JSON Support

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.. highlight:: cql

.. _cql-json:

JSON Support

ScyllaDB introduces JSON support to :ref:SELECT <select-statement> and :ref:INSERT <insert-statement> statements. This support does not fundamentally alter the CQL API (for example, the schema is still enforced). It simply provides a convenient way to work with JSON documents.

SELECT JSON ^^^^^^^^^^^

With SELECT statements, the JSON keyword can be used to return each row as a single JSON encoded map. The remainder of the SELECT statement behavior is the same.

The result map keys are the same as the column names in a normal result set. For example, a statement like SELECT JSON a, ttl(b) FROM ... would result in a map with keys "a" and "ttl(b)". However, this is one notable exception: for symmetry with INSERT JSON behavior, case-sensitive column names with upper-case letters will be surrounded with double-quotes. For example, SELECT JSON myColumn FROM ... would result in a map key "\"myColumn\"" (note the escaped quotes).

The map values will JSON-encoded representations (as described below) of the result set values.

INSERT JSON ^^^^^^^^^^^

With INSERT statements, the new JSON keyword can be used to enable inserting a JSON encoded map as a single row. The format of the JSON map should generally match that returned by a SELECT JSON statement on the same table. In particular, case-sensitive column names should be surrounded by double-quotes. For example, to insert into a table with two columns named "myKey" and "value", you would do the following::

INSERT INTO mytable JSON '{ "\"myKey\"": 0, "value": 0}'

By default (or if DEFAULT NULL is explicitly used), a column omitted from the JSON map will be set to NULL, meaning that any pre-existing value for that column will be removed (resulting in a tombstone being created). Alternatively, if the DEFAULT UNSET directive is used after the value, omitted column values will be left unset, meaning that pre-existing values for those columns will be preserved.

JSON Encoding of ScyllaDB Data Types ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Where possible, ScyllaDB will represent and accept data types in their native JSON representation. ScyllaDB will also accept string representations matching the CQL literal format for all single-field types. For example, floats, ints, UUIDs, and dates can be represented by CQL literal strings. However, compound types, such as collections, tuples, vectors, and user-defined types, must be represented by native JSON collections (maps and lists) or a JSON-encoded string representation of the collection.

The following table describes the encodings that ScyllaDB will accept in INSERT JSON values (and fromJson() arguments) as well as the format ScyllaDB will use when returning data for SELECT JSON statements (and fromJson()):

=============== ======================== =============== ============================================================== Type Formats accepted Return format Notes =============== ======================== =============== ============================================================== ascii string string Uses JSON's \u character escape bigint integer, string integer String must be valid 64 bit integer blob string string String should be 0x followed by an even number of hex digits boolean boolean, string boolean String must be "true" or "false" date string string Date in format YYYY-MM-DD, timezone UTC decimal integer, float, string float May exceed 32 or 64-bit IEEE-754 floating point precision in client-side decoder double integer, float, string float String must be valid integer or float float integer, float, string float String must be valid integer or float inet string string IPv4 or IPv6 address int integer, string integer String must be valid 32 bit integer list list, string list Uses JSON's native list representation map map, string map Uses JSON's native map representation smallint integer, string integer String must be valid 16 bit integer set list, string list Uses JSON's native list representation text string string Uses JSON's \u character escape time string string Time of day in format HH-MM-SS[.fffffffff] timestamp integer, string string A timestamp. Strings constant allows to input :ref:timestamps as dates <timestamps>. Datestamps with format YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS.SSS are returned. timeuuid string string Type 1 UUID. See :token:constant for the UUID format tinyint integer, string integer String must be valid 8 bit integer tuple list, string list Uses JSON's native list representation UDT map, string map Uses JSON's native map representation with field names as keys uuid string string See :token:constant for the UUID format varchar string string Uses JSON's \u character escape varint integer, string integer Variable length; may overflow 32 or 64 bit integers in client-side decoder vector list, string list Uses JSON's native list representation =============== ======================== =============== ==============================================================

The fromJson() Function ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The fromJson() function may be used similarly to INSERT JSON, but for a single column value. It may only be used in the VALUES clause of an INSERT statement or as one of the column values in an UPDATE, DELETE, or SELECT statement. For example, it cannot be used in the selection clause of a SELECT statement.

The toJson() Function ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The toJson() function may be used similarly to SELECT JSON, but for a single column value. It may only be used in the selection clause of a SELECT statement.

• :doc:Apache Cassandra Query Language (CQL) Reference </cql/index>

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