Dumping Python classesΒΆ

Only yaml = YAML(typ='unsafe') loads and dumps Python objects out-of-the-box. And since it loads any Python object, this can be unsafe.

If you have instances of some class(es) that you want to dump or load, it is easy to allow the YAML instance to do that explicitly. You can either register the class with the YAML instance or decorate the class.

Registering is done with YAML.register_class():

import sys
import ruyaml


class User:
    def __init__(self, name, age):
        self.name = name
        self.age = age


yaml = ruyaml.YAML()
yaml.register_class(User)
yaml.dump([User('Anthon', 18)], sys.stdout)

which gives as output:

- !User
  name: Anthon
  age: 18

The tag !User originates from the name of the class.

You can specify a different tag by adding the attribute yaml_tag, and explicitly specify dump and/or load classmethods which have to be called from_yaml resp. from_yaml:

import sys
import ruyaml


class User:
    yaml_tag = u'!user'

    def __init__(self, name, age):
        self.name = name
        self.age = age

    @classmethod
    def to_yaml(cls, representer, node):
        return representer.represent_scalar(cls.yaml_tag,
                                            u'{.name}-{.age}'.format(node, node))

    @classmethod
    def from_yaml(cls, constructor, node):
        return cls(*node.value.split('-'))


yaml = ruyaml.YAML()
yaml.register_class(User)
yaml.dump([User('Anthon', 18)], sys.stdout)

which gives as output:

- !user Anthon-18

When using the decorator, which takes the YAML() instance as a parameter, the yaml = YAML() line needs to be moved up in the file:

import sys
from ruyaml import YAML, yaml_object

yaml = YAML()


@yaml_object(yaml)
class User:
    yaml_tag = u'!user'

    def __init__(self, name, age):
        self.name = name
        self.age = age

    @classmethod
    def to_yaml(cls, representer, node):
        return representer.represent_scalar(cls.yaml_tag,
                                            u'{.name}-{.age}'.format(node, node))

    @classmethod
    def from_yaml(cls, constructor, node):
        return cls(*node.value.split('-'))


yaml.dump([User('Anthon', 18)], sys.stdout)

The yaml_tag, from_yaml and to_yaml work in the same way as when using .register_class().