Request level decoder/encoder

[corysullivan]

In some situations, a specific request requires a different decoder/encoder than the ones set in the underlying client. (particularly around dates😖). Would you consider a PR that adds an optional decoder/encoder override at the request level?

public struct Request<Response>: @unchecked Sendable {
    public var method: HTTPMethod
    public var url: URL?
    public var query: [(String, String?)]?
    public var body: Encodable?
    public var headers: [String: String]?
    public var decoder: JSONDecoder?
    public var encoder: JSONEncoder? 
    public var id: String?
}

Or can you suggest another way to work around this?

[kean]

Hi, @corysullivan. Yes, I agree that Get should provide a way to set a per-request decoder/encoder. However, I'm not sure what would be the best way to design the API that supports it. Adding it to Request will probably require adopting copy-on-write – too many fields that are either reference types or are backed by reference types (strings, dictionaries).

[kean]

Nuke solves this by providing a userInfo dictionary in ImageRequest and a myriad delegate methods to allow customizing the pipeline behavior where you can read userInfo.

[corysullivan]

Thanks, @kean. I will look at the ImageRequest in Nuke. To be sure I understand, you are concerned with a performance hit from copying Request due to the inner reference types and consequently are hesitant to add more.

[kean]

Yes, you got it right. I also would like to keep the API small, hence the idea to use a delegate method for that. It could wok without modifying the Request type: you could provide a different decoder based on the response type or the request path.