Files
json/docs/mkdocs/docs/api/basic_json/unflatten.md
T
Niels LohmannandClaude Opus 5 7a37a27a67 Fix unflatten and binary dumping for non-default configurations
unflatten() decided between array and object by looking at the first reference
token it happened to see for a node: it started an array only when that token
was 0. With a sorted object type the token 0 always arrives first, so the
result was correct by accident; with an object type whose iteration order is
unspecified, {"/c/2":3,"/c/1":2,"/c/0":1} unflattened to an object with the
keys "0", "1", and "2" instead of an array.

Collect the pointer prefixes that have a reference token 0 among their children
before building the result, and let get_and_create() consult that set. The
outcome is now independent of the iteration order and matches, for every input,
what a sorted object type produced before: a value is restored as an array if
and only if one of its keys is 0. Iterating the flattened object in a different
order would have been simpler, but it would have changed the key order of the
result for insertion-ordered object types.

The serializer, std::hash, and the UBJSON writer converted the elements of a
binary value to an integer implicitly, which does not compile for a BinaryType
whose value type is std::byte, and which made dump() write the bytes of a
signed value type as negative numbers. Convert to std::uint8_t explicitly in
all three places, so every byte type dumps as 0..255. The default
std::vector<std::uint8_t> configuration is unaffected.

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_018hxZxz8svM54c6ATEvXp5E
Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me>
2026-08-28 17:38:55 +00:00

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2.5 KiB
Markdown

# <small>nlohmann::basic_json::</small>unflatten
```cpp
basic_json unflatten() const;
```
The function restores the arbitrary nesting of a JSON value that has been flattened before using the
[`flatten()`](flatten.md) function. The JSON value must meet certain constraints:
1. The value must be an object.
2. The keys must be JSON pointers (see [RFC 6901](https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6901))
3. The mapped values must be primitive JSON types.
## Return value
the original JSON from a flattened version
## Exception safety
Strong exception safety: if an exception occurs, the original value stays intact.
## Exceptions
The function can throw the following exceptions:
- Throws [`type_error.314`](../../home/exceptions.md#jsonexceptiontype_error314) if value is not an object
- Throws [`type_error.315`](../../home/exceptions.md#jsonexceptiontype_error315) if object values are not primitive
- Throws [`type_error.313`](../../home/exceptions.md#jsonexceptiontype_error313) if a key (JSON pointer) leads to a
conflicting nesting; example: `"invalid value to unflatten"`
- Throws [`parse_error.109`](../../home/exceptions.md#jsonexceptionparse_error109) if an array index in a key is not a
number; example: `"array index 'one' is not a number"`
## Complexity
Linear in the size of the JSON value.
## Notes
Empty objects and arrays are flattened by [`flatten()`](flatten.md) to `#!json null` values and cannot unflattened to
their original type.
A flattened array and a flattened object whose keys are array indices are indistinguishable, because both are
described by the same JSON pointers. A value is therefore restored as an array if and only if one of its keys is the
reference token `0`, and as an object otherwise: `#!json {"2": 1}` is restored unchanged, whereas `#!json {"0": 1}` is
restored as `#!json [1]`. This decision does not depend on the order in which the flattened object is iterated.
Apart from these two cases, for a JSON value `j`, the following is always true:
`#!cpp j == j.flatten().unflatten()`.
## Examples
??? example
The following code shows how a flattened JSON object is unflattened into the original nested JSON object.
```cpp
--8<-- "examples/unflatten.cpp"
```
Output:
```json
--8<-- "examples/unflatten.output"
```
## See also
- [flatten](flatten.md) the reverse function
## Version history
- Added in version 2.0.0.
- Made the array/object decision independent of the object's iteration order in version 3.13.0.