nlohmann::basic_json_view::get¶

template<typename T>
T get() const;

Converts the value to T.

For the types below, the conversion works directly on the flat index — no BasicJsonType value is built for it:

• bool
• arithmetic types other than bool (for a boolean, 0/1, exactly as for BasicJsonType::get<T>())
• std::nullptr_t
• std::basic_string<char, Traits, Alloc> (including string_t) — a copy of the string
• string_view_t — no copy: the returned view points into the document's source() text, or, for a string that contains escape sequences, into the document's own buffer of decoded strings (see get_string())
• BasicJsonType — equivalent to materialize()
• basic_json_view — returns *this
• std::vector<U, A> of the types above — from an array, element by element, each converted with get<U>(); std::vector<basic_json_view> keeps a view of every element instead of a value
• std::map<K, basic_json_view, C, A> and std::unordered_map<K, basic_json_view, H, E, A>, if K is constructible from a (const char*, std::size_t) pair — views of the members of an object; with a repeated key, the view of the last member is kept, as BasicJsonType::parse() keeps its value

A default-constructible T whose from_json() accepts views reads the view directly as well, without building a BasicJsonType value. This covers the library's own conversions of the standard library types — all other std::vectors, std::map/std::unordered_map (also with other key types), std::list, std::deque, std::set, std::forward_list, std::valarray, std::array, C arrays, std::pair, std::tuple, std::optional, enumerations, std::filesystem::path, ... -- which give the same values as materialize().get<T>() (from an object, a repeated key keeps the last value, as BasicJsonType::parse() does), as well as the types of the NLOHMANN_DEFINE_TYPE_* and NLOHMANN_DEFINE_DERIVED_TYPE_* macros and the enumerations of NLOHMANN_JSON_SERIALIZE_ENUM, and any from_json() constrained to accept views, e.g. with is_json_view. A from_json() that also accepts types that are no JSON values at all, such as the unconstrained template<typename BasicJsonType> void from_json(const BasicJsonType&,T&) of arbitrary type conversions, is not called with a view: it may use BasicJsonType functions a view does not have. See Writing generic code.

Every other T — user types whose from_json() is written for BasicJsonType only, types without a default constructor, std::tuples holding references, ... — is converted by materialize().get<T>(): the subtree is built into a real BasicJsonType value first (as BasicJsonType::parse() would), and converted from there exactly as BasicJsonType::get<T>() would convert it.

Template parameters¶

T

the type to convert the value to

Return value¶

the value, converted to T

Exception safety¶

Strong guarantee: there are no changes to the view or the document it refers to.

Exceptions¶

• For the directly-converted types listed above (other than BasicJsonType and basic_json_view, which never throw): throws type_error.302 if the value's type does not match T — the same exception, with the same message, that BasicJsonType::get<T>() throws for the same JSON type and T.
• For std::vector<U, A>: throws type_error.302 if the value is not an array; otherwise, whatever converting an element to U throws.
• For std::map/std::unordered_map of views: throws type_error.302 if the value is not an object.
• For a T whose from_json() reads the view: whatever that from_json() throws; for the library's conversions and the macros, the same exceptions with the same messages as BasicJsonType::get<T>() of the same value.
• For every other T: whatever materialize().get<T>() throws — typically type_error.302, or whatever a user-provided from_json() throws.

None of the exceptions thrown directly by this function or by a from_json() that reads the view (the first four bullets above) carry a JSON_DIAGNOSTICS path: the view has no BasicJsonType value to point at. An exception thrown while converting through materialize() (the last bullet) is different: it is thrown by a real BasicJsonType value, so it does carry a JSON_DIAGNOSTICS path if BasicJsonType was built with it enabled. That path is relative to the root of the view's subtree, because materialize() builds only the subtree (with parent pointers): it is empty if the failing value is the subtree's root itself, and it never is the path within the whole document.

Complexity¶

• bool, arithmetic types, std::nullptr_t, string_view_t, basic_json_view: constant.
• std::basic_string<char, Traits, Alloc>: constant, plus one allocation and a copy of the string's bytes.
• BasicJsonType: linear in the size of the subtree, see materialize().
• std::vector<U, A>: linear in the number of elements, times the complexity of converting one element to U.
• std::map/std::unordered_map: linear in the number of members for walking them, plus the container's own insertion cost per member (logarithmic for std::map, amortized constant for std::unordered_map), times the complexity of converting one member to the mapped type.
• a T whose from_json() reads the view: the cost of that from_json(); for the macros, linear in the number of members times the cost of a lookup, plus the cost of converting the members.
• every other T: the cost of materialize() and of destroying the BasicJsonType value afterwards, plus that of BasicJsonType::get<T>().

Notes¶

Examples¶

#include <iostream>
#include <nlohmann/json_view.hpp>
#include <string>
#include <vector>

using nlohmann::json_document;
using nlohmann::json_view;

// address has no direct conversion in get<T>(), so get<address>() falls back
// to materialize().get<address>() -- a real nlohmann::json value is built
// for just this one member, and its own from_json() runs on that
struct address
{
    std::string city;
    int zip = 0;
};

void from_json(const nlohmann::json& j, address& a)
{
    j.at("city").get_to(a.city);
    j.at("zip").get_to(a.zip);
}

int main()
{
    json_document doc = json_document::parse(R"(
      {
        "name": "Alice",
        "active": true,
        "orders": [1, 2, 3],
        "address": {"city": "Berlin", "zip": 10115}
      }
    )");
    const json_view customer = doc.root();

    // read typed fields straight into C++ variables -- none of these build
    // a nlohmann::json value
    const std::string name = customer["name"].get<std::string>();
    const bool active = customer["active"].get<bool>();
    std::cout << name << (active ? " (active)" : " (inactive)") << '\n';

    // std::vector<json_view> keeps views of the array elements instead of
    // copies of their values
    bool first = true;
    for (const json_view order : customer["orders"].get<std::vector<json_view>>())
    {
        std::cout << (first ? "" : " ") << order.get<int>();
        first = false;
    }
    std::cout << '\n';

    // everything else goes through materialize()
    const address a = customer["address"].get<address>();
    std::cout << a.city << ' ' << a.zip << '\n';
}

Alice (active)
1 2 3
Berlin 10115

See also¶

• get_to - convert and write into a passed value
• get_string - the string, without a copy
• number_token - a number's token text, without a copy
• materialize - build the BasicJsonType value of this subtree
• BasicJsonType::get - the corresponding function of basic_json
• Zero-copy JSON views - which conversions avoid building a basic_json value

Version history¶

• Added in version 3.13.0 unreleased.