json/docs/mkdocs/docs/api/basic_json/index.md

nlohmann::basic_json

Defined in header <nlohmann/json.hpp>

template<
    template<typename U, typename V, typename... Args> class ObjectType = std::map,
    template<typename U, typename... Args> class ArrayType = std::vector,
    class StringType = std::string,
    class BooleanType = bool,
    class NumberIntegerType = std::int64_t,
    class NumberUnsignedType = std::uint64_t,
    class NumberFloatType = double,
    template<typename U> class AllocatorType = std::allocator,
    template<typename T, typename SFINAE = void> class JSONSerializer = adl_serializer,
    class BinaryType = std::vector<std::uint8_t>,
    class CustomBaseClass = void
>
class basic_json;

Template parameters

Template parameter	Description	Derived type
ObjectType	type for JSON objects	object_t
ArrayType	type for JSON arrays	array_t
StringType	type for JSON strings and object keys	string_t
BooleanType	type for JSON booleans	boolean_t
NumberIntegerType	type for JSON integer numbers	number_integer_t
NumberUnsignedType	type for JSON unsigned integer numbers	number_unsigned_t
NumberFloatType	type for JSON floating-point numbers	number_float_t
AllocatorType	type of the allocator to use
JSONSerializer	the serializer to resolve internal calls to to_json() and from_json()	json_serializer
BinaryType	type for binary arrays	binary_t
CustomBaseClass	extension point for user code	json_base_class_t

The library imposes a number of requirements on these types that are not expressed as C++ concepts, such as the container operations object_t and array_t must provide, or the fact that StringType must be char-based. They are collected in Template Parameter Requirements.

Specializations

• json - default specialization
• ordered_json - a specialization that maintains the insertion order of object keys

Documents and views

Besides basic_json, the library offers a second way to hold a parsed JSON text: a basic_json_document, which owns or borrows the text and holds a flat index of the values in it, and a basic_json_view, a read-only handle to one value of such a document. Both are defined in the header <nlohmann/json_view.hpp>; see Zero-copy JSON views for the concept and the trade-offs.

• json_document / ordered_json_document - read-only documents of the basic_json specialization they belong to
• json_editable_document / ordered_json_editable_document - documents that can be modified in place
• json_view / ordered_json_view - views of a document
• json_editable_view / ordered_json_editable_view - views of an editable document

Iterator invalidation

All operations that add values to an array (push_back , operator+=, emplace_back, insert, and operator[] for a non-existing index) can yield a reallocation, in which case all iterators (including the end() iterator) and all references to the elements are invalidated.

For ordered_json, also all operations that add a value to an object (push_back, operator+=, emplace, insert, update, and operator[] for a non-existing key) can yield a reallocation, in which case all iterators (including the end() iterator) and all references to the elements are invalidated.

Requirements

The class satisfies the following concept requirements:

Basic

• DefaultConstructible: JSON values can be default-constructed. The result will be a JSON null value.
• MoveConstructible: A JSON value can be constructed from an rvalue argument.
• CopyConstructible: A JSON value can be copy-constructed from an lvalue expression.
• MoveAssignable: A JSON value can be assigned from an rvalue argument.
• CopyAssignable: A JSON value can be copy-assigned from an lvalue expression.
• Destructible: JSON values can be destructed.

Layout

• StandardLayoutType: JSON values have standard layout: All non-static data members are private and standard layout types, the class has no virtual functions or (virtual) base classes.

Library-wide

• EqualityComparable: JSON values can be compared with ==, see operator==.
• LessThanComparable: JSON values can be compared with <, see operator<.
• Swappable: Any JSON lvalue or rvalue of can be swapped with any lvalue or rvalue of other compatible types, using unqualified function swap.
• NullablePointer: JSON values can be compared against std::nullptr_t objects which are used to model the null value.

Container

• Container: JSON values can be used like STL containers and provide iterator access.
• ReversibleContainer: JSON values can be used like STL containers and provide reverse iterator access.

Member types

• adl_serializer - the default serializer
• value_t - the JSON type enumeration
• json_pointer - JSON Pointer implementation
• json_serializer - type of the serializer to for conversions from/to JSON
• error_handler_t - type to choose behavior on decoding errors
• bjdata_version_t - type to choose the BJData version to write
• cbor_tag_handler_t - type to choose how to handle CBOR tags
• initializer_list_t - type for initializer lists of basic_json values
• input_format_t - type to choose the format to parse
• json_sax_t - type for SAX events
• with_object_t, with_array_t, with_string_t, with_boolean_t, with_integers_t, with_float_t, with_allocator_t, with_json_serializer_t, with_binary_t, with_base_class_t - types to create a basic_json type with one (or two) replaced template parameters

Exceptions

• exception - general exception of the basic_json class
  • parse_error - exception indicating a parse error
  • invalid_iterator - exception indicating errors with iterators
  • type_error - exception indicating executing a member function with a wrong type
  • out_of_range - exception indicating access out of the defined range
  • other_error - exception indicating other library errors

Container types

Type	Definition
value_type	#!cpp basic_json
reference	#!cpp value_type&
const_reference	#!cpp const value_type&
difference_type	#!cpp std::ptrdiff_t
size_type	#!cpp std::size_t
allocator_type	#!cpp AllocatorType<basic_json>
pointer	#!cpp std::allocator_traits<allocator_type>::pointer
const_pointer	#!cpp std::allocator_traits<allocator_type>::const_pointer
iterator	LegacyBidirectionalIterator
const_iterator	constant LegacyBidirectionalIterator
reverse_iterator	reverse iterator, derived from iterator
const_reverse_iterator	reverse iterator, derived from const_iterator
iteration_proxy	helper type for items function

JSON value data types

• array_t - type for arrays
• binary_t - type for binary arrays
• boolean_t - type for booleans
• default_object_comparator_t - default comparator for objects
• number_float_t - type for numbers (floating-point)
• number_integer_t - type for numbers (integer)
• number_unsigned_t - type for numbers (unsigned)
• object_comparator_t - comparator for objects
• object_t - type for objects
• string_t - type for strings

Parser callback

• parse_event_t - parser event types
• parser_callback_t - per-element parser callback type

Member functions

• (constructor)
• (destructor)
• operator= - copy assignment
• array (static) - explicitly create an array
• binary (static) - explicitly create a binary array
• object (static) - explicitly create an object

Object inspection

Functions to inspect the type of a JSON value.

• type - return the type of the JSON value
• operator value_t - return the type of the JSON value
• type_name - return the type as string
• is_primitive - return whether the type is primitive
• is_structured - return whether the type is structured
• is_null - return whether the value is null
• is_boolean - return whether the value is a boolean
• is_number - return whether the value is a number
• is_number_integer - return whether the value is an integer number
• is_number_unsigned - return whether the value is an unsigned integer number
• is_number_float - return whether the value is a floating-point number
• is_object - return whether the value is an object
• is_array - return whether the value is an array
• is_string - return whether the value is a string
• is_binary - return whether the value is a binary array
• is_discarded - return whether the value is discarded

Optional functions to access the diagnostic positions.

• start_pos - return the start position of the value
• end_pos - return the one past the end position of the value

Value access

Direct access to the stored value of a JSON value.

• get - get a value
• get_to - get a value and write it to a destination
• get_ptr - get a pointer value
• get_ref - get a reference value
• operator ValueType - get a value
• get_binary - get a binary value
• as_base_class - access the custom base class

Element access

Access to the JSON value

• at - access specified element with bounds checking
• operator[] - access specified element
• value - access specified object element with default value
• front - access the first element
• back - access the last element

Lookup

• find - find an element in a JSON object
• count - returns the number of occurrences of a key in a JSON object
• contains - check the existence of an element in a JSON object

Iterators

• begin - returns an iterator to the first element
• cbegin - returns a const iterator to the first element
• end - returns an iterator to one past the last element
• cend - returns a const iterator to one past the last element
• rbegin - returns an iterator to the reverse-beginning
• rend - returns an iterator to the reverse-end
• crbegin - returns a const iterator to the reverse-beginning
• crend - returns a const iterator to the reverse-end
• items - wrapper to access iterator member functions in range-based for

Capacity

• empty - checks whether the container is empty
• size - returns the number of elements
• max_size - returns the maximum possible number of elements

Modifiers

• clear - clears the contents
• push_back - add a value to an array/object
• operator+= - add a value to an array/object
• emplace_back - add a value to an array
• emplace - add a value to an object if a key does not exist
• erase - remove elements
• insert - inserts elements
• update - updates a JSON object from another object, overwriting existing keys
• swap - exchanges the values

Lexicographical comparison operators

• operator== - comparison: equal
• operator!= - comparison: not equal
• operator< - comparison: less than
• operator> - comparison: greater than
• operator<= - comparison: less than or equal
• operator>= - comparison: greater than or equal
• operator<=> - comparison: 3-way

Serialization / Dumping

• dump - serialization

Deserialization / Parsing

• parse (static) - deserialize from a compatible input
• accept (static) - check if the input is valid JSON
• sax_parse (static) - generate SAX events

JSON Pointer functions

• flatten - return flattened JSON value
• unflatten - unflatten a previously flattened JSON value

JSON Patch functions

• patch - applies a JSON patch
• patch_inplace - applies a JSON patch in place
• diff (static) - creates a diff as a JSON patch

JSON Merge Patch functions

• merge_patch - applies a JSON Merge Patch
• merge_diff (static) - creates a diff as a JSON Merge Patch

Static functions

• meta - returns version information on the library
• get_allocator - returns the allocator associated with the container

Binary formats

• from_bjdata (static) - create a JSON value from an input in BJData format
• from_bon8 (static) - create a JSON value from an input in BON8 format
• from_bson (static) - create a JSON value from an input in BSON format
• from_cbor (static) - create a JSON value from an input in CBOR format
• from_msgpack (static) - create a JSON value from an input in MessagePack format
• from_ubjson (static) - create a JSON value from an input in UBJSON format
• to_bjdata (static) - create a BJData serialization of a given JSON value
• to_bon8 (static) - create a BON8 serialization of a given JSON value
• to_bson (static) - create a BSON serialization of a given JSON value
• to_cbor (static) - create a CBOR serialization of a given JSON value
• to_msgpack (static) - create a MessagePack serialization of a given JSON value
• to_ubjson (static) - create a UBJSON serialization of a given JSON value

Non-member functions

• operator<<(std::ostream&) - serialize to stream
• operator>>(std::istream&) - deserialize from stream
• to_string - user-defined to_string function for JSON values
• format_as - user-defined format_as function for JSON values (fmt support)

Literals

• operator""_json - user-defined string literal for JSON values

Helper classes

• std::formatter<basic_json> - make JSON values formattable with std::format
• std::hash<basic_json> - return a hash value for a JSON object
• std::swap<basic_json> - exchanges the values of two JSON objects

Examples

??? example

The example shows how the library is used.

```cpp
--8<-- "examples/README.cpp"
```

Output:

```json
--8<-- "examples/README.output"
```

See also

• RFC 8259: The JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) Data Interchange Format - specification of the JSON data interchange format
• basic_json_document - / basic_json_view - parse a JSON text into a flat index and read it through a view
• Zero-copy JSON views - when to use a document and a view instead of a basic_json
• Types - how JSON values are stored and which types exist
• Converting values - get values out of a JSON value and put values in
• Creating JSON values - all the ways to build a JSON value
• Arbitrary Type Conversions - convert your own types to and from JSON

Version history

• Added in version 1.0.0.