I thought about doing this and actually wrote the signature of that method before removing it again. Now we have the new objects one should no longer really be using that format outside of serializers and deserializers. This code here essentially takes care of compat between the old internal storage and the new objects, allowing us to migrate away slowly. Once this is done, this code can be killed. (Unless something else started using it, which is what I rather keep it private here, and only make it easy to access if there is a clear valid reason for that)