JSON with JSONPath

JSONPath is a query language for JSON with features similar to XPath for XML. JSONPath is used for selecting and extracting a sub-section from the JSON document.

1. JSONPath Dependencies

To use JSONPath, we will need to include its dependency and then use it.

Language	Dependency
JavaScript	JSONPath JavaScript File
Node	`npm install JSONPath`
PHP	JSONPath PHP include file
Python	`pip install jsonpath-rw`
Java	json-path

2. JSONPath Syntax

A JsonPath expression begins with the dollar sign ($) character, which refers to the root element of a query. The dollar sign is followed by a sequence of child elements, which are separated via dot (code) notation or via the square brackets (code).

The important JSONPath syntax rules are:

$ symbol refers to the root object or element.
@ symbol refers to the current object or element.
. operator is the dot-child operator, which you use to denote a child element of the current element.
[ ] is the subscript operator, which you use to denote a child element of the current element (by name or index).
* operator is a wildcard, returning all objects or elements regardless of their names.
, operator is the union operator, which returns the union of the children or indexes indicated.
: operator is the array slice operator, so you can slice collections using the syntax [start:end:step] to return a subcollection of a collection.
( ) operator lets you pass a script expression in the underlying implementation’s script language. It’s not supported by every implementation of JSONPath, however.
? ( ) to query all items that meet a certain criteria.

3. JSONPath Expression Examples

Below given are few examples of JSONPath.

$.store.book[0].title
$.store.book[*].title
$..book[3]

//or using brackets

$['store']['book'][0].['title']
$['store']['book'][*].['title']
$..['book'][3]

$.store.book[?(@.price &lt; 10)].title

4. JSONPath Example using JavaScript

We have the following JSON document. We will apply the JSONPath expressions to it.

{ 
	"store": 
	{
		"book": [
			{ 
				"category": "reference",
				"author": "Nigel Rees",
				"title": "Sayings of the Century",
				"price": 8.95
			},
			{ 
				"category": "fiction",
				"author": "Evelyn Waugh",
				"title": "Sword of Honour",
				"price": 12.99
			},
			{ 
				"category": "fiction",
				"author": "Herman Melville",
				"title": "Moby Dick",
				"isbn": "0-553-21311-3",
				"price": 8.99
			},
			{ 
				"category": "fiction",
				"author": "J. R. R. Tolkien",
				"title": "The Lord of the Rings",
				"isbn": "0-395-19395-8",
				"price": 22.99
			}
		],
		"bicycle": {
			"color": "red",
			"price": 19.95
		}
	}
}

Example 1

Using JSONPath to find the names of all authors.

var response = jsonPath(store , "$..author").toJSONString();

Program output:

[
"Nigel Rees",
"Evelyn Waugh",
"Herman Melville",
"J. R. R. Tolkien"
]

Example 2

Using JSONPath to find the details for book number 4. The array index is zero-based.

var response = jsonPath(store , "$..book[3]").toJSONString();

Program output:

[
	{
		"category":"fiction",
		"author":"J. R. R. Tolkien",
		"title":"The Lord of the Rings",
		"isbn":"0-395-19395-8",
		"price":22.99
	}
]

Was this article helpful?

Let us know if you liked the post. That’s the only way we can improve.

JSON with Ajax

JSON Schema

Comments

Mohit
April 11, 2022 at 7:16 PM
Can I match a top level attribute value
{
“category”: “reference”,
“author”: “Nigel Rees”,
“title”: “Sayings of the Century”,
“price”: 8.95
}
Need to verify, “category”: “reference”, is present in json or not.
I tried $.[?(category == ‘reference’)]
Reply
VISHAL
January 2, 2022 at 5:31 PM
Can we provide multiple filters like
Book [(category = fiction and
Author = Evelyn Waugh) and (category= reference and author= Nigel Rees)]
Reply
- Admin
  January 6, 2022 at 11:44 AM
  Yes, it is possible. I quickly tried it on this tool.
  $..book[?((@.category=='fiction' && @.author=='Evelyn Waugh') || (@.category=='reference' && @.author=='Nigel Rees'))]
  Reply


public static List readJsonFileDynamic(String filePath, String jsonPath) {
	
	System.out.println("jsonpath - "+jsonPath);
	try 
	{
		String content = new String(Files.readAllBytes(Paths.get(filePath)));
		Configuration conf = Configuration.builder()
	            .jsonProvider(new GsonJsonProvider())
	            .mappingProvider(new GsonMappingProvider())
	            .build();
	
		DocumentContext context = JsonPath.using(conf).parse(content);
		categories = context.read(jsonPath, List.class);//List 
		
	} catch (IOException e) {
		// TODO Auto-generated catch block
		e.printStackTrace();
	} 
	return categories;
}

kiruba
November 8, 2019 at 9:55 AM
This looks like the original passport JSON data. Please remove it as it violates the person’s privacy.
Reply
Noha
November 3, 2019 at 9:47 AM
Can i use jsonpath in url encoding?
Reply


[
  {
    "firstName": "F1",
    "lastName": "L1",
    "address": [
      {
        "city": "Atlanta",
        "country": "US"
      },
      {
        "city": "Maidson",
        "country": "US"
      }
    ]
  },
  {
    "firstName": "F2",
    "lastName": "L2",
    "address": [
      {
        "city": "Nashville",
        "country": "US"
      },
      {
        "city": "Vegas",
        "country": "US"
      }
    ]
  },
  {
    "firstName": "F3",
    "lastName": "L3",
    "address": [
      {
        "city": "Minneapolis",
        "country": "US"
      },
      {
        "city": "Nashville",
        "country": "US"
      }
    ]
  }
]

From the above data, how can I get person details who lived in Nashville for example. I am expecting the following result


[
  {
    "firstName": "F2",
    "lastName": "L2",
    "address": [
      {
        "city": "Nashville",
        "country": "US"
      },
      {
        "city": "Vegas",
        "country": "US"
      }
    ]
  },
  {
    "firstName": "F3",
    "lastName": "L3",
    "address": [
      {
        "city": "Minneapolis",
        "country": "US"
      },
      {
        "city": "Nashville",
        "country": "US"
      }
    ]
  }
]

Thank you!

ksk
November 1, 2019 at 1:42 PM
$.[?(@.city=="Nashville")]^^^^
Looks like this is working fine.
Reply

Rahul
September 25, 2019 at 11:10 AM
Can i transform the json string into another format. I want the JSON string to be transform into array of array where property name in book becomes the column names. ?
Reply
Sai
July 11, 2019 at 3:05 PM
Can i write regular expression to match the string in javascript. i saw it working in jay way which is for java but in javascript its not working.
Reply
- Admin
  July 11, 2019 at 4:23 PM
  Yes, string.match(regex) takes regular expression in javascript.
  Reply
nshah
February 21, 2019 at 11:06 AM
How do I write back to json file using JSONPath ?
Reply
- John
  September 3, 2019 at 5:32 PM
  nshah I don’t think it is possible to write json elements using JSONPath. Otherwise, it would surely be listed on this page.
  Reply
Test
February 12, 2019 at 6:58 AM
```
{
      "kind": "storage#policy",
      "resourceId": "test1",
      "bindings": [
       {
          "role": "roles/admin",
          "members": ["allUsers"]
       },
       ]
}
```
How can I check if members contain ‘allUsers’
Reply
- Admin
  February 12, 2019 at 7:40 AM
  Create XPath expression with help of information given in this xpath example.
  Reply
- Kanchan
  September 27, 2020 at 2:45 PM
  $•[?(@.members==”allUsers”]
  Reply

How can i append two string response from json using jsonpath ?
Ex. JsonResponse


{
"passport": {
        "page_1": {
            "passport_number": "xxxxxxx",
            "photo": "https://storage.googleapis.com/dolphin-ekyc-api-v2/2018-11-15-xxxx.jpeg",
            "sign": "https://storage.googleapis.com/dolphin-ekyc-api-v2/2018-11-15-xxxx.jpeg",
            "surname": "RAMADUGULA",
            "name": "SITA MAHA LAKSHMI",
            "nationality": "INDIAN",
            "sex": "",
            "date_of_birth": "23/09/xxxx",
            "place_of_birth": "GUNDUGOLANU",
            "date_of_issue": "11/10/xxxx",
            "date_of_expiry": "10/10/xxxx"
        }
}
}

I just want to append name and surname like SITA MAHA LAKSHMI RAMADUGULA.

When i tried using $['passport']['page_1']['name','surname'] its giving me value :


{
   "name" : "SITA MAHA LAKSHMI",
   "surname" : "RAMADUGULA"
}

that i don’t want. Any idea about it ??

Debi
November 26, 2018 at 12:53 PM
$.passport.page_1.(name & ' ' & surname)
Result : “SITA MAHA LAKSHMI RAMADUGULA”
Reply