JSON Type

type

json

Arbitrary JSON data.

Any other type (except for bytes) can be cast to and from JSON:

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db>

SELECT <json>42;

{'42'}

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db>

SELECT <bool>to_json('true');

{true}

Note that a json value can be cast into a str only when it is a JSON string. Therefore, while the following will work as expected:

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db>

SELECT <str>to_json('"something"');

{'something'}

The operation below (casting a JSON array of string ["a", "b", "c"] to a str) will result in an error:

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db>

SELECT <str>to_json('["a", "b", "c"]');

InternalServerError: expected json string, null; got json array

Use the to_json() and to_str() functions to dump or parse a json value to or from a str:

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db>

SELECT to_json('[1, "a"]');

{'[1, "a"]'}

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db>

SELECT to_str(<json>[1, 2]);

{'[1, 2]'}

Constructing JSON Values

JSON in EdgeDB is one of the scalar types. This scalar doesn’t have its own literal and instead can be obtained by casting a value into json or by using to_json():

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db>

SELECT to_json('{"hello": "world"}');

{'{"hello": "world"}'}

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db>

SELECT <json>'hello world';

{'"hello world"'}

Anything in EdgeDB can be cast into json:

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db>

SELECT <json>2019;

{'2019'}

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db>

SELECT <json>cal::to_local_date(datetime_current(), 'UTC');

{'"2019-04-02"'}

Any Object can be cast into json. This produces the same JSON value as the JSON serialization of that object. That is, the result is the same as the output of SELECT expression in JSON mode, including the type shape.

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db> 
... 
... 
... 
... 
... 
...

SELECT <json>(
    SELECT schema::Object {
        name,
        timestamp := cal::to_local_date(
            datetime_current(), 'UTC')
    }
    FILTER .name = 'std::bool');

{'{"name": "std::bool", "timestamp": "2019-04-02"}'}

JSON values can also be cast back into scalars. This casting is symmetrical meaning that if a scalar can be cast into JSON, only that particular JSON type can be cast back into that scalar:

JSON string can be cast into str. Casting uuid and date and time types to JSON results in a JSON string representing the original value. This means that it is also possible to cast a JSON string back into these types. The string value has to be properly formatted (much like in case of a str value being cast) or else the cast will raise an exception.
JSON number can be cast into any of the numeric types
JSON boolean can be cast into bool
JSON null is special since it can be cast into an {} of any type
JSON array can be cast into any valid EdgeDB array, so it must be homogeneous, and must not contain null

A regular tuple is converted into a JSON array when cast into json, whereas a named tuple is converted into a JSON object. These casts are not reversible, i.e. it is not possible to cast a JSON value directly into a tuple.

JSON Type

Constructing JSON Values

See Also