From 51ffd8be4d5528ab64d063ead04817ed9f789e60 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: =?UTF-8?q?Mose=20M=C3=BCller?= <mosemueller@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 6 Mar 2024 18:50:50 +0100
Subject: [PATCH] simplifies serializer logic

---
 src/pydase/utils/serializer.py | 36 +++++++++++++++-------------------
 tests/utils/test_serializer.py | 14 ++++++++++---
 2 files changed, 27 insertions(+), 23 deletions(-)

diff --git a/src/pydase/utils/serializer.py b/src/pydase/utils/serializer.py
index 9a3e51b..fef2064 100644
--- a/src/pydase/utils/serializer.py
+++ b/src/pydase/utils/serializer.py
@@ -295,31 +295,22 @@ def set_nested_value_by_path(
         logger.error(e)
         return
 
-    serialized_value = dump(value)
-    keys_to_keep = set(serialized_value.keys())
-
-    if (
-        next_level_serialized_object == {}
-    ):  # adding an attribute / element to a list or dict
-        pass
-    elif next_level_serialized_object["type"] == "method":  # state change of task
-        keys_to_keep = set(next_level_serialized_object.keys())
-
-        serialized_value = {}  # type: ignore
+    if next_level_serialized_object["type"] == "method":  # state change of task
         next_level_serialized_object["value"] = (
             value.name if isinstance(value, Enum) else None
         )
     else:
-        # attribute-specific information should not be overwritten by new value
-        serialized_value.pop("readonly")  # type: ignore
-        serialized_value.pop("doc")  # type: ignore
+        serialized_value = dump(value)
+        keys_to_keep = set(serialized_value.keys())
 
-    next_level_serialized_object.update(serialized_value)
+        # TODO: you might want to pop "readonly" and/or "doc" from serialized_value if
+        # it is overwriting the values of the current dict
+        next_level_serialized_object.update(serialized_value)
 
-    # removes keys that are not present in the serialized new value
-    for key in list(next_level_serialized_object.keys()):
-        if key not in keys_to_keep:
-            next_level_serialized_object.pop(key, None)  # type: ignore
+        # removes keys that are not present in the serialized new value
+        for key in list(next_level_serialized_object.keys()):
+            if key not in keys_to_keep:
+                next_level_serialized_object.pop(key, None)  # type: ignore
 
 
 def get_nested_dict_by_path(
@@ -383,7 +374,12 @@ def get_next_level_dict_by_key(
         ):
             # Appending to list
             cast(list[SerializedObject], serialization_dict[attr_name]["value"]).append(
-                {}  # type: ignore
+                {
+                    "value": None,
+                    "type": None,
+                    "doc": None,
+                    "readonly": False,
+                }
             )
             next_level_serialized_object = cast(
                 list[SerializedObject], serialization_dict[attr_name]["value"]
diff --git a/tests/utils/test_serializer.py b/tests/utils/test_serializer.py
index 93e7f32..ba7c3e3 100644
--- a/tests/utils/test_serializer.py
+++ b/tests/utils/test_serializer.py
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ from pydase.utils.serializer import (
 
 
 class MyEnum(enum.Enum):
+    """MyEnum description"""
+
     RUNNING = "running"
     FINISHED = "finished"
 
@@ -425,7 +427,7 @@ def test_update_nested_attribute(setup_dict: dict[str, Any]) -> None:
 def test_update_float_attribute_to_enum(setup_dict: dict[str, Any]) -> None:
     set_nested_value_by_path(setup_dict, "attr2.attr3", MyEnum.RUNNING)
     assert setup_dict["attr2"]["value"]["attr3"] == {
-        "doc": None,
+        "doc": "MyEnum description",
         "enum": {"FINISHED": "finished", "RUNNING": "running"},
         "readonly": False,
         "type": "Enum",
@@ -471,8 +473,14 @@ def test_update_list_entry(setup_dict: dict[str, SerializedObject]) -> None:
 
 
 def test_update_list_append(setup_dict: dict[str, SerializedObject]) -> None:
-    set_nested_value_by_path(setup_dict, "attr_list[3]", 20)
-    assert setup_dict["attr_list"]["value"][3]["value"] == 20
+    set_nested_value_by_path(setup_dict, "attr_list[3]", MyEnum.RUNNING)
+    assert setup_dict["attr_list"]["value"][3] == {
+        "doc": "MyEnum description",
+        "enum": {"FINISHED": "finished", "RUNNING": "running"},
+        "readonly": False,
+        "type": "Enum",
+        "value": "RUNNING",
+    }
 
 
 def test_update_invalid_list_index(