How-to guides

Each guide solves one specific problem, assumes you already know the basics from Getting started, and ends with a runnable example in the companion examples repository.

Shaping the output

• Customize property names — naming policies and [HumlProperty] overrides.
• Ignore properties & omit defaults — [HumlIgnore], [HumlIgnoreDefaults], and ignore conditions.
• Control inline vs multiline — inline dicts/lists per property or globally.
• Serialize dates & times — DateTime, DateTimeOffset, TimeSpan, DateOnly, TimeOnly.
• Work with enums — enum round-trips and [HumlEnumValue] wire names.
• Read & write numbers as strings — HumlNumberHandling for quoted numerics.

Mapping to .NET types

• Bind constructors & records — records, [HumlConstructor], init-only setters.
• Require properties — [HumlRequired] and the C# required modifier.
• Capture unknown keys — [HumlExtensionData] overflow buckets.
• Serialize polymorphic types — discriminator-based dispatch with [HumlPolymorphic].
• Overlay onto an instance — HumlSerializer.Populate for defaults + overrides.
• Write a custom converter — HumlConverter<T> and converter factories.

Robustness and deployment

• Handle errors — the exception contract and strict parsing.
• Publish AOT / trimmed — trim-safe usage and annotations.
• Use the source generator — reflection-free metadata via HumlGeneratedContext.