Array dump_json Method

Syntax

Arguments

formatCharacter

A pattern that defines how to format the data in the array as a JSON object. The pattern is defined as a JSON string.

filterCharacter

Default = all elements. A logical expression that uses any of the array properties.

Returns

resultCharacter

Returns the array data formatted as a JSON object using the specified pattern.

Description

Creates a JSON string from data in a property array.

Discussion

The .dump_json() method creates a JSON string from data in a property array (this method is similar to the .dump_properties() method). You must specify a pattern to define the format of the JSON to generate.

For example, assume the following JSON object represents the data in an Xbasic property array.

dim json as c = <<%str%
[
    {"Firstname": "John", "Lastname" : "Smith",  "Address": { "Street" : "14 Main Street", "City" : "Boston", "State" : "MA"}}, 
    {"Firstname": "Henry", "Lastname" : "Rhodes", "Address": { "Street" : "4 Circle Drive", "City" : "New York", "State" : "NY"}}, 
    {"Firstname": "Allison", "Lastname" : "Berman", "Address": { "Street" : "11 Beaver Avenue", "City" : "Los Angeles", "State" : "CA"}}
]
%str%

This JSON can be parsed into an Xbasic property array as follows:

dim p as p = json_parse(json)

The pattern shown below can be used to define the required format of the JSON to be dumped out using the .dump_json() method:

dim pattern as c = <<%str%
{
    "Lastname": "",
    "Married": true,
    "Address": {
        "City": ""
    }
}
%str%

Notice that the pattern can specify property names (and corresponding default value) for properties that may not exist in the source property array. For example, the pattern specifies a "Married" property with a default value of true.

The .dump_json() method can be called on the Xbasic property array. For example:

var resultJSON = p.dump_json(pattern)

The resulting JSON from the method is shown below:

[
    {
        "Lastname": "Smith",
        "Married": true,
        "Address": {
            "City": "Boston"
        }

    },
    {
        "Lastname": "Rhodes",
        "Married": true,
        "Address": {
            "City": "New York"
        }

    },
    {
        "Lastname": "Berman",
        "Married": true,
        "Address": {
            "City": "Los Angeles"
        },
    }
]