Reference > Functions reference > JSON functions > JSONSetElement

JSONSetElement

Adds or modifies an element in JSON data specified by an object name, an array index, or a path.

Format

JSONSetElement ( json ; keyOrIndexOrPath ; value ; type )

Parameters

json - any text expression or field that contains a JSON object or array.

keyOrIndexOrPath - any text expression or field that specifies a JSON object name (key), an array index, or a path. See Working with the JSON functions.

value - any expression or field that contains a number, text, or JSON data.

type - a named value that specifies the type of data to be set (see below).

Data type returned

text

Originated in

FileMaker Pro 16.0

Description

This function returns json with value set at the specified keyOrIndexOrPath. If the json parameter is blank (""), this function adds value to a JSON object (in braces { }), unless the first part of the keyOrIndexOrPath parameter starts with a "[" character. In that case, this function adds value to a JSON array (in brackets [ ]).

For the type parameter, use one of the following values. When value is added into json, the type parameter specifies whether to convert value to a specific JSON type or to insert value without changing the type.

`type` parameter¹	Input type for `value` parameter	Output type
`JSONString` (1)	FileMaker text	JSON string (" ")
`JSONNumber` (2)	FileMaker number	JSON number
`JSONObject` (3)	JSON object	JSON object ( { } )
`JSONArray` (4)	JSON array	JSON array ( [ ] )
`JSONBoolean` (5)	FileMaker value or JSON Boolean value	JSON Boolean
`JSONNull` (6)	Type is ignored	JSON null
`JSONRaw` (0)	JSON element	JSON element (or JSON string, if `value` is not valid JSON)

1. You can specify type using either the named value or the numeric value shown in parentheses—for example, JSONString or 1.

For JSONBoolean, if value is true or a non-zero number, it is treated as true; if value is false or zero, it is treated as false. Otherwise, whether value is true or false is determined in the same way as the test parameter is in the If function.

For JSONRaw, the JSON parser processes value to determine whether it uses valid JSON syntax. If value is valid JSON, the parsed result is used in this function's returned value without converting any elements to JSON data types. Any characters after the first JSON element in value are ignored—for example, if value is "4,2", only "4" will be inserted, because a comma is the separator between elements in JSON syntax. If value is not valid JSON, value is converted to a JSON string in the returned value.

You can set multiple elements by providing an additional set of keyOrIndexOrPath, value, and type parameters in brackets [ ] for each element. The following syntax sets N elements at once:

JSONSetElement ( json ; 
   [ keyOrIndexOrPath1 ; value1 ; type1 ] ; 
   [ keyOrIndexOrPath2 ; value2 ; type2 ] ; 
   ...
   [ keyOrIndexOrPathN ; valueN ; typeN ]
)

Notes

•This function is not supported in runtime solutions and returns "?".

Example 1

Adds a key and its value to the root of a JSON object.

JSONSetElement ( "{ \"a\" : 11 }" ; "b" ; 22.23 ; JSONNumber ) returns {"a":11,"b":22.23}.

Example 2

Adds a JSON object as an element of another JSON object. If the $$JSON variable is set to

{
	"a" : {
		"id" : 12,
		"lnk" : 34
	}
}

then

JSONFormatElements ( 
   JSONSetElement ( $$JSON ; "b" ; "{ \"id\" : 14, \"lnk\" : 73 } " ; 
      JSONObject 
   )
)

returns

{
	"a" : 
	{
		"id" : 12,
		"lnk" : 34
	},
	"b" : 
	{
		"id" : 14,
		"lnk" : 73
	}
}

Example 3

In the Example JSON data stored in the $$JSON variable, changes the values of the "special" and "stock" keys in the first "product" element in the array.

JSONFormatElements ( 
   JSONSetElement ( $$JSON ; 
   [ "bakery.product[0].special" ; 0 ; JSONBoolean ] ; 
   [ "bakery.product[0].stock" ; 0 ; JSONNumber ] 
   )
)

returns the same data as in $$JSON but with the first element of the "product" array changed to

{
	"category" : "Breads",
	"id" : "FB1",
	"name" : "Donuts",
	"price" : 1.99,
	"special" : false,
	"stock" : 0
}