I'm accessing a REST API interface to an Oracle database. The API is written in Java. The retrieved data is JSON encoded. I cannot make any changes on the server side, and have to live with whatever is sent.

There are a number of field and table names that have been changed on the server side for various reasons. For example 'abstract' is 'incidentAbstract', and 'cross_reference' is 'crossReference', in the JSON encoding.

I have a number of scripts that have been developed over a decade or more, that use DBI and DBD::Oracle to access data, using the database names. I now need to port these to using the REST API and I'm trying to do this with minimal changes to the scripts themselves. To do this, I need a way to restore the original field or table names for the modified ones in the JSON decoded data. For example:

  Before                            After
{                                 {
  incidentAbstract => 'string'       abstract => 'string'
}                                 }
[download]

I found a module on CPAN, Hash::KeyMorpher, that almost does the job, but not quite. It only changes the style of the name, but keeps the name, as in KeyFile to key_file or vice versa.

I can write my own, but would like to be sure someone hasn't already done this, or that there isn't a "better way" to handle it.

Thanks.

update

Many thanks for the pointers to Hash::Map and Data::Visitor::Callback, etc. I had actually looked at Data::Dumper as a potential candidate but decided there might be a "simpler", or at least different, module I could use.

It also turns out the JSON modules have a method, filter_json_object, that could also work:

#!/usr/bin/perl -w

use strict;

use Data::Dumper;

# Testing JSON filter_json_object method, to convert 'field names'.
use JSON::XS;

my $sub = sub {
                my $jsRef = shift;
                my %map = (one => 'uno', two => 'dos', three => 'tres'
+);
                my $hRef;
                foreach my $k (keys %$jsRef)
                {
                  $$hRef{$map{$k}} = $$jsRef{$k};
                }
                return $hRef;
              };

my $hRef = {one => 1, two => 2, three => 3};
print Dumper ($hRef), "\n\n";

#my $json = JSON:XS->new->filter_json_object->encode ($hRef);
my $json = JSON::XS->new->allow_nonref->filter_json_object ($sub);
my $jsonStr = $json->encode ($hRef);

#print "$jsonStr\n";

my $newHRef = $json->decode ($jsonStr);

print Dumper ($newHRef);
---
$VAR1 = {
          'three' => 3,
          'one' => 1,
          'two' => 2
        };


$VAR1 = {
          'uno' => 1,
          'dos' => 2,
          'tres' => 3
        };
[download]

I'll be able to do what's needed with one or another of the suggestions, I've no doubt ;)

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