go-defaults

go-defaults provides functionality to parse and set default values for struct fields based on their "default" tags

Table of Contents

1. About The Project
2. Features
3. Getting Started
4. Usage
5. Supported/Unsupported Field Type
6. License
7. Contact

About The Project

The defaults package simplifies the process of setting default values for struct fields in Go when they are unset (i.e., at their zero value or nil for pointers). Instead of manually checking each field for its zero value and assigning defaults, defaults uses struct tags to automatically parse and set default values, making your code cleaner and more maintainable. This project was inspired by the need for a streamlined, reusable solution to initialize struct fields with predefined defaults, especially in scenarios involving configuration structs, data models, or nested structures.

Key Features

• Automatic Default Value Setting: The Defaults function processes a non-nil pointer to a struct, setting default values for exported fields based on their "default" tags (configurable via the package-level Tag variable).

• Recursive Struct Handling: Nested structs are processed recursively, applying default values to their fields.

• Broad Type Support: Supports a wide range of field types, including numeric types, strings, booleans, maps, slices, arrays, and their pointers. See Supported/Unsupported Field Types

• Robust Error Handling: Returns errors for invalid inputs, unexported fields, empty tags (for non-struct fields), parsing failures, out-of-range values, or unsupported types.

Getting Started

Note that we only supports the two most recent minor versions of Go.

go get github.com/lthphuw/go-defaults@latest

Usage

With go-defaults, you can define defaults in struct tags and let the Defaults function handle initialization:

type Config struct {
    Port int    `default:"8080"`
    Host string `default:"localhost"`
}

func main() {
    var config Config
    // Load from env
    // ...

    // Set defaults
    if err := defaults.Defaults(&config); err != nil {
        log.Fatal(err)
    }
    fmt.Printf("Port: %d, Host: %s\n", config.Port, config.Host)
    // Output: Port: 8080, Host: localhost
}

This approach reduces boilerplate code, improves readability, and ensures consistent default value handling across your application.

Here’s a another complete example demonstrating various field types:

package main

import (
    "fmt"
    defaults "github.com/lthphuw/go-defaults"
)

type Nested struct {
    Value int `default:"100"`
}

type Example struct {
    ID      int            `default:"123"`
    Name    *string        `default:"hello"`
    Data    map[string]any `default:"{\"key\":\"value\",\"num\":42}"`
    Numbers [3]int         `default:"[1,2,3]"`
    Nested  Nested
}

func main() {
    var s Example
    if err := defaults.Defaults(&s); err != nil {
        fmt.Printf("Error: %v\n", err)
        return
    }
    fmt.Printf("ID: %d, Name: %v, Data: %v, Numbers: %v, Nested.Value: %d\n",
        s.ID, *s.Name, s.Data, s.Numbers, s.Nested.Value)
}

Output:

ID: 123, Name: hello, Data: map[key:value num:42], Numbers: [1 2 3], Nested.Value: 100

Supported/Unsupported Field Type

Supported Field Types and Example Tags

The Defaults function supports the following field types with their respective "default" tag formats:

• Numeric Types:

  • int: default:"123"

  • int8: default:"127"

  • int16: default:"32767"

  • int32: default:"2147483647"

  • int64: default:"9223372036854775807"

  • uint: default:"123"

  • uint8: default:"255"

  • uint16: default:"65535"

  • uint32: default:"4294967295"

  • uint64: default:"18446744073709551615"

  • float32: default:"3.14"

  • float64: default:"3.14159265359"

  • complex64: default:"1+2i"

  • complex128: default:"1.5+2.5i"

• string: default:"hello"

• bool: default:"true"

• map (e.g., map[string]any): default:"{"key":"value","num":42}"

• slice (e.g., []string): default:"["a","b","c"]"

• array (e.g., [3]int): default:"[1,2,3]"

struct: triggers recursive default setting for nested fields.

Pointers to Above Types:

• \*int: default:"123"

• \*string: default:"hello"

• \*map[string]any: default:"{"key":"value"}"

• \*[]string: default:"["a","b"]"

• \*[3]int: default:"[1,2,3]"

• \*struct: triggers recursive default setting for nested fields.

• ...

Unsupported Field Types

The following types are not supported by Defaults:

• Function types (e.g., func(), *func())

• Channels (e.g., chan int)

• Interfaces

• Unsafe pointers (e.g., unsafe.Pointer)

• Any other types not listed above

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License – see the LICENSE file for details.

Contact

Maintained by Phu.
For questions, feedback, or support, please contact: lthphuw@gmail.com

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