gson-pointer

This is a json-pointer implementation following RFC 6901. As the error handling is not further specified, this implementation will return undefined for any invalid pointer/missing data, making it very handy to check uncertain data, i.e.

const data = {};
if (pointer.get(data, '/path/to/nested/item') !== undefined) {
    // value is set, do something
}

// instead of
if (data.path && data.path.to && data.path.to.nested && data.path.to.nested.item) {
    // value is set, do something
}

install with npm i gson-pointer --save

API

method	description
get(data, pointer) -> value	returns the value at given pointer
set(data, pointer, value) -> data	sets the value at the given path
delete(data, pointer) -> data	removes a property from data
join(...pointers) -> pointer	joins multiple pointers to a single one
split(pointer) -> [array]	returns a json-pointer as an array

The methods get, set, delete and join also accept a list of properties as pointer. Using join with a list of properties, its signature changes to join(properties:string[], isURI=false) -> string

Usage Examples

pointer.get

get(data:object|array, pointer:string|array, defaultValue:any) -> value:any

returns nested values

const gp = require('gson-pointer');
const data = {
    parent: {
        child: {
            title: 'title of child'
        }
    }
}

const titleOfChild = gp.get(data, '/parent/child/title'); // output: 'title of child'
console.log(gp.get(data, '/parent/missing/path')); // output: undefined

and may optionally return a default value with

const gp = require('gson-pointer');
const value = gp.get({}, "/invalid/value", 42);
console.log(value); // output: 42

get also accepts a list of properties as pointer (e.g. split-result)

const titleOfChild = gp.get(data, ['parent', 'child', 'title']); // output: 'title of child'
console.log(gp.get(data, ['parent', 'missing', 'path'])); // output: undefined

pointer.set

set(data:object|array, pointer:string|array, value:any) -> data:object|array

changes a nested value

const gp = require('gson-pointer');

var data = {
    parent: {
        children: [
            {
                title: 'title of child'
            }
        ]
    }
};

pointer.set(data, '/parent/children/1', { title: 'second child' });
console.log(data.parent.children.length); // output: 2

and may be used to build data

const gp = require('gson-pointer');
const data = gp.set({}, '/list/[]/value', 42);
console.log(data); // output: { list: [ { value: 42 } ] }

set also accepts a list of properties as pointer (e.g. split-result)

const gp = require('gson-pointer');
const data = gp.set({}, ['list', '[]', 'value'], 42);
console.log(data); // output: { list: [ { value: 42 } ] }

pointer.delete

delete(data:object|array, pointer:string|array) -> data:object|array

deletes a nested property or item

const gp = require('gson-pointer');
const data = gp.delete({ parent: { arrayOrObject: [ 0, 1 ] }}, '/parent/arrayOrObject/1');
console.log(data.parent.arrayOrObject); // output: [0]

delete also accepts a list of properties as pointer (e.g. split-result)

const gp = require('gson-pointer');
const data = gp.delete({ parent: { arrayOrObject: [ 0, 1 ] }}, ['parent', 'arrayOrObject', '1']);
console.log(data.parent.arrayOrObject); // output: [0]

pointer.split

split(pointer:string) -> properties:array

returns a json-pointer as a list of (escaped) properties

const gp = require('gson-pointer');
const list = gp.split('/parent/arrayOrObject/1');
console.log(list); // output: ['parent', 'arrayOrObject', '1']

In order to resolve a list of properties, you can directly pass the list to get, set or delete

const gp = require('gson-pointer');
const data = { a: { b: true } };
const list = gp.split('/a/b');
console.log(gp.get(data, list)); // output: true

pointer.join

join(...pointers:string[]) -> pointer:string

joins all arguments to a valid json pointer

const gp = require('gson-pointer');
const key = 'my key';
console.log(gp.join('root', key, '/to/target')); // output: '/root/my key/to/target'

and joins relative pointers as expected

const gp = require('gson-pointer');
console.log(gp.join('/path/to/value', '../object')); // output: '/path/to/object'

in order to join an array received from split, you can use join(properties:string[], isURI=false) -> string to retrieve a valid pointer

const gp = require('gson-pointer');
const list = gp.split('/my/path/to/child');
list.pop();
console.log(gp.join(list)); // output: '/my/path/to'

To join an array of pointers, you must use it with join(...pointers) or all pointers will be treated as properties:

const gp = require('gson-pointer');
const pointer = gp.join(...['/path/to/value', '../object']);
console.log(pointer); // output: '/path/to/object'

// passing the array directly, will treat each entry as a property, which will be escaped and resolves to:
gp.join(['/path/to/value', '../object']); // output: '/~1path~1to~1value/..~1object'

Fragment identifier

All methods support a leading uri fragment identifier (#), which will ensure that property-values are uri decoded when resolving the path within data. This also ensures that any pointer is returned uri encoded with a leading #. e.g.

const gp = require('gson-pointer');

// get
const value = gp.get({ 'my value': true }, '#/my%20value');
console.log(value); // output: true

// join
const pointer = gp.join('#/my value/to%20parent', '../to~1child');
console.log(pointer); // output: '#/my%20value/to~1child'

// join an array of properties
const uriPointer = gp.join(['my value', 'to~1child'], isURI = true);
console.log(uriPointer); // output: '#/my%20value/to~1child'

Additionally join(...pointers, isURI) may be used to enforce the pointer type, which is helpful in sanitizing inputs

const uriPointer = gp.join('my pointer', 'to', 'property', isURI = true);
console.log(uriPointer); // output: '#/my%20pointer/to/property'

const uriSimple = gp.join('/my pointer/to/property', isURI = true);
console.log(uriSimple); // output: '#/my%20pointer/to/property'

const pointer = gp.join('#/my pointer', 'to', 'property', isURI = false);
console.log(pointer); // output: '/my pointer/to/property'