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Dynamic Cheat Sheet

Mental Model

  • Structure is runtime state: { data: array, schema: Schema }
  • Shape is always defined by Schema (use SchemaBuilder / SchemaFactory)
  • Structure is immutable (set() / withData() return new instances)

Quick Start

use Cognesy\Dynamic\Structure;
use Cognesy\Schema\SchemaBuilder;

$schema = SchemaBuilder::define('payload')
    ->string('name')
    ->bool('active', required: false)
    ->schema();

$payload = Structure::fromSchema($schema, ['name' => 'Ada']);
$payload = $payload->set('active', true);
$data = $payload->toArray();

Structure API

Create:

  • Structure::fromSchema(Schema $schema, array $data = []): Structure

Read:

  • schema(): Schema
  • name(): string
  • description(): string
  • toSchema(): Schema
  • data(): array
  • toArray(): array
  • toJsonSchema(): array
  • has(string $name): bool
  • get(string $name): mixed

Magic access:

  • isset($structure->field) is true only when runtime data contains a non-null value or the schema provides a non-null default

Mutate (immutable):

  • withData(array $data): Structure
  • set(string $name, mixed $value): Structure
  • clone(): Structure
  • fromArray(array $data): static

Validation / transform:

  • validate(): ValidationResult
  • normalizeRecord(array $values): array
  • transform(): mixed
  • withValidation(callable $validator): Structure — compatibility no-op, returns a clone

StructureFactory API

  • fromCallable(callable $callable, ?string $name = null, ?string $description = null): Structure
  • fromFunctionName(string $function, ?string $name = null, ?string $description = null): Structure
  • fromMethodName(string $class, string $method, ?string $name = null, ?string $description = null): Structure
  • fromClass(string $class, ?string $name = null, ?string $description = null): Structure
  • fromSchema(string $name, Schema $schema, string $description = ''): Structure
  • fromJsonSchema(array $jsonSchema): Structure
  • fromArrayKeyValues(string $name, array $data, string $description = ''): Structure
  • fromString(string $name, string $typeString, string $description = ''): Structure

fromString() is a convenience shape parser for compact field lists. It supports top-level comma-separated fields, nested type strings like array{name:string}, and field descriptions in trailing parentheses.

Schema Authoring

Use Cognesy\Schema for shape definition:

  • SchemaBuilder for fluent authoring
  • SchemaFactory for type/class driven schemas
  • CallableSchemaFactory for function/method signatures