Skip to main content
Version: Stable-3.1

parse_json

Description​

Converts a string to a JSON value.

Syntax​

parse_json(string_expr)

Parameters​

string_expr: the expression that represents the string. Only the STRING, VARCHAR, and CHAR data types are supported.

Return value​

Returns a JSON value.

Note: If the string cannot be parsed into a standard JSON value, the PARSE_JSON function returns NULL (see Example 5). For information about the JSON specifications, see RFC 7159.

Examples​

Example 1: Convert a STRING value of 1 to a JSON value of 1.

mysql> SELECT parse_json('1');
+-----------------+
| parse_json('1') |
+-----------------+
| "1"             |
+-----------------+

Example 2: Convert an array of the STRING data type to a JSON array.

mysql> SELECT parse_json('[1,2,3]');
+-----------------------+
| parse_json('[1,2,3]') |
+-----------------------+
| [1, 2, 3]             |
+-----------------------+

Example 3: Convert an object of the STRING data type to a JSON object.

mysql> SELECT parse_json('{"star": "rocks"}');
+---------------------------------+
| parse_json('{"star": "rocks"}') |
+---------------------------------+
| {"star": "rocks"}               |
+---------------------------------+

Example 4: Construct a JSON value of NULL.

mysql> SELECT parse_json('null');
+--------------------+
| parse_json('null') |
+--------------------+
| "null"             |
+--------------------+

Example 5: If the string cannot be parsed into a standard JSON value, the PARSE_JSON function returns NULL. In this example, star is not enclosed in double quotation marks ("). Therefore, the PARSE_JSON function returns NULL.

mysql> SELECT parse_json('{star: "rocks"}');
+-------------------------------+
| parse_json('{star: "rocks"}') |
+-------------------------------+
| NULL                          |
+-------------------------------+

Example 6: If a JSON key contains a '.', for example, 'a.1', it must be escaped with '\' or you need to enclose the entire key value along with double quotes in single quotes.

mysql> select parse_json('{"b":4, "a.1": "1"}')->"a\\.1";
+--------------------------------------------+
| parse_json('{"b":4, "a.1": "1"}')->'a\\.1' |
+--------------------------------------------+
| "1"                                        |
+--------------------------------------------+
mysql> select parse_json('{"b":4, "a.1": "1"}')->'"a.1"';
+--------------------------------------------+
| parse_json('{"b":4, "a.1": "1"}')->'"a.1"' |
+--------------------------------------------+
| "1"                                        |
+--------------------------------------------+

Keywords​

parse_json, parse json