How to map Grails domain class properties to non-matching json string? - grails

Question

Is there a built-in / easy way to set mappings between domain class properties and JSON strings that don't have exact matches for the property names?
For example, when I have a domain class:
class Person {
String jobTitle
String favoriteColor
static constraints = {
jobTitle(blank: false)
favoriteColor(blank: false)
}
}
And someone's giving me the following JSON:
{ "currentJob" : "secret agent", "the-color" : "red" }
I'd like to be able to still do this:
new Person(request.JSON).save()
Is there a way in groovy/grails for me to map currentJob -> jobTitle and the-color -> favorite color?
EDIT:
I've done a little experimenting, but I still haven't gotten it working. But I have found out a couple interesting things...
At first I tried overwriting the setProperty method:
#Override
setProperty(String name, Object value) {
if(this.hasProperty(name)) this[name] = value
else {
switch(name) {
'currentJob': this.jobTitle = value; break;
'the-color': this.favoriteColor = value; break;
}
}
}
But this doesn't work for two reasons: 1) setProperty is only called if there is a property that matches name and 2) "this[name] = value" calls setProperty, leading to an infinite recursive loop.
So then I thought, well screw it, I know what the incoming json string looks like (If only I could control it), I'll just get rid of the line that handles the scenario where the names match and I'll override hasProperty, maybe that will work:
#Override
void setProperty(String name, Object value) {
switch(name) {
'currentJob': this.jobTitle = value; break;
'the-color': this.favoriteColor = value; break;
}
}
#Override
boolean hasProperty(String name) {
if(name == "currentJob" || name == "the-color") return true
return false
}
But no, that didn't work either. By a random stroke of luck I discovered, that not only did I have to overwrite hasProperty(), but I also had to have an empty setter for the property.
void setCurrentJob(){ }
That hack worked for currentJob - I guess setProperty only gets called if hasProperty returns true and there is a setter for the property (Even if that setter is auto generated under the covers in grails). Unfortunately I can't make a function "setThe-Color" because of the dash, so this solution doesn't work for me.
Still stuck on this, any help would definitely be appreciated.
EDIT:
Overriding the void propertyMissing(String name, Object value){} method is called by this:
Person person = new Person()
person["currentJob"] = "programmer"
person["the-color"] = "red"
But not by this:
Person person = new Person(["currentJob":"programmer", "the-color":"red"])