// o is either a map already (string->object) or an arbitrary object,
// in which case its fields are converted into a map.
static Map<S, O> objectToMap(O o) ctex {
  if (o instanceof Map) ret (Map) o;
  if (o == null) null;
  
  new TreeMap<S, O> map;
  Class c = o.getClass();
  while (c != Object.class) {
    Field[] fields = c.getDeclaredFields();
    for (final Field field : fields) {
      if ((field.getModifiers() & Modifier.STATIC) != 0)
        continue;
      field.setAccessible(true);
      final Object value = field.get(o);
      if (value != null)
        map.put(field.getName(), value);
    }
    c = c.getSuperclass();
  }
  
  // XXX NEW - hopefully this doesn't break anything
  if (o instanceof DynamicObject)
    putAll(map, o/DynamicObject.fieldValues);

  ret map;
}

// same for a collection (convert each element)
static L<Map<S, O>> objectToMap(Iterable l) {
  if (l == null) null;
  new L x;
  for (O o : l)
    x.add(objectToMap(o));
  ret x;
}