Converting YAML data to string

[supple obsidian]

Dear Folks,

I am trying to convert YAML data to a string that can be decoded by the Typst yaml.decode() function.

This is a simplified version of my YAML which I am assigning to a variable

from_name: "My Family"
date: "31 December 2023"
to_name: "Another Family"
subject: "My subject"
closing: "Sincerely yours,"
]

#import "letter-template-yaml.typ": letter_template_yaml
#show: my_letter => letter_template_yaml(
  letter: yaml.decode(letter_data),
  my_letter
)```

When I use `yaml.decode(letter_data)` I get the error "expected string, not content".

My question is how would I convert the YAML data into a string that `yaml.decode()` can understand?

I know I can put the YAML into a file and pass that which works great with the YAML  I have above, but I would prefer to get the above working.

Many thanks,

[wind summit]

as the error message says, letter_data here is not actually a string; for that you have to use the #let letter-data = "from_name: \"My Family\"" syntax

?r ```typ
#let letter-data = "
from_name: "My Family"
date: "31 December 2023"
to_name: "Another Family"
subject: "My subject"
closing: "Sincerely yours,"
"
#yaml.decode(letter-data)

[wind summit]

this is a bit unwieldy due to requiring you to escape the quotes though

#let letter-data = `​``yaml
  from_name: "My Family"
  date: "31 December 2023"
  to_name: "Another Family"
  subject: "My subject"
  closing: "Sincerely yours,"
`​``.text
#yaml.decode(letter-data)

[dull hearth]

An error occurred:

Error: expected expression
   ╭─[/main.typ:8:19]
   │
 8 │ #let letter-data = \
   │                     
   │                      
───╯

Error: expected semicolon or line break
   ╭─[/main.typ:8:19]
   │
 8 │ #let letter-data = \
   │                     
   │                      
───╯

[wind summit]

instead, you can use this, which uses a raw block instead

it is a bit more readable and can also give you syntax highlighting with some editors (and tree-sitter grammars)

finally, if you are writing the object in your Typst file anyway, why not just use a typst object?

#let letter-data = (
  from_name: "My Family",
  date: "31 December 2023",
  to_name: "Another Family",
  subject: "My subject",
  closing: "Sincerely yours,",
)

no need for yaml at all