Add element access, iteration, values, and JSON pointers to json_view

Give basic_json_view the read-only access functions of basic_json:
operator[] and at() with keys and indices, front()/back(), find(),
contains(), count(), begin()/end() and cbegin()/cend(), items()
with structured bindings from C++17 on, and type_name().

Exceptions have the ids and messages of the const functions of
basic_json. Where basic_json has undefined behavior the view
answers safely: operator[] with a missing key or an out-of-range
index returns a discarded view, and front()/back() of an empty
container throw invalid_iterator.214. Objects are iterated in
document order, and all members are visited; duplicate-key lookups
find the first member (as yyjson and simdjson do), while parse(),
materialize(), and the map conversions keep the last value, as
parse() does. Keys of up to 16 bytes are compared with two
overlapping loads.

Add value conversions: get<T>()/get_to() for arithmetic types,
bool, nullptr_t, strings (std::basic_string copied,
string_view_t without a copy), BasicJsonType, views, std::vector,
and maps with string keys; get_string() for the string without a
copy; number_token() for the number exactly as written in the
source; value() with keys and JSON pointers; and operator[]/at()/
contains() with JSON pointers. Everything else, including types
with from_json(), goes through materialize() of that subtree.
get<T>() of arithmetic types is inlined down to the conversion, so
reading an integer needs no call.

detail::json_pointer_access exposes a pointer's reference tokens
to code outside basic_json.

Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me>
This commit is contained in:
Niels Lohmann committed 2026-10-18 06:23:24 +02:00
1 parent f8895c72a9
commit 383b27eefc
95 files changed
+4209 -39

No files matched your search

@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
# <small>nlohmann::basic_json_view::</small>get_string
```cpp
string_view_t get_string() const;
```
Returns the string value as a [`string_view_t`](index.md#member-types), without copying it.
## Return value
The string, as a [`string_view_t`](index.md#member-types) that points either into the document's
[`source()`](../basic_json_document/source.md) text (a string with no escape sequences), or into the document's own
buffer of decoded strings (a string that contains escape sequences, such as `#!json "\n"` or `#!json "\u00e9"`, which
had to be decoded once when the document was parsed).
## Exception safety
Strong exception safety: if an exception is thrown, there are no changes to the view or the document it refers to.
## Exceptions
Throws [`type_error.302`](../../home/exceptions.md#jsonexceptiontype_error302) if the value is not a string; example:
`"type must be string, but is array"`.
This exception does not carry a [`JSON_DIAGNOSTICS`](../macros/json_diagnostics.md) path: the view has no
`BasicJsonType` value to point at, so the exception is created without one, even if `BasicJsonType` was built with
`JSON_DIAGNOSTICS` enabled.
## Complexity
Constant.
## Notes
`basic_json_view` has no `BasicJsonType` value stored anywhere, so unlike `BasicJsonType`, it has no `get_ref()` to
hand out a reference to a stored `string_t`. `get_string()` (equivalently, [`get<string_view_t>()`](get.md)) is the
zero-copy alternative: [`BasicJsonType::get_ref<const string_t&>()`](../basic_json/get_ref.md) is its closest
counterpart, except that it returns a view instead of a reference to a value that must already exist.
The returned [`string_view_t`](index.md#member-types) is valid exactly as long as the view that produced it -- see the
[validity rules](index.md) of `basic_json_view` -- and, for a string with no escapes, for as long as the document's
source text.
## Examples
??? example
The example below pulls one field out of a JSON text that stands in for a large API response, and shows that no
`#!cpp std::string` was allocated for it: the returned view still points inside the original buffer. A field that
contains an escape sequence cannot point into the original text -- it was decoded once into the document's own
buffer instead -- but still avoids a per-field allocation.
```cpp
--8<-- "examples/basic_json_view__get_string.cpp"
```
Output:
```json
--8<-- "examples/basic_json_view__get_string.output"
```
## See also
- [get](get.md) - convert the value to a given type (`#!cpp get<string_view_t>()` is equivalent to this function)
- [number_token](number_token.md) - a number's token text, without a copy
- [`BasicJsonType::get_ref`](../basic_json/get_ref.md) - the closest counterpart of `basic_json`
## Version history
- Added in version 3.13.0.