docarray · JoanFM · Dec 19, 2023 · Dec 15, 2023
diff --git a/docarray/base_doc/mixins/io.py b/docarray/base_doc/mixins/io.py
@@ -285,7 +285,6 @@ def _get_content_from_node_proto(
         )
 
         return_field: Any
-
         if docarray_type in content_type_dict:
             return_field = content_type_dict[docarray_type].from_protobuf(
                 getattr(value, content_key)
@@ -308,13 +307,18 @@ def _get_content_from_node_proto(
                     f'{field_type} is not supported for proto deserialization'
                 )
         elif content_key == 'doc_array':
-            if field_name is None:
+            if field_type is not None and field_name is None:
+                return_field = field_type.from_protobuf(getattr(value, content_key))
+            elif field_name is not None:
+                return_field = cls._get_field_annotation_array(
+                    field_name
+                ).from_protobuf(
+                    getattr(value, content_key)
+                )  # we get to the parent class
+            else:
                 raise ValueError(
-                    'field_name cannot be None when trying to deserialize a BaseDoc'
+                    'field_name and field_type cannot be None when trying to deserialize a DocArray'
                 )
-            return_field = cls._get_field_annotation_array(field_name).from_protobuf(
-                getattr(value, content_key)
-            )  # we get to the parent class
         elif content_key is None:
             return_field = None
         elif docarray_type is None:
@@ -330,8 +334,6 @@ def _get_content_from_node_proto(
             elif content_key in arg_to_container.keys():
                 if field_name and field_name in cls._docarray_fields():
                     field_type = cls._get_field_inner_type(field_name)
-                else:
-                    field_type = None
 
                 if isinstance(field_type, GenericAlias):
                     field_type = get_args(field_type)[0]

diff --git a/tests/units/array/test_array_from_to_json.py b/tests/units/array/test_array_from_to_json.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from typing import Optional
+from typing import Optional, Dict, List
 
 import numpy as np
 import pytest

diff --git a/tests/units/array/test_array_proto.py b/tests/units/array/test_array_proto.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import numpy as np
 import pytest
+from typing import Dict, List
 
 from docarray import BaseDoc, DocList
 from docarray.base_doc import AnyDoc
@@ -111,3 +112,41 @@ class BasisUnion(BaseDoc):
     docs_basic = DocList[BasisUnion]([BasisUnion(ud="hello")])
     docs_copy = DocList[BasisUnion].from_protobuf(docs_basic.to_protobuf())
     assert docs_copy == docs_basic
+
+
+class MySimpleDoc(BaseDoc):
+    title: str
+
+
+class MyComplexDoc(BaseDoc):
+    content_dict_doclist: Dict[str, DocList[MySimpleDoc]]
+    content_dict_list: Dict[str, List[MySimpleDoc]]
+    aux_dict: Dict[str, int]
+
+
+def test_to_from_proto_complex():
+    da = DocList[MyComplexDoc](
+        [
+            MyComplexDoc(
+                content_dict_doclist={
+                    'test1': DocList[MySimpleDoc](
+                        [MySimpleDoc(title='123'), MySimpleDoc(title='456')]
+                    )
+                },
+                content_dict_list={
+                    'test1': [MySimpleDoc(title='123'), MySimpleDoc(title='456')]
+                },
+                aux_dict={'a': 0},
+            )
+        ]
+    )
+    da2 = DocList[MyComplexDoc].from_protobuf(da.to_protobuf())
+    assert len(da2) == 1
+    d2 = da2[0]
+    assert d2.aux_dict == {'a': 0}
+    assert len(d2.content_dict_doclist['test1']) == 2
+    assert d2.content_dict_doclist['test1'][0].title == '123'
+    assert d2.content_dict_doclist['test1'][1].title == '456'
+    assert len(d2.content_dict_list['test1']) == 2
+    assert d2.content_dict_list['test1'][0].title == '123'
+    assert d2.content_dict_list['test1'][1].title == '456'
diff --git a/tests/units/document/test_from_to_bytes.py b/tests/units/document/test_from_to_bytes.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import pytest
+from typing import Dict, List
 
-from docarray import BaseDoc
+from docarray import BaseDoc, DocList
 from docarray.documents import ImageDoc
 from docarray.typing import NdArray
 
@@ -11,6 +12,16 @@ class MyDoc(BaseDoc):
     image: ImageDoc
 
 
+class MySimpleDoc(BaseDoc):
+    title: str
+
+
+class MyComplexDoc(BaseDoc):
+    content_dict_doclist: Dict[str, DocList[MySimpleDoc]]
+    content_dict_list: Dict[str, List[MySimpleDoc]]
+    aux_dict: Dict[str, int]
+
+
 @pytest.mark.parametrize('protocol', ['protobuf', 'pickle'])
 @pytest.mark.parametrize('compress', ['lz4', 'bz2', 'lzma', 'zlib', 'gzip', None])
 def test_to_from_bytes(protocol, compress):
@@ -39,3 +50,53 @@ def test_to_from_base64(protocol, compress):
     assert d2.text == 'hello'
     assert d2.embedding.tolist() == [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
     assert d2.image.url == 'aux.png'
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('protocol', ['protobuf', 'pickle'])
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('compress', ['lz4', 'bz2', 'lzma', 'zlib', 'gzip', None])
+def test_to_from_bytes_complex(protocol, compress):
+    d = MyComplexDoc(
+        content_dict_doclist={
+            'test1': DocList[MySimpleDoc](
+                [MySimpleDoc(title='123'), MySimpleDoc(title='456')]
+            )
+        },
+        content_dict_list={
+            'test1': [MySimpleDoc(title='123'), MySimpleDoc(title='456')]
+        },
+        aux_dict={'a': 0},
+    )
+    bstr = d.to_bytes(protocol=protocol, compress=compress)
+    d2 = MyComplexDoc.from_bytes(bstr, protocol=protocol, compress=compress)
+    assert d2.aux_dict == {'a': 0}
+    assert len(d2.content_dict_doclist['test1']) == 2
+    assert d2.content_dict_doclist['test1'][0].title == '123'
+    assert d2.content_dict_doclist['test1'][1].title == '456'
+    assert len(d2.content_dict_list['test1']) == 2
+    assert d2.content_dict_list['test1'][0].title == '123'
+    assert d2.content_dict_list['test1'][1].title == '456'
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('protocol', ['protobuf', 'pickle'])
+@pytest.mark.parametrize('compress', ['lz4', 'bz2', 'lzma', 'zlib', 'gzip', None])
+def test_to_from_base64_complex(protocol, compress):
+    d = MyComplexDoc(
+        content_dict_doclist={
+            'test1': DocList[MySimpleDoc](
+                [MySimpleDoc(title='123'), MySimpleDoc(title='456')]
+            )
+        },
+        content_dict_list={
+            'test1': [MySimpleDoc(title='123'), MySimpleDoc(title='456')]
+        },
+        aux_dict={'a': 0},
+    )
+    bstr = d.to_base64(protocol=protocol, compress=compress)
+    d2 = MyComplexDoc.from_base64(bstr, protocol=protocol, compress=compress)
+    assert d2.aux_dict == {'a': 0}
+    assert len(d2.content_dict_doclist['test1']) == 2
+    assert d2.content_dict_doclist['test1'][0].title == '123'
+    assert d2.content_dict_doclist['test1'][1].title == '456'
+    assert len(d2.content_dict_list['test1']) == 2
+    assert d2.content_dict_list['test1'][0].title == '123'
+    assert d2.content_dict_list['test1'][1].title == '456'