structdiff

A lightweight, zero-dependency struct diffing library which allows changed fields to be collected and applied. Derive Difference on a struct, then use the StructDiff trait to make and apply diffs. Supports optional serialization of the generated diff types with serde or nanoserde for ease of use.

Example:

use structdiff::{Difference, StructDiff};

#[derive(Debug, PartialEq, Clone, Difference)]
struct Example {
    field1: f64,
    #[difference(skip)]
    field2: Vec<i32>,
    #[difference(collection_strategy="unordered_array_like")]
    field3: BTreeSet<usize>,
}

let first = Example {
    field1: 0.0,
    field2: vec![],
    field3: vec![1, 2, 3].into_iter().collect(),
};

let second = Example {
    field1: 3.14,
    field2: vec![1],
    field3: vec![2, 3, 4].into_iter().collect(),
};

let diffs = first.diff(&second);
// diffs is now a Vec of differences between the two instances, 
// with length equal to number of changed/unskipped fields
assert_eq!(diffs.len(), 2);

let diffed = first.apply(diffs);
// diffed is now equal to second, except for skipped field
assert_eq!(diffed.field1, second.field1);
assert_eq!(&diffed.field3, &second.field3);
assert_ne!(diffed, second);

For more examples take a look at integration tests

Derive macro attributes

• #[difference(skip)] - Do not consider this field when creating a diff
• #[difference(recurse)] - Generate a StructDiff for this field when creating a diff
• #[difference(collection_strategy = {})]
  • "ordered_array_like" - Generates a minimal changeset for ordered, array-like collections of items which implement PartialEq. (uses levenshtein difference)
  • "unordered_array_like" - Generates a minimal changeset for unordered, array-like collections of items which implement Hash + Eq.
  • "unordered_map_like" - Generates a minimal changeset for unordered, map-like collections for which the key implements Hash + Eq.
• #[difference(map_equality = {})] - Used with unordered_map_like
  • "key_only" - only replace a key-value pair for which the key has changed
  • "key_and_value" - replace a key-value pair if either the key or value has changed
• #[difference(setters)] - Generate setters for all fields in the struct (used on struct)
  • Example: for the field1 of the Example struct used above, a function with the signature set_field1_with_diff(&mut self, value: Option<usize>) -> Option<<Self as StructDiff>::Diff> will be generated. Useful when a single field will be changed in a struct with many fields, as it saves the comparison of all other fields.
• #[difference(setter)] - Generate setters for this struct field (used on field)
• #[difference(setter_name = {})] - Use this name instead of the default value when generating a setter for this field (used on field)

Optional features

• [nanoserde, serde] - Serialization of Difference derived associated types. Allows diffs to easily be sent over network.
• debug_diffs - Derive Debug on the generated diff type
• generated_setters - Enable generation of setters for struct fields. These setters automatically return a diff if a field's value is changed by the assignment.
• rustc_hash - Use the (non-cryptographic) hash implementation from the rustc-hash crate instead of the default hasher. Much faster diff generation for collections at the cost of a dependency.

Development status

This is being used actively for my own projects, although it's mostly working now. PRs will be accepted for either more tests or functionality.