another unsuccessful attempt to ser hints

src/formats/serde.rs

@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
-use serde::{Serialize, Serializer};
+use serde::ser::{Serialize, Serializer, SerializeMap};
 use std::collections::HashMap;
 use zvariant::OwnedValue;
 //use std::hash::BuildHasher;
-use serde::ser::SerializeMap;
+//use serde::ser::SerializeMap;
 use serde_json::{Map,Value};
 use zvariant::SerializeValue;
 
@@ -29,52 +29,31 @@ pub fn serialize_hints<S>(
 where
     S: Serializer,
 {
-    // You can customize the serialization logic here
-    let mut state = serializer.serialize_map(Some(hints.len()))?;
-    for (key, value) in hints {
-        state.serialize_entry(key, value)?;
-    }
-    state.end()
-}
-
-/*
-pub fn serialize_hints<S>(hints: &HashMap<String, OwnedValue>, serializer: S) -> Result<S::Ok, S::Error>
-where
-    S: serde::Serializer,
-{
+    // Start serializing the map
     let mut map = serializer.serialize_map(Some(hints.len()))?;
-
     for (key, value) in hints {
-        // Try to cast the value to a string, otherwise fallback to debug format
-        let value_str = match value.downcast_ref::<String>() {
-            Ok(s) => s.clone(),  // Successfully cast to String
-            Err(_) => format!("{:?}", value), // Fallback for non-String values
-        };
-
-        map.serialize_entry(key, &value_str)?;
+        // Serialize each entry as desired
+        map.serialize_entry(key, &HintValueSerializer(value))?;
     }
-
     map.end()
 }
-*/
 
-/*
-pub fn serialize_hints<S, H>(
-    hints: &HashMap<String, OwnedValue, H>,
-    serializer: S,
-) -> Result<S::Ok, S::Error>
+// A custom struct to handle serialization of OwnedValue
+struct HintValueSerializer<'a>(&'a OwnedValue);
+
+impl<'a> Serialize for HintValueSerializer<'a> {
+    fn serialize<S>(&self, serializer: S) -> Result<S::Ok, S::Error>
     where
         S: Serializer,
-    H: BuildHasher,
     {
-    let mut map = serde_json::Map::new();
+        // Access the signature and value parts of the OwnedValue
+        let signature = self.0.value_signature().to_string();
+        let value = &self.0;
 
-    for (key, value) in hints {
-        // Customize OwnedValue serialization as needed
-        map.insert(key.clone(), serde_json::Value::String(value.to_string()));
+        // Serialize them as a map with "signature" and "value" fields
+        let mut map = serializer.serialize_map(Some(2))?;
+        map.serialize_entry("signature", &signature)?;
+        map.serialize_entry("value", value)?;
+        map.end()
     }
-
-    map.serialize(serializer)
 }
-
-*/