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json/docs/mkdocs/docs/api/basic_json/unflatten.md
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Niels Lohmann 63c10a51fc Review and extend the documentation, and check it in CI (#5638)
* Review and extend the documentation, and check it in CI

A review of all documentation pages found factual errors, dead links,
missing cross-references, and gaps in examples. This fixes them and adds
checks so the same problems are caught automatically.

Fixes:
- wrong signatures and version histories (operator!= C++20 member,
  binary() subtype type, get<PointerType>(), JSON_NO_THREAD_LOCAL, ...)
- stale descriptions (number parsing since #5283, UBJSON table, SAX
  example that no longer compiled, tsl::ordered_map advice)
- dead internal and external links; repology.org badges (the domain is
  suspended) replaced by badges that query the registries directly
- deprecation notes link the migration guide; the guide itself fixed

Additions:
- "See also" sections, cross-references, 25 runnable examples, 12
  Mermaid diagrams, new API pages for json_pointer::operator<=> and
  byte_container_with_subtype::operator==/!=
- landing page, guides for untrusted input and performance
- "unreleased" badge after versions newer than the latest release

Checks:
- strict documentation build (broken links/anchors fail it); CI and
  the publish workflow fetch the full history the build needs
- weekly external link check, Mermaid syntax check in CI
- check_structure.py: example titles, heading levels, alt texts,
  header links, docset index coverage; its unused-example check works
  again
- all examples produce the same output on every platform

Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me>

* Keep the customer links that could not be fixed

A dead link on the customers page is still the evidence of where the
use of the library was documented. Keep the original URLs of the entries
without a working replacement (Marne, Cisco Webex Desk Camera, Philips
Hue, CyberArk) and exclude exactly these URLs from the link check.

Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me>

* Correct the duplicate-key recipe's claim about SAX positions

The SAX interface's key() receives no position either; only parse_error()
does. Also note that the recipe does not report the path to the repeated
key (see discussion #5085).

Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me>

* Say the library is available as a single header and mention json_fwd.hpp

Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me>

* Correct documentation errors found while hunting for bugs

- patch/patch_inplace: list the JSON pointer errors parse_error.106-109
  and out_of_range.402/404, and quote the actual parse_error.105 message.
- unflatten: list parse_error.106/107/108 and out_of_range.404.
- to_bson: list out_of_range.415 (binary subtype above 255) and note
  that 412 and 415 are new in 3.13.0.
- to_string: state that string_t must be convertible to std::string, also
  in the StringType requirements table.
- JSON Lines: a `while (input >> j)` loop also throws after the last value
  for concatenated JSON values; show a loop that works for both.
- BON8: a string gets 0xFF only if nothing follows it in the message; a
  string at the end of an array or object is ended by 0xFE.
- custom_string_type.hpp: add operator+=(char), which the "Always
  required" list asks for (json_pointer::to_string, flatten, unflatten,
  and diff did not compile), and an ADL int_to_string for diff and items.

Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me>

* Cache the release headers with functools.lru_cache

Codacy (Pylint) flagged the mutable default argument that header() used
as its cache. functools.lru_cache keeps the same memoization without it.
The script's output is unchanged.

Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me>

---------

Signed-off-by: Niels Lohmann <mail@nlohmann.me>
2026-10-02 11:32:15 +02:00

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3.3 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.106`](../../home/exceptions.md#jsonexceptionparse_error106) if an array index in a key begins
with '0'; example: `"array index '01' must not begin with '0'"`
- Throws [`parse_error.107`](../../home/exceptions.md#jsonexceptionparse_error107) if a key is not empty and does not
begin with a slash (`/`); example: `"JSON pointer must be empty or begin with '/' - was: 'a'"`
- Throws [`parse_error.108`](../../home/exceptions.md#jsonexceptionparse_error108) if a tilde (`~`) in a key is not
followed by `0` or `1`; example: `"escape character '~' must be followed with '0' or '1'"`
- 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"`
- Throws [`out_of_range.404`](../../home/exceptions.md#jsonexceptionout_of_range404) if a level becomes an array
(because one of its keys is `0`) and another key at that level cannot be an array index; example:
`"unresolved reference token 'x'"`
## 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.