "string"
                        }
                    ]
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "name": "test4",
            "type": [{
                "type": "array",
                "items": "int"
            }, {
                "type": "array",
                "items": "string"
            }]
        },
        {
            "name": "test5",
            "type": [{
                "type": "map",
                "values": "string"
            },
            {
                "type": "map",
                "values": "int"
            }]
        }
    ]
}

Record class

The generated code for the Example class, which we don't show in full here, refers to embedded union classes for all fields except test2, which is simply a nullable field.

    /// <summary>
    /// Example
    /// </summary>
    public partial class Example
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// Test1
        /// </summary>
        [System.Text.Json.Serialization.JsonPropertyName("test1")]
        [System.Text.Json.Serialization.JsonConverter(typeof(Test1Union))]
        public Test1Union Test1 { get; set; }
        /// <summary>
        /// Test2
        /// </summary>
        [System.Text.Json.Serialization.JsonPropertyName("test2")]
        public int? Test2 { get; set; }
        /// <summary>
        /// Test3
        /// </summary>
        [System.Text.Json.Serialization.JsonPropertyName("test3")]
        [System.Text.Json.Serialization.JsonConverter(typeof(Test3Union))]
        public Test3Union Test3 { get; set; }
        /// <summary>
        /// Test4
        /// </summary>
        [System.Text.Json.Serialization.JsonPropertyName("test4")]
        [System.Text.Json.Serialization.JsonConverter(typeof(Test4Union))]
        public Test4Union Test4 { get; set; }
        /// <summary>
        /// Test5
        /// </summary>
        [System.Text.Json.Serialization.JsonPropertyName("test5")]
        [System.Text.Json.Serialization.JsonConverter(typeof(Test5Union))]
        public Test5Union Test5 { get; set; }
        
        // ...
    }
}

Primitive Type Union

The Test1Union class is generated for the test1 field. As you may expect from the previous example, the union class has constructors for each type in the union, a ToObject method, and the Read, Write, and IsJsonMatch methods generated if '--system-text-json-annotation' is used.

#pragma warning disable CS8618
#pragma warning disable CS8603

using System;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using System.Text.Json;
using System.Text.Json.Serialization;

namespace MyNamespace
{
    /// <summary>
    /// Example. Type union resolver. 
    /// </summary>
    public partial class Example
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// Union class for test1
        /// </summary>
        [System.Text.Json.Serialization.JsonConverter(typeof(Test1Union))]
        public sealed class Test1Union: System.Text.Json.Serialization.JsonConverter<Test1Union>
        {
            /// <summary>
            /// Default constructor
            /// </summary>
            public Test1Union() { }
            /// <summary>
            /// Constructor for @string values
            /// </summary>
            public Test1Union(string? @string)
            {
                this.@string = @string;
            }
            /// <summary>
            /// Constructor for @int values
            /// </summary>
            public Test1Union(int? @int)
            {
                this.@int = @int;
            }
            /// <summary>
            /// Constructor for Avro decoder
            /// </summary>
            internal static Test1Union FromObject(object obj)
            {
                var self = new Test1Union();
                if (obj is string)
                {
                    self.@string = (string)obj;
                    return self;
                }
                if (obj is int)
                {
                    self.@int = (int)obj;
                    return self;
                }
                throw new NotSupportedException("No record type matched the type");
            }
            /// <summary>
            /// Gets the @string value
            /// </summary>
            public string? @string { get; private set; } = null;
            /// <summary>
            /// Gets the @int value
            /// </summary>
            public int? @int { get; private set; } = null;
    
            /// <summary>
            /// Yields the current value of the union
            /// </summary>
    
            public Object ToObject()
            {
                if (@string != null) {
                    return @string;
                }
                if (@int != null) {
                    return @int;
                }
                throw new NotSupportedException("No record type is set in the union");
            }
    
            /// <summary>
            /// Reads the JSON representation of the object.
            /// </summary>
            public override Test1Union? Read(ref Utf8JsonReader reader, Type typeToConvert, JsonSerializerOptions options)
            {
                var element = JsonElement.ParseValue(ref reader);
                if (element.ValueKind == JsonValueKind.String)
                {
                    return new Test1Union(element.GetString());
                }
                if (element.ValueKind == JsonValueKind.Number)
                {
                    return new Test1Union(element.GetInt32());
                }
                throw new NotSupportedException("No record type matched the JSON data");
            }
    
            /// <summary>
            /// Writes the JSON representation of the object.
            /// </summary>
            public override void Write(Utf8JsonWriter writer, Test1Union value, JsonSerializerOptions options)
            {
                if (value.@string != null)
                {
                    System.Text.Json.JsonSerializer.Serialize(writer, value.@string, options);
                }
                else if (value.@int != null)
                {
                    System.Text.Json.JsonSerializer.Serialize(writer, value.@int, options);
                }
                else
                {
                    throw new NotSupportedException("No record type is set in the union");
                }
            }
    
            /// <summary>
            /// Checks if the JSON element matches the schema
            /// </summary>
            public static bool IsJsonMatch(System.Text.Json.JsonElement element)
            {
                return (element.ValueKind == System.Text.Json.JsonValueKind.String)
                 || (element.ValueKind == System.Text.Json.JsonValueKind.Number);
            }
        }
    }
}

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csharpcodegen.md

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C# Code Generation in Avrotize

Code generation for example schema `RecordType1`

Pragma Directives

Using Directives

Namespace Declaration

Record Class

Fields

Constructor

Constructor from Avro GenericRecord

Avro Schema

ISpecificRecord Interface Implementation

ToByteArray Method

FromData Method

IsJsonMatch Method

Handling Record Type Unions

Constructor

FromObject Method

Constructor from Avro GenericRecord

Properties

ToObject Method

Read Method

Write Method

IsJsonMatch Method

Handling Primitive Type and Mixed Type Unions

Record class

Primitive Type Union

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csharpcodegen.md

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csharpcodegen.md

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C# Code Generation in Avrotize

Code generation for example schema RecordType1

Pragma Directives

Using Directives

Namespace Declaration

Record Class

Fields

Constructor

Constructor from Avro GenericRecord

Avro Schema

ISpecificRecord Interface Implementation

ToByteArray Method

FromData Method

IsJsonMatch Method

Handling Record Type Unions

Constructor

FromObject Method

Constructor from Avro GenericRecord

Properties

ToObject Method

Read Method

Write Method

IsJsonMatch Method

Handling Primitive Type and Mixed Type Unions

Record class

Primitive Type Union

Code generation for example schema `RecordType1`