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Version: 1.0

JSON Functions (Experimental)

This page describes GreptimeDB functions for converting and extracting JSON values.

warning

The JSON feature is currently experimental and may change in future releases.

Conversion​

Conversion between JSON and other types.

  • parse_json(string) to parse a JSON string into a JSON value. Illegal JSON strings will return an error.
  • json_to_string(json) to convert a JSON value to a string.
SELECT json_to_string(parse_json('{"a": 1, "b": 2}'));

+----------------------------------------------------------+
| json_to_string(parse_json(Utf8("{\"a\": 1, \"b\": 2}"))) |
+----------------------------------------------------------+
| {"a":1,"b":2} |
+----------------------------------------------------------+

Extraction​

Extracts values with specific types from JSON values through specific paths.

  • json_get_bool(json, path) to extract a boolean value from a JSON value by the path.
  • json_get_int(json, path) to extract an integer value from a JSON value by the path, while boolean values will be converted to integers.
  • json_get_float(json, path) to extract a float value from a JSON value by the path, while integer and boolean values will be converted to floats.
  • json_get_string(json, path) to extract a string value from a JSON value by the path. All valid JSON values will be converted to strings, including null values, objects and arrays.
  • json_get_object(json, path) to extract an object value from a JSON value by the path. Returns NULL if the path does not point to an object.
  • json_get(json, path) to extract a value as a string. Cast the function result to extract a scalar with another SQL type, for example json_get(value, 'a')::INT.

The path argument to json_get must be a string literal. The return value is NULL when the path does not select a value or the selected value cannot be converted to the requested type.

path is a string that selects elements from a JSON value. The following path operators are supported:

OperatorDescriptionExamples
$The root element$
@The current element in the filter expression$.event?(@ == 1)
.*Selecting all elements in an Object$.*
.<name>Selecting element that match the name in an Object$.event
:<name>Alias of .<name>$:event
["<name>"]Alias of .<name>$["event"]
[*]Selecting all elements in an Array$[*]
[<pos>, ..]Selecting 0-based n-th elements in an Array$[1, 2]
[last - <pos>, ..]Selecting n-th element before the last element in an Array$[0, last - 1]
[<pos1> to <pos2>, ..]Selecting all elements of a range in an Array$[1 to last - 2]
?(<expr>)Selecting all elements that matched the filter expression$?(@.price < 10)

If the path is invalid, the function will return a NULL value.

SELECT json_get_int(parse_json('{"a": {"c": 3}, "b": 2}'), 'a.c');

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| json_get_int(parse_json(Utf8("{"a": {"c": 3}, "b": 2}")),Utf8("a.c")) |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 3 |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------+

SELECT json_get(parse_json('{"a": 3}'), 'a')::INT;

SELECT json_to_string(json_get_object(parse_json('{"a": {"b": {"c": {"d": 42}}}}'), 'a.b.c'));

+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| json_to_string(json_get_object(parse_json(Utf8("{"a": {"b": {"c": {"d": 42}}}}")),Utf8("a.b.c"))) |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| {"d":42} |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

Validation​

Check the type of a JSON value.

  • json_is_null(json) to check whether a JSON value is a null value.
  • json_is_bool(json) to check whether a JSON value is a boolean value.
  • json_is_int(json) to check whether a JSON value is an integer value.
  • json_is_float(json) to check whether a JSON value is a float value.
  • json_is_string(json) to check whether a JSON value is a string value.
  • json_is_object(json) to check whether a JSON value is an object value.
  • json_is_array(json) to check whether a JSON value is an array value.
SELECT json_is_array(parse_json('[1, 2, 3]'));

+----------------------------------------------+
| json_is_array(parse_json(Utf8("[1, 2, 3]"))) |
+----------------------------------------------+
| 1 |
+----------------------------------------------+

SELECT json_is_object(parse_json('1'));

+---------------------------------------+
| json_is_object(parse_json(Utf8("1"))) |
+---------------------------------------+
| 0 |
+---------------------------------------+
  • json_path_exists(json, path) to check whether a path exists in a JSON value.

If the path is invalid, the function will return an error.

If the path or the JSON value is NULL, the function will return a NULL value.

SELECT json_path_exists(parse_json('{"a": 1, "b": 2}'), 'a');

+------------------------------------------------------------------+
| json_path_exists(parse_json(Utf8("{"a": 1, "b": 2}")),Utf8("a")) |
+------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1 |
+------------------------------------------------------------------+

SELECT json_path_exists(parse_json('{"a": 1, "b": 2}'), 'c.d');

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| json_path_exists(parse_json(Utf8("{"a": 1, "b": 2}")),Utf8("c.d")) |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 0 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+

SELECT json_path_exists(parse_json('{"a": 1, "b": 2}'), NULL);

+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| json_path_exists(parse_json(Utf8("{"a": 1, "b": 2}")),NULL) |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
| NULL |
+-------------------------------------------------------------+
  • json_path_match(json, path) to check whether a JSON value matches the predicate in the specified JSON path expression. Only predicate expressions are supported.

If the path is invalid or does not evaluate to a predicate, the function will return a NULL value.

If the JSON value is NULL, the function will return a NULL value.

SELECT json_path_match(parse_json('{"a": 1, "b": 2}'), '$.a == 1');

+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| json_path_match(parse_json(Utf8("{"a": 1, "b": 2}")),Utf8("$.a == 1")) |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1 |
+------------------------------------------------------------------------+

SELECT json_path_match(parse_json('{"a":1,"b":[1,2,3]}'), '$.b[1 to last] >= 2');

+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| json_path_match(parse_json(Utf8("{"a":1,"b":[1,2,3]}")),Utf8("$.b[1 to last] >= 2")) |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 1 |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+

SELECT json_path_match(parse_json('{"a":1,"b":[1,2,3]}'), '$.b[0] > 1');

+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| json_path_match(parse_json(Utf8("{"a":1,"b":[1,2,3]}")),Utf8("$.b[0] > 1")) |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| 0 |
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------+