Golang reflection to use in conjunction with sql package's rows.Scan() for any (nested) struct passed in as interface{}, please refer to the disclaimer within this file

main.go

package main

import (
	"fmt"
	"reflect"
)

// to be used in association with the golang sql package, rows.Scan()
// pass in any struct object/object slice you like and get appropriate results using reflection
// restriction: the sql query result's columns length must match the struct object fields length (len(rows.Columns(), fix your query)
// feel free to use, share, modify, expand, w/e. no license agreement
// annotations left, primarily for me to learn more about golang, reflection and data types as such
// this example pulls 'sidebar' items into a slice for furhter usage (json marshalling)
// doesn't claim to be idiomatic or best practice. use at your own risk!

type (
	navItem struct {
		ID   int
		Name string
	}
	navItemList struct {
		NvL []navItem
	}
	dbWorker struct {
		queryObj  interface{}
		queryObjL interface{}
	}
)

func (dW *dbWorker) AddNavItem() {
	rSPtr := ptr(reflect.ValueOf(dW.queryObjL))
	rVPtr := ptr(reflect.ValueOf(dW.queryObj))

	/*
	 println(rSPtr.String(), rSPtr.Elem().String(), rSPtr.Elem().Elem().String(), rSPtr.Elem().Elem().CanSet())
	 <**main.navItemList Value> <*main.navItemList Value> <main.navItemList Value> true
	*/

	ev := rSPtr.Elem().Elem().Field(0) // may be a subject to change due dynamic field allocation demand

	/*
	 println(ev.String(), ev.Type().String(), ev.CanSet())
	 <[]main.navItem Value> []main.navItem true
	*/

	ev.Set(reflect.Append(ev, rVPtr.Elem().Elem()))
}

func (dW *dbWorker) changeValue(rv reflect.Value, cols []interface{}) {
	// rows.Scan(): due to interface{} being a pointer to type of v, dereference properly
	for i, v := range cols {
		switch v.(type) {
		case int: // *int
			rv.Field(i).SetInt(int64(v.(int))) // rv.Field(i).SetInt(int64(*(v.(*int))))
		case string: // *string
			rv.Field(i).SetString(v.(string)) // rv.Field(i).SetString(*(v.(*string)))
		case bool: // *bool
			rv.Field(i).SetBool(v.(bool)) // rv.Field(i).SetBool(*(v.(*bool)))
		default:
			fmt.Printf("Type assert not defined. Type is %T", v)
		}
	}
}

func (dW *dbWorker) rowsNextIteration(newint int, newstr string) {

	rv := ptr(reflect.ValueOf(dW.queryObj))

	/*
	 println(rv.String(), rv.Elem().String(), rv.Elem().Elem().String(), rv.Elem().Elem().CanSet())
	 <**main.navItem Value> <*main.navItem Value> <main.navItem Value> true
	*/

	em := rv.Elem().Elem()
	num := em.NumField()
	cols := make([]interface{}, num)

	for i := 0; i < num; i++ {
		field := em.Field(i)
		cols[i] = field.Interface()

		/*
			switch cols[i].(type) {
			case int:
				println("ID-A", cols[i].(int))
				cols[i] = 3
				field.SetInt(int64(cols[i].(int)))
			case string:
				println("NAME-A", cols[i].(string))
				cols[i] = "str2"
				field.SetString(cols[i].(string))
			default:
				fmt.Printf("Type assert not defined. Type is %T", v)
			}
		*/

	}

	/*
	 println("ID-A", cols[0].(int))
	 println("NAME-A", cols[1].(string))
	*/

	cols[0] = newint
	cols[1] = newstr
	dW.changeValue(em, cols)
	dW.AddNavItem()
}

func main() {

	ni := &navItem{}
	ni.ID = 2
	ni.Name = "str1"
	nis := &navItemList{}
	myWorker := &dbWorker{}
	println("NvL-A", len(nis.NvL))

	/*
		nis.NvL = append(nis.NvL, *ni)
		println("NvL-B", len(nis.NvL))
	*/

	myWorker.queryObjL = nis
	myWorker.queryObj = ni
	myWorker.rowsNextIteration(3, "str2")
	myWorker.rowsNextIteration(4, "str3")
	myWorker.rowsNextIteration(5, "str4")

	/*
		myWorker.AddNavItem()
		println("ID-B", ni.ID)
		println("NAME-B", ni.Name)
	*/

	println("NvL-B", len(nis.NvL))
	printSlice(*nis)
}

func printSlice(niL navItemList) {
	for k, v := range niL.NvL {
		println("NavItems", "key", k, "id", v.ID, "name", v.Name)
	}
}

// credits to https://github.com/a8m/reflect-examples
// ptr wraps the given value with pointer: V => *V, *V => **V, etc.
func ptr(v reflect.Value) reflect.Value {
	pt := reflect.PtrTo(v.Type()) // create a *T type.
	pv := reflect.New(pt.Elem())  // create a reflect.Value of type *T.
	pv.Elem().Set(v)              // sets pv to point to underlying value of v.
	return pv
}