How to determine an interface{} value's "real" type?

Question

I have not found a good resource for using interface{} types. For example

package main

import "fmt"

func weirdFunc(i int) interface{} {
    if i == 0 {
        return "zero"
    }
    return i
}
func main() {
    var i = 5
    var w = weirdFunc(5)

    // this example works!
    if tmp, ok := w.(int); ok {
        i += tmp
    }

    fmt.Println("i =", i)
}

Do you know of a good introduction to using Go's interface{}?

specific questions:

• how do I get the "real" Type of w?
• is there any way to get the string representation of a type?
• is there any way to use the string representation of a type to convert a value?

Solution 1

Your example does work. Here's a simplified version.

package main

import "fmt"

func weird(i int) interface{} {
    if i < 0 {
        return "negative"
    }
    return i
}

func main() {
    var i = 42
    if w, ok := weird(7).(int); ok {
        i += w
    }
    if w, ok := weird(-100).(int); ok {
        i += w
    }
    fmt.Println("i =", i)
}

Output:
i = 49

It uses Type assertions.

Solution 2

You also can do type switches:

switch v := myInterface.(type) {
case int:
    // v is an int here, so e.g. v + 1 is possible.
    fmt.Printf("Integer: %v", v)
case float64:
    // v is a float64 here, so e.g. v + 1.0 is possible.
    fmt.Printf("Float64: %v", v)
case string:
    // v is a string here, so e.g. v + " Yeah!" is possible.
    fmt.Printf("String: %v", v)
default:
    // And here I'm feeling dumb. ;)
    fmt.Printf("I don't know, ask stackoverflow.")
}

Solution 3

You can use reflection (reflect.TypeOf()) to get the type of something, and the value it gives (Type) has a string representation (String method) that you can print.

Solution 4

Here is an example of decoding a generic map using both switch and reflection, so if you don't match the type, use reflection to figure it out and then add the type in next time.

var data map[string]interface {}

...

for k, v := range data {
    fmt.Printf("pair:%s\t%s\n", k, v)   

    switch t := v.(type) {
    case int:
        fmt.Printf("Integer: %v\n", t)
    case float64:
        fmt.Printf("Float64: %v\n", t)
    case string:
        fmt.Printf("String: %v\n", t)
    case bool:
        fmt.Printf("Bool: %v\n", t)
    case []interface {}:
        for i,n := range t {
            fmt.Printf("Item: %v= %v\n", i, n)
        }
    default:
        var r = reflect.TypeOf(t)
        fmt.Printf("Other:%v\n", r)             
    }
}

Solution 5

There are multiple ways to get a string representation of a type. Switches can also be used with user types:

var user interface{}
user = User{name: "Eugene"}

// .(type) can only be used inside a switch
switch v := user.(type) {
case int:
    // Built-in types are possible (int, float64, string, etc.)
    fmt.Printf("Integer: %v", v)
case User:
    // User defined types work as well  
    fmt.Printf("It's a user: %s\n", user.(User).name)
}

// You can use reflection to get *reflect.rtype
userType := reflect.TypeOf(user)
fmt.Printf("%+v\n", userType)

// You can also use %T to get a string value
fmt.Printf("%T", user)

// You can even get it into a string
userTypeAsString := fmt.Sprintf("%T", user)

if userTypeAsString == "main.User" {
    fmt.Printf("\nIt's definitely a user")
}

Link to a playground: https://play.golang.org/p/VDeNDUd9uK6

View more solutions

Comments

[cc young]

thank you for that. but still not quite there. in the example, how to I coerce var w into an int?

[cc young]

you're absolutely right! thanks! do you have any insight on types string representations of types?

[jimt]

Mue's example does the same thing, but in a type switch instead of an if statement. In the 'case int', 'v' will be an integer. in 'case float64', 'v' will be a float64, etc.

[cc young]

right. had forgotten syntax var.(type), which is sneaky and cool

[Dmitri Goldring]

Check out reflect.TypeOf.

[Dave C]

And if you just want to get a string or a type (e.g. for printing in the default block of a type switch link in Mue's answer you can just use fmt's "%T" format instead of directly using reflect.

[C4d]

@DmitriGoldring That at least answers the question in the topics title. This answer not. Thank you very much.