`jju` - a set of utilities to work with JSON / JSON5 documents [![npm version badge](https://img.shields.io/npm/v/jju.svg)](https://www.npmjs.org/package/jju) [![travis badge](http://img.shields.io/travis/rlidwka/jju.svg)](https://travis-ci.org/rlidwka/jju) [![downloads badge](http://img.shields.io/npm/dm/jju.svg)](https://www.npmjs.org/package/jju) ## Installation ``` yarn add jju ``` or ``` npm install jju ``` ## Usage This module provides following functions: 1. [jju.parse()](#jjuparse-function) parses json/json5 text and returns a javascript value it corresponds to 2. [jju.stringify()](#jjustringify-function) converts javascript value to an appropriate json/json5 text 3. [jju.tokenize()](#jjutokenize-function) parses json/json5 text and returns an array of tokens it consists of ([see demo](http://rlidwka.github.io/jju/tokenizer.html)) 4. [jju.analyze()](#jjuanalyze-function) parses json/json5 text and tries to guess indentation, quoting style, etc. 5. [jju.update()](#jjuupdate-function) changes json/json5 text, preserving original formatting as much as possible ([see demo](http://rlidwka.github.io/jju/editor.html)) All functions are able to work with a standard JSON documents. `jju.parse()` and `jju.stringify()` are better in some cases, but slower than native `JSON.parse()` and `JSON.stringify()` versions. Detailed description see below. ### jju.parse() function ```javascript /* * Main syntax: * * `text` - text to parse, type: String * `options` - parser options, type: Object */ jju.parse(text[, options]) // compatibility syntax jju.parse(text[, reviver]) ``` Options: - reserved\_keys - what to do with reserved keys (String, default="ignore") - "ignore" - ignore reserved keys - "throw" - throw SyntaxError in case of reserved keys - "replace" - replace reserved keys, this is the default JSON.parse behaviour, unsafe Reserved keys are keys that exist in an empty object (`hasOwnProperty`, `__proto__`, etc.). ```javascript // 'ignore' will cause reserved keys to be ignored: parse('{hasOwnProperty: 1}', {reserved_keys: 'ignore'}) == {} parse('{hasOwnProperty: 1, x: 2}', {reserved_keys: 'ignore'}).hasOwnProperty('x') == true // 'throw' will cause SyntaxError in these cases: parse('{hasOwnProperty: 1}', {reserved_keys: 'throw'}) == SyntaxError // 'replace' will replace reserved keys with new ones: parse('{hasOwnProperty: 1}', {reserved_keys: 'replace'}) == {hasOwnProperty: 1} parse('{hasOwnProperty: 1, x: 2}', {reserved_keys: 'replace'}).hasOwnProperty('x') == TypeError ``` - null\_prototype - create object as Object.create(null) instead of '{}' (Boolean) if `reserved_keys != 'replace'`, default is **false** if `reserved_keys == 'replace'`, default is **true** It is usually unsafe and not recommended to change this option to false in the last case. - reviver - reviver function - Function This function should follow JSON specification - mode - operation mode, set it to 'json' if you want to throw on non-strict json files (String) ### jju.stringify() function ```javascript /* * Main syntax: * * `value` - value to serialize, type: * * `options` - serializer options, type: Object */ jju.stringify(value[, options]) // compatibility syntax jju.stringify(value[, replacer [, indent]) ``` Options: - ascii - output ascii only (Boolean, default=false) If this option is enabled, output will not have any characters except of 0x20-0x7f. - indent - indentation (String, Number or Boolean, default='\t') This option follows JSON specification. - quote - enquoting char (String, "'" or '"', default="'") - quote\_keys - whether keys quoting in objects is required or not (String, default=false) If you want `{"q": 1}` instead of `{q: 1}`, set it to true. - sort\_keys - sort all keys while stringifying (Boolean or Function, default=false) By default sort order will depend on implementation, with v8 it's insertion order. If set to `true`, all keys (but not arrays) will be sorted alphabetically. You can provide your own sorting function as well. - replacer - replacer function or array (Function or Array) This option follows JSON specification. - no\_trailing\_comma = don't output trailing comma (Boolean, default=false) If this option is set, arrays like this `[1,2,3,]` will never be generated. Otherwise they may be generated for pretty printing. - mode - operation mode, set it to 'json' if you want correct json in the output (String) Currently it's either 'json' or something else. If it is 'json', following options are implied: - options.quote = '"' - options.no\_trailing\_comma = true - options.quote\_keys = true - '\x' literals are not used ### jju.tokenize() function ```javascript /* * Main syntax: * * `text` - text to tokenize, type: String * `options` - parser options, type: Object */ jju.tokenize(text[, options]) ``` Options are the same as for the `jju.parse` function. Return value is an array of tokens, where each token is an object: - raw (String) - raw text of this token, if you join all raw's, you will get the original document - type (String) - type of the token, can be `whitespace`, `comment`, `key`, `literal`, `separator` or `newline` - stack (Array) - path to the current token in the syntax tree - value - value of the token if token is a `key` or `literal` You can check tokenizer for yourself using [this demo](http://rlidwka.github.io/jju/tokenizer.html). ### jju.analyze() function ```javascript /* * Main syntax: * * `text` - text to analyze, type: String * `options` - parser options, type: Object */ jju.analyze(text[, options]) ``` Options are the same as for the `jju.parse` function. Return value is an object defining a programming style in which the document was written. - indent (String) - preferred indentation - newline (String) - preferred newline - quote (String) - `"` or `'` depending on which quote is preferred - quote\_keys (Boolean) - `true` if unquoted keys were used at least once - has\_whitespace (Boolean) - `true` if input has a whitespace token - has\_comments (Boolean) - `true` if input has a comment token - has\_newlines (Boolean) - `true` if input has a newline token - has\_trailing\_comma (Boolean) - `true` if input has at least one trailing comma ### jju.update() function ```javascript /* * Main syntax: * * `text` - original text, type: String * `new_value` - new value you want to set * `options` - parser or stringifier options, type: Object */ jju.update(text, new_value[, options]) ``` If you want to update a JSON document, here is the general approach: ```javascript // here is your original JSON document: var input = '{"foo": "bar", "baz": 123}' // you need to parse it first: var json = jju.parse(input, {mode: 'json'}) // json is { foo: 'bar', baz: 123 } // then you can change it as you like: json.foo = 'quux' json.hello = 'world' // then you run an update function to change the original json: var output = jju.update(input, json, {mode: 'json'}) // output is '{"foo": "quux", "baz": 123, "hello": "world"}' ``` Look at [this demo](http://rlidwka.github.io/jju/editor.html) to test various types of json. ## Advantages over existing JSON libraries In a few cases it makes sense to use this module instead of built-in JSON methods. Parser: - better error reporting with source code and line numbers In case of syntax error, JSON.parse does not return any good information to the user. This module does: ``` $ node -e 'require("jju").parse("[1,1,1,1,invalid]")' SyntaxError: Unexpected token 'i' at 0:9 [1,1,1,1,invalid] ^ ``` This module is about 5 times slower, so if user experience matters to you more than performance, use this module. If you're working with a lot of machine-generated data, use JSON.parse instead. Stringifier: - util.inspect-like pretty printing This module behaves more smart when dealing with object and arrays, and does not always print newlines in them: ``` $ node -e 'console.log(require("./").stringify([[,,,],,,[,,,,]], {mode:"json"}))' [ [null, null, null], null, null, [null, null, null, null] ] ``` JSON.stringify will split this into 15 lines, and it's hard to read. Yet again, this feature comes with a performance hit, so if user experience matters to you more than performance, use this module. If your JSON will be consumed by machines, use JSON.stringify instead. As a rule of thumb, if you use "space" argument to indent your JSON, you'd better use this module instead.