Can we make json_format._AnyMessageToJsonObject non-private?

[jgeewax]

https://github.com/google/protobuf/blob/9240acd179708c3a2ab79508af6fd68efa6f883a/python/google/protobuf/json_format.py#L207

It seems super useful - but keeping it private makes us sad :(

[tseaver]

While we're at it, the inverse _ConvertAnyMessage would be useful, too.

[xfxyjwf]

The python json_format API already provides MessageToJson() which converts a proto message to a JSON string. So what you need is a MessageToJsonObject() that converts the message to a JSON object instead of a string. Is this correct?

@haberman @anandolee

[tseaver]

@xfxyjwf Yes, that is correct: our code right now works around the missing MessageToJsonObject API by re-parsing the serialized string.

[tseaver]

A putative ConvertAnyMessage API would work from the "object" form, rather than the serialized string.

[tseaver]

@xfxyjwf Any decision / motion on this issue?

[anandolee]

I believe it has been supported by

def MessageToDict():
"""Converts protobuf message to a JSON dictionary.