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JSONPath: Query expressions for JSON
draft-ietf-jsonpath-base-03

The information below is for an old version of the document.
Document Type
This is an older version of an Internet-Draft that was ultimately published as RFC 9535.
Authors Stefan Gössner , Glyn Normington , Carsten Bormann
Last updated 2022-01-16
Replaces draft-normington-jsonpath
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Nov 2022
Standards Track document defining JSON Path to the IESG
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draft-ietf-jsonpath-base-03
lt;10)] | filter all books cheaper than 10  |
      +------------------------+-----------------------------------+
      | $..*                   | all elements in XML document; all |
      |                        | member values and array elements  |
      |                        | contained in input value          |
      +------------------------+-----------------------------------+

           Table 2: Example JSONPath expressions applied to the
                            example JSON value

3.  JSONPath Syntax and Semantics

3.1.  Overview

   A JSONPath query is a string which selects zero or more nodes of a
   piece of JSON.

   A query MUST be encoded using UTF-8.  The grammar for queries given
   in this document assumes that its UTF-8 form is first decoded into
   Unicode code points as described in [RFC3629]; implementation
   approaches that lead to an equivalent result are possible.

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   A string to be used as a JSONPath query needs to be _well-formed_ and
   _valid_. A string is a well-formed JSONPath query if it conforms to
   the ABNF syntax in this document.  A well-formed JSONPath query is
   valid if it also fulfills all semantic requirements posed by this
   document.

   To be valid, integer numbers in the JSONPath query that are relevant
   to the JSONPath processing (e.g., index values and steps) MUST be
   within the range of exact values defined in I-JSON [RFC7493], namely
   within the interval [-(2^53)+1, (2^53)-1]).

   The well-formedness and the validity of JSONPath queries are
   independent of the JSON value the query is applied to; no further
   errors can be raised during application of the query to a value.

   Obviously, an implementation can still fail when executing a JSONPath
   query, e.g., because of resource depletion, but this is not modeled
   in the present specification.  However, the implementation MUST NOT
   silently malfunction.  Specifically, if a valid JSONPath query is
   evaluated against a structured value whose size doesn't fit in the
   range of exact values, interfering with the correct interpretation of
   the query, the implementation MUST provide an indication of overflow.

   (Readers familiar with the HTTP error model may be reminded of 400
   type errors when pondering well-formedness and validity, while
   resource depletion and related errors are comparable to 500 type
   errors.)

3.2.  Processing Model

   In this specification, the semantics of a JSONPath query are defined
   in terms of a _processing model_.  That model is not prescriptive of
   the internal workings of an implementation: Implementations may wish
   (or need) to design a different process that yields results that are
   consistent with this model.

   In the processing model, a valid query is executed against a value,
   the _argument_, and produces a list of zero or more nodes of the
   value.

   The query is a sequence of zero or more _selectors_, each of which is
   applied to the result of the previous selector and provides input to
   the next selector.  These results and inputs take the form of a
   _nodelist_, i.e., a sequence of zero or more nodes.

   The nodelist going into the first selector contains a single node,
   the argument.  The nodelist resulting from the last selector is
   presented as the result of the query; depending on the specific API,

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   it might be presented as an array of the JSON values at the nodes, an
   array of Output Paths referencing the nodes, or both -- or some other
   representation as desired by the implementation.  Note that the API
   must be capable of presenting an empty nodelist as the result of the
   query.

   A selector performs its function on each of the nodes in its input
   nodelist, during such a function execution, such a node is referred
   to as the "current node".  Each of these function executions produces
   a nodelist, which are then concatenated into the result of the
   selector.

   The processing within a selector may execute nested queries, which
   are in turn handled with the processing model defined here.
   Typically, the argument to that query will be the current node of the
   selector or a set of nodes subordinate to that current node.

3.3.  Syntax

   Syntactically, a JSONPath query consists of a root selector ($),
   which stands for a nodelist that contains the root node of the
   argument, followed by a possibly empty sequence of _selectors_.

   json-path = root-selector *(S (dot-selector        /
                                  dot-wild-selector   /
                                  index-selector      /
                                  index-wild-selector /
                                  union-selector      /
                                  slice-selector      /
                                  descendant-selector /
                                  filter-selector))

   The syntax and semantics of each selector is defined below.

3.4.  Semantics

   The root selector $ not only selects the root node of the argument,
   but it also produces as output a list consisting of one node: the
   argument itself.

   A selector may select zero or more nodes for further processing.  A
   syntactically valid selector MUST NOT produce errors.  This means
   that some operations which might be considered erroneous, such as
   indexing beyond the end of an array, simply result in fewer nodes
   being selected.

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   But a selector doesn't just act on a single node: a selector acts on
   each of the nodes in its input nodelist and concatenates the
   resultant nodelists to form the result nodelist of the selector.

   For each node in the list, the selector selects zero or more nodes,
   each of which is a descendant of the node or the node itself.

   For instance, with the argument {"a":[{"b":0},{"b":1},{"c":2}]}, the
   query $.a[*].b selects the following list of nodes: 0, 1 (denoted
   here by their value).  Let's walk through this in detail.

   The query consists of $ followed by three selectors: .a, [*], and .b.

   Firstly, $ selects the root node which is the argument.  So the
   result is a list consisting of just the root node.

   Next, .a selects from any input node of type object and selects the
   node of any member value of the input node corresponding to the
   member name "a".  The result is again a list of one node:
   [{"b":0},{"b":1},{"c":2}].

   Next, [*] selects from an input node of type array all its elements
   (if the input note were of type object, it would select all its
   member values, but not the member names).  The result is a list of
   three nodes: {"b":0}, {"b":1}, and {"c":2}.

   Finally, .b selects from any input node of type object with a member
   name b and selects the node of the member value of the input node
   corresponding to that name.  The result is a list containing 0, 1.
   This is the concatenation of three lists, two of length one
   containing 0, 1, respectively, and one of length zero.

   As a consequence of this approach, if any of the selectors selects no
   nodes, then the whole query selects no nodes.

   In what follows, the semantics of each selector are defined for each
   type of node.

3.5.  Selectors

   A JSONPath query consists of a sequence of selectors.  Valid
   selectors are

   *  Root selector $ (used at the start of a query and in expressions)

   *  Dot selector .<name>, used with object member names exclusively.

   *  Dot wild card selector .*.

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   *  Index selector [<index>], where <index> is either a (possibly
      negative, see Section "Semantics") array index or an object member
      name.

   *  Index wild card selector [*].

   *  Array slice selector [<start>:<end>:<step>], where the optional
      values <start>, <end>, and <step> are integer literals.

   *  Nested descendants selector ...

   *  Union selector [<sel1>,<sel2>,...,<selN>], holding a comma
      delimited list of index, index wild card, array slice, and filter
      selectors.

   *  Filter selector [?(<expr>)]

   *  Current item selector @ (used in expressions)

3.5.1.  Root Selector

Syntax

   Every valid JSONPath query MUST begin with the root selector $.

   root-selector  = "$"

Semantics

   The Argument -- the root JSON value -- becomes the root node, which
   is addressed by the root selector $.

3.5.2.  Dot Selector

Syntax

   A dot selector starts with a dot . followed by an object's member
   name.

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   dot-selector    = "." dot-member-name
   dot-member-name = name-first *name-char
   name-first =
                         ALPHA /
                         "_"   /           ; _
                         %x80-10FFFF       ; any non-ASCII Unicode character
   name-char = DIGIT / name-first

   DIGIT           =  %x30-39              ; 0-9
   ALPHA           =  %x41-5A / %x61-7A    ; A-Z / a-z

   Member names containing characters other than allowed by dot-selector
   -- such as space ` , minus-, or dot.characters -- MUST NOT be used
   with thedot-selector.  (Such member names can be addressed by
   theindex-selector` instead.)

Semantics

   The dot-selector selects the node of the member value corresponding
   to the member name from any JSON object in its input nodelist.  It
   selects no nodes from any other JSON value.

3.5.3.  Dot Wild Card Selector

Syntax

   The dot wild card selector has the form .* as defined in the
   following syntax:

   dot-wild-selector    = "." "*"            ;  dot followed by asterisk

Semantics

   A dot-wild-selector acts as a wild card by selecting the nodes of all
   member values of an object in its input nodelist as well as all
   element nodes of an array in its input nodelist.  Applying the dot-
   wild-selector to a primitive JSON value (number, string, or
   true/false/null) selects no node.

3.5.4.  Index Selector

Syntax

   An index selector [<index>] addresses at most one object member value
   or at most one array element value.

   index-selector      = "[" S (quoted-member-name / element-index) S "]"

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   Applying the index-selector to an object value in its input nodelist,
   a quoted-member-name string is required to select the corresponding
   member value.  In contrast to JSON, the JSONPath syntax allows
   strings to be enclosed in _single_ or _double_ quotes.

   quoted-member-name  = string-literal

   string-literal      = %x22 *double-quoted %x22 /       ; "string"
                         %x27 *single-quoted %x27         ; 'string'

   double-quoted       = unescaped /
                         %x27      /                       ; '
                         ESC %x22  /                       ; \"
                         ESC escapable

   single-quoted       = unescaped /
                         %x22      /                       ; "
                         ESC %x27  /                       ; \'
                         ESC escapable

   ESC                 = %x5C                              ; \  backslash

   unescaped           = %x20-21 /                         ; s. RFC 8259
                         %x23-26 /                         ; omit "
                         %x28-5B /                         ; omit '
                         %x5D-10FFFF                       ; omit \

   escapable           = ( %x62 / %x66 / %x6E / %x72 / %x74 / ; \b \f \n \r \t
                             ; b /         ;  BS backspace U+0008
                             ; t /         ;  HT horizontal tab U+0009
                             ; n /         ;  LF line feed U+000A
                             ; f /         ;  FF form feed U+000C
                             ; r /         ;  CR carriage return U+000D
                             "/" /          ;  /  slash (solidus)
                             "\" /          ;  \  backslash (reverse solidus)
                             (%x75 hexchar) ;  uXXXX      U+XXXX
                         )

   hexchar = non-surrogate / (high-surrogate "\" %x75 low-surrogate)
   non-surrogate = ((DIGIT / "A"/"B"/"C" / "E"/"F") 3HEXDIG) /
                    ("D" %x30-37 2HEXDIG )
   high-surrogate = "D" ("8"/"9"/"A"/"B") 2HEXDIG
   low-surrogate = "D" ("C"/"D"/"E"/"F") 2HEXDIG

   HEXDIG = DIGIT / "A" / "B" / "C" / "D" / "E" / "F"

   ; Task from 2021-06-15 interim: update ABNF later

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   Applying the index-selector to an array, a numerical element-index is
   required to select the corresponding element.  JSONPath allows it to
   be negative (see Section "Semantics").

   element-index   = int                             ; decimal integer

   int             = ["-"] ( "0" / (DIGIT1 *DIGIT) ) ; -  optional
   DIGIT1          = %x31-39                         ; 1-9 non-zero digit

   Notes: 1. double-quoted strings follow the JSON string syntax
   (Section 7 of [RFC8259]); single-quoted strings follow an analogous
   pattern (Section "Syntax"). 2.  An element-index is an integer (in
   base 10, as in JSON numbers). 3.  As in JSON numbers, the syntax does
   not allow octal-like integers with leading zeros such as 01 or -01.

Semantics

   A quoted-member-name string MUST be converted to a member name by
   removing the surrounding quotes and replacing each escape sequence
   with its equivalent Unicode character, as in the table below:

   +=================+===================+=============================+
   | Escape Sequence | Unicode Character | Description                 |
   +=================+===================+=============================+
   |        \b       |       U+0008      | BS backspace                |
   +-----------------+-------------------+-----------------------------+
   |        \t       |       U+0009      | HT horizontal tab           |
   +-----------------+-------------------+-----------------------------+
   |        \n       |       U+000A      | LF line feed                |
   +-----------------+-------------------+-----------------------------+
   |        \f       |       U+000C      | FF form feed                |
   +-----------------+-------------------+-----------------------------+
   |        \r       |       U+000D      | CR carriage return          |
   +-----------------+-------------------+-----------------------------+
   |        \"       |       U+0022      | quotation mark              |
   +-----------------+-------------------+-----------------------------+
   |        \'       |       U+0027      | apostrophe                  |
   +-----------------+-------------------+-----------------------------+
   |        \/       |       U+002F      | slash (solidus)             |
   +-----------------+-------------------+-----------------------------+
   |        \\       |       U+005C      | backslash (reverse          |
   |                 |                   | solidus)                    |
   +-----------------+-------------------+-----------------------------+
   |      \uXXXX     |       U+XXXX      | unicode character           |
   +-----------------+-------------------+-----------------------------+

                   Table 3: Escape Sequence Replacements

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   The index-selector applied with a quoted-member-name to an object
   selects the node of the corresponding member value from it, if and
   only if that object has a member with that name.  Nothing is selected
   from a value which is not a object.

   Array indexing via element-index is a way of selecting a particular
   array element using a zero-based index.  For example, selector [0]
   selects the first and selector [4] the fifth element of a
   sufficiently long array.

   A negative element-index counts from the array end.  For example,
   selector [-1] selects the last and selector [-2] selects the
   penultimate element of an array with at least two elements.  As with
   non-negative indexes, it is not an error if such an element does not
   exist; this simply means that no element is selected.

3.5.5.  Index Wild Card Selector

Syntax

   The index wild card selector has the form [*].

   index-wild-selector    = "[" "*" "]"  ;  asterisk enclosed by brackets

Semantics

   An index-wild-selector selects the nodes of all member values of an
   object as well as of all elements of an array.  Applying the index-
   wild-selector to a primitive JSON value (such as a number, string, or
   true/false/null) selects no node.

   The index-wild-selector behaves identically to the dot-wild-selector.

3.5.6.  Array Slice Selector

Syntax

   The array slice selector has the form [<start>:<end>:<step>].  It
   selects elements starting at index <start>, ending at -- but not
   including -- <end>, while incrementing by step.

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   slice-selector = "[" S [start S] ":" S [end S] [":" S [step S]] "]"

   start          = int       ; included in selection
   end            = int       ; not included in selection
   step           = int       ; default: 1

   B              =    %x20 / ; Space
                       %x09 / ; Horizontal tab
                       %x0A / ; Line feed or New line
                       %x0D   ; Carriage return
   S              = *B        ; optional blank space
   RS             = 1*B       ; required blank space

   The slice-selector consists of three optional decimal integers
   separated by colons.

Semantics

   The slice-selector was inspired by the slice operator of ECMAScript 4
   (ES4), which was deprecated in 2014, and that of Python.

Informal Introduction

   This section is non-normative.

   Array indexing is a way of selecting a particular element of an array
   using a 0-based index.  For example, the expression [0] selects the
   first element of a non-empty array.

   Negative indices index from the end of an array.  For example, the
   expression [-2] selects the last but one element of an array with at
   least two elements.

   Array slicing is inspired by the behaviour of the
   Array.prototype.slice method of the JavaScript language as defined by
   the ECMA-262 standard [ECMA-262], with the addition of the step
   parameter, which is inspired by the Python slice expression.

   The array slice expression [start:end:step] selects elements at
   indices starting at start, incrementing by step, and ending with end
   (which is itself excluded).  So, for example, the expression [1:3]
   (where step defaults to 1) selects elements with indices 1 and 2 (in
   that order) whereas [1:5:2] selects elements with indices 1 and 3.

   When step is negative, elements are selected in reverse order.  Thus,
   for example, [5:1:-2] selects elements with indices 5 and 3, in that
   order and [::-1] selects all the elements of an array in reverse
   order.

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   When step is 0, no elements are selected.  (This is the one case
   which differs from the behaviour of Python, which raises an error in
   this case.)

   The following section specifies the behaviour fully, without
   depending on JavaScript or Python behaviour.

Detailed Semantics

   An array selector is either an array slice or an array index, which
   is defined in terms of an array slice.

   A slice expression selects a subset of the elements of the input
   array, in the same order as the array or the reverse order, depending
   on the sign of the step parameter.  It selects no nodes from a node
   which is not an array.

   A slice is defined by the two slice parameters, start and end, and an
   iteration delta, step.  Each of these parameters is optional. len is
   the length of the input array.

   The default value for step is 1.  The default values for start and
   end depend on the sign of step, as follows:

                    +===========+=========+==========+
                    | Condition | start   | end      |
                    +===========+=========+==========+
                    | step >= 0 | 0       | len      |
                    +-----------+---------+----------+
                    | step < 0  | len - 1 | -len - 1 |
                    +-----------+---------+----------+

                       Table 4: Default array slice
                           start and end values

   Slice expression parameters start and end are not directly usable as
   slice bounds and must first be normalized.  Normalization for this
   purpose is defined as:

   FUNCTION Normalize(i, len):
     IF i >= 0 THEN
       RETURN i
     ELSE
       RETURN len + i
     END IF

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   The result of the array indexing expression [i] applied to an array
   of length len is defined to be the result of the array slicing
   expression [i:Normalize(i, len)+1:1].

   Slice expression parameters start and end are used to derive slice
   bounds lower and upper.  The direction of the iteration, defined by
   the sign of step, determines which of the parameters is the lower
   bound and which is the upper bound:

   FUNCTION Bounds(start, end, step, len):
     n_start = Normalize(start, len)
     n_end = Normalize(end, len)

     IF step >= 0 THEN
       lower = MIN(MAX(n_start, 0), len)
       upper = MIN(MAX(n_end, 0), len)
     ELSE
       upper = MIN(MAX(n_start, -1), len-1)
       lower = MIN(MAX(n_end, -1), len-1)
     END IF

     RETURN (lower, upper)

   The slice expression selects elements with indices between the lower
   and upper bounds.  In the following pseudocode, the a(i) construct
   expresses the 0-based indexing operation on the underlying array.

   IF step > 0 THEN

     i = lower
     WHILE i < upper:
       SELECT a(i)
       i = i + step
     END WHILE

   ELSE if step < 0 THEN

     i = upper
     WHILE lower < i:
       SELECT a(i)
       i = i + step
     END WHILE

   END IF

   When step = 0, no elements are selected and the result array is
   empty.

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   To be valid, the slice expression parameters MUST be in the I-JSON
   range of exact values, see Section 3.1.

3.5.7.  Descendant Selector

Syntax

   The descendant selector starts with a double dot .. and can be
   followed by an object member name (similar to the dot-selector), by
   an index-selector acting on objects or arrays, or by a wild card.

   descendant-selector = ".." ( dot-member-name      /  ; ..<name>
                                index-selector       /  ; ..[<index>]
                                index-wild-selector  /  ; ..[*]
                                "*"                     ; ..*
                              )

Semantics

   The descendant-selector selects the node and all its descendants.

   In the resultant nodelist: * nodes occur before their children, and *
   nodes of an array occur in array order.

   Children of an object may occur in any order, since JSON objects are
   unordered.

3.5.8.  Union Selector

Syntax

   The union selector is syntactically related to the index-selector.
   It contains two or more entries, separated by commas.

   union-selector = "[" S union-entry 1*(S "," S union-entry) S "]"

   union-entry    =  ( quoted-member-name /
                       element-index      /
                       slice-index
                     )

Semantics

   A union selects any node which is selected by at least one of the
   union selectors and selects the concatenation of the lists (in the
   order of the selectors) of nodes selected by the union elements.
   Note that any node selected in more than one of the union selectors
   is kept as many times in the node list.

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   To be valid, integer values in the element-index and slice-index
   components MUST be in the I-JSON range of exact values, see
   Section 3.1.

3.5.9.  Filter Selector

Syntax

   The filter selector has the form [?<expr>].  It works via iterating
   over structured values, i.e. arrays and objects.

   filter-selector    = "[" S "?" S boolean-expr S "]"

   During iteration process each array element or object member is
   visited and its value -- accessible via symbol @ -- or one of its
   descendants -- uniquely defined by a relative path -- is tested
   against a boolean expression boolean-expr.

   The current item is selected if and only if the result is true.

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   boolean-expr     = logical-or-expr
   logical-or-expr  = logical-and-expr *(S "||" S logical-and-expr)
                                                         ; disjunction
                                                         ; binds less tightly than conjunction
   logical-and-expr = basic-expr *(S "&&" S basic-expr)  ; conjunction
                                                         ; binds more tightly than disjunction

   basic-expr   = exist-expr /
                  paren-expr /
                  relation-expr
   exist-expr   = [neg-op S] path                          ; path existence or non-existence
   path         = rel-path / json-path
   rel-path     = "@" *(S (dot-selector / index-selector))
   paren-expr   = [neg-op S] "(" S boolean-expr S ")"    ; parenthesized expression
   neg-op       = "!"                                    ; not operator

   relation-expr = comp-expr /                           ; comparison test
                   regex-expr                            ; regular expression test

   comp-expr    = comparable S comp-op S comparable
   comparable   = number / string-literal /              ; primitive ...
                  true / false / null /                  ; values only
                  path                                   ; path value
   comp-op      = "==" / "!=" /                          ; comparison ...
                  "<"  / ">"  /                          ; operators
                  "<=" / ">="
   number       = int [ frac ] [ exp ]                   ; decimal number
   frac         = "." 1*DIGIT                            ; decimal fraction
   exp          = "e" [ "-" / "+" ] 1*DIGIT              ; decimal exponent
   true         = %x74.72.75.65                          ; true
   false        = %x66.61.6c.73.65                       ; false
   null         = %x6e.75.6c.6c                          ; null

   regex-expr   = (path / string-literal) S regex-op S regex
   regex-op     = "=~"                                   ; regular expression match
   regex        = <TO BE DEFINED>

   Notes:

   *  Parentheses can be used with boolean-expr for grouping.  So filter
      selection syntax in the original proposal [?(<expr>)] is naturally
      contained in the current lean syntax [?<expr>] as a special case.

   *  Comparisons are restricted to primitive values (such as number,
      string, true, false, null).  Comparisons with complex values will
      fail, i.e. no selection occurs.

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   *  Types are not implicitly converted in comparisons.  So "13 ==
      '13'" selects no node.

   *  A member or element value by itself in a Boolean context is
      interpreted as false only if it does not exist.  Otherwise it is
      interpreted as true.  To be more specific about the actual value,
      explicit comparisons are necessary.  This existence test -- as an
      exception to the general rule -- also works with structured
      values.

   *  Regular expression tests can be applied to string values only.

   *  Alphabetic characters in ABNF are case-insensitive, so "e" can be
      either "e" or "E".

   *  false, null, true are lower-case only (case-sensitive).

   The following table lists filter expression operators in order of
   precedence from highest (binds most tightly) to lowest (binds least
   tightly).

                  +============+===========+===========+
                  | Precedence |  Operator |   Syntax  |
                  |            |    type   |           |
                  +============+===========+===========+
                  |     5      |  Grouping |   (...)   |
                  +------------+-----------+-----------+
                  |     4      |  Logical  |     !     |
                  |            |    NOT    |           |
                  +------------+-----------+-----------+
                  |     3      | Relations |   == !=   |
                  |            |           | < <= > >= |
                  |            |           |     =~    |
                  |            |           |     in    |
                  +------------+-----------+-----------+
                  |     2      |  Logical  |     &&    |
                  |            |    AND    |           |
                  +------------+-----------+-----------+
                  |     1      |  Logical  |     ||    |
                  |            |     OR    |           |
                  +------------+-----------+-----------+

                        Table 5: Filter expression
                           operator precedence

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Semantics

   The filter-selector works with arrays and objects exclusively.  Its
   result might be a list of _zero_, _one_, _multiple_ or _all_ of their
   element or member values then.  Applied to other value types, it will
   select nothing.

   Some examples:

   +===================+=====================+===============+=========+
   |JSON               |        Query        |     Result    |Comment  |
   +===================+=====================+===============+=========+
   |{"a":1,"b":2}      |        $[?@]        |     [1,2]     |Same as  |
   |[2,3,4]            |                     |    [2,3,4]    |$.* or   |
   |                   |                     |               |$[*]     |
   +-------------------+---------------------+---------------+---------+
   |./.                |       $[?@==2]      |      [2]      |Select by|
   |                   |                     |      [2]      |value.   |
   +-------------------+---------------------+---------------+---------+
   |{"a":{"b":{"c":{}}}|       $[?@.b]       |[{"b":{"c":{}}]|Existence|
   |                   |      $[?@.b.c]      |               |         |
   +-------------------+---------------------+---------------+---------+
   |{"key":false}      | $[?index(@)=='key'] |    [false]    |Select   |
   |                   |   $[?index(@)==0]   |       []      |object   |
   |                   |                     |               |member   |
   +-------------------+---------------------+---------------+---------+
   |[3,4,5]            |   $[?index(@)==2]   |      [5]      |Select   |
   |                   |   $[?index(@)==17]  |       []      |array    |
   |                   |                     |               |element  |
   +-------------------+---------------------+---------------+---------+
   |{"a":{"b":{5},c:0}}|  $[?@.b==5 && !@.c] |[{"b":{5},c:0}]|Existence|
   +-------------------+---------------------+---------------+---------+

                                  Table 6

4.  IANA Considerations

   TBD: Define a media type for JSONPath expressions.

5.  Security Considerations

   This section gives security considerations, as required by [RFC3552].

6.  References

6.1.  Normative References

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   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2119>.

   [RFC3629]  Yergeau, F., "UTF-8, a transformation format of ISO
              10646", STD 63, RFC 3629, DOI 10.17487/RFC3629, November
              2003, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3629>.

   [RFC5234]  Crocker, D., Ed. and P. Overell, "Augmented BNF for Syntax
              Specifications: ABNF", STD 68, RFC 5234,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC5234, January 2008,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5234>.

   [RFC7493]  Bray, T., Ed., "The I-JSON Message Format", RFC 7493,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC7493, March 2015,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7493>.

   [RFC8174]  Leiba, B., "Ambiguity of Uppercase vs Lowercase in RFC
              2119 Key Words", BCP 14, RFC 8174, DOI 10.17487/RFC8174,
              May 2017, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8174>.

   [RFC8259]  Bray, T., Ed., "The JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) Data
              Interchange Format", STD 90, RFC 8259,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC8259, December 2017,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8259>.

6.2.  Informative References

   [E4X]      ISO, "Information technology — ECMAScript for XML (E4X)
              specification", ISO/IEC 22537:2006 , 2006.

   [ECMA-262] Ecma International, "ECMAScript Language Specification,
              Standard ECMA-262, Third Edition", December 1999,
              <http://www.ecma-international.org/publications/files/
              ECMA-ST-ARCH/ECMA-
              262,%203rd%20edition,%20December%201999.pdf>.

   [JSONPath-orig]
              Gössner, S., "JSONPath — XPath for JSON", 21 February
              2007, <https://goessner.net/articles/JsonPath/>.

   [RFC3552]  Rescorla, E. and B. Korver, "Guidelines for Writing RFC
              Text on Security Considerations", BCP 72, RFC 3552,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC3552, July 2003,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3552>.

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   [RFC6901]  Bryan, P., Ed., Zyp, K., and M. Nottingham, Ed.,
              "JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) Pointer", RFC 6901,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC6901, April 2013,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6901>.

   [SLICE]    "Slice notation", n.d.,
              <https://github.com/tc39/proposal-slice-notation>.

   [XPath]    Berglund, A., Boag, S., Chamberlin, D., Fernandez, M.,
              Kay, M., Robie, J., and J. Simeon, "XML Path Language
              (XPath) 2.0 (Second Edition)", World Wide Web Consortium
              Recommendation REC-xpath20-20101214, 14 December 2010,
              <https://www.w3.org/TR/2010/REC-xpath20-20101214>.

Appendix A.  Inspired by XPath

   This appendix is informative.

   At the time JSONPath was invented, XML was noted for the availability
   of powerful tools to analyse, transform and selectively extract data
   from XML documents.  [XPath] is one of these tools.

   In 2007, the need for something solving the same class of problems
   for the emerging JSON community became apparent, specifically for:

   *  Finding data interactively and extracting them out of [RFC8259]
      JSON values without special scripting.

   *  Specifying the relevant parts of the JSON data in a request by a
      client, so the server can reduce the amount of data in its
      response, minimizing bandwidth usage.

   (Note that XPath has evolved since 2007, and recent versions even
   nominally support operating inside JSON values.  This appendix only
   discusses the more widely used version of XPath that was available in
   2007.)

   JSONPath picks up the overall feeling of XPath, but maps the concepts
   to syntax (and partially semantics) that would be familiar to someone
   using JSON in a dynamic language.

   E.g., in popular dynamic programming languages such as JavaScript,
   Python and PHP, the semantics of the XPath expression

   /store/book[1]/title

   can be realized in the expression

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   x.store.book[0].title

   or, in bracket notation,

   x['store']['book'][0]['title']

   with the variable x holding the argument.

   The JSONPath language was designed to:

   *  be naturally based on those language characteristics;

   *  cover only the most essential parts of XPath 1.0;

   *  be lightweight in code size and memory consumption;

   *  be runtime efficient.

A.1.  JSONPath and XPath

   JSONPath expressions apply to JSON values in the same way as XPath
   expressions are used in combination with an XML document.  JSONPath
   uses $ to refer to the root node of the argument, similar to XPath's
   / at the front.

   JSONPath expressions move further down the hierarchy using _dot
   notation_ ($.store.book[0].title) or the _bracket notation_
   ($['store']['book'][0]['title']), a lightweight/limited, and a more
   heavyweight syntax replacing XPath's / within query expressions.

   Both JSONPath and XPath use * for a wildcard.  The descendant
   operator .., borrowed from [E4X], is similar to XPath's //. The array
   slicing construct [start:end:step] is unique to JSONPath, inspired by
   [SLICE] from ECMASCRIPT 4.

   Filter expressions are supported via the syntax ?(<boolean expr>) as
   in

   $.store.book[?(@.price < 10)].title

   Table 7 extends Table 1 by providing a comparison with similar XPath
   concepts.

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     +==========+==================+=================================+
     | XPath    | JSONPath         | Description                     |
     +==========+==================+=================================+
     | /        | $                | the root XML element            |
     +----------+------------------+---------------------------------+
     | .        | @                | the current XML element         |
     +----------+------------------+---------------------------------+
     | /        | . or []          | child operator                  |
     +----------+------------------+---------------------------------+
     | ..       | n/a              | parent operator                 |
     +----------+------------------+---------------------------------+
     | //       | ..               | nested descendants (JSONPath    |
     |          |                  | borrows this syntax from E4X)   |
     +----------+------------------+---------------------------------+
     | *        | *                | wildcard: All XML elements      |
     |          |                  | regardless of their names       |
     +----------+------------------+---------------------------------+
     | @        | n/a              | attribute access: JSON values   |
     |          |                  | do not have attributes          |
     +----------+------------------+---------------------------------+
     | []       | []               | subscript operator used to      |
     |          |                  | iterate over XML element        |
     |          |                  | collections and for predicates  |
     +----------+------------------+---------------------------------+
     | |        | [,]              | Union operator (results in a    |
     |          |                  | combination of node sets);      |
     |          |                  | JSONPath allows alternate names |
     |          |                  | or array indices as a set       |
     +----------+------------------+---------------------------------+
     | n/a      | [start:end:step] | array slice operator borrowed   |
     |          |                  | from ES4                        |
     +----------+------------------+---------------------------------+
     | []       | ?()              | applies a filter (script)       |
     |          |                  | expression                      |
     +----------+------------------+---------------------------------+
     | seamless | n/a              | expression engine               |
     +----------+------------------+---------------------------------+
     | ()       | n/a              | grouping                        |
     +----------+------------------+---------------------------------+

                 Table 7: XPath syntax compared to JSONPath

   For further illustration, Table 8 shows some XPath expressions and
   their JSONPath equivalents.

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   +======================+========================+===================+
   | XPath                | JSONPath               | Result            |
   +======================+========================+===================+
   | /store/book/author   | $.store.book[*].author | the authors of    |
   |                      |                        | all books in      |
   |                      |                        | the store         |
   +----------------------+------------------------+-------------------+
   | //author             | $..author              | all authors       |
   +----------------------+------------------------+-------------------+
   | /store/*             | $.store.*              | all things in     |
   |                      |                        | store, which      |
   |                      |                        | are some books    |
   |                      |                        | and a red         |
   |                      |                        | bicycle           |
   +----------------------+------------------------+-------------------+
   | /store//price        | $.store..price         | the prices of     |
   |                      |                        | everything in     |
   |                      |                        | the store         |
   +----------------------+------------------------+-------------------+
   | //book[3]            | $..book[2]             | the third book    |
   +----------------------+------------------------+-------------------+
   | //book[last()]       | $..book[(@.length-1)]  | the last book     |
   |                      | $..book[-1]            | in order          |
   +----------------------+------------------------+-------------------+
   | //book[position()<3] | $..book[0,1]           | the first two     |
   |                      | $..book[:2]            | books             |
   +----------------------+------------------------+-------------------+
   | //book[isbn]         | $..book[?(@.isbn)]     | filter all        |
   |                      |                        | books with isbn   |
   |                      |                        | number            |
   +----------------------+------------------------+-------------------+
   | //book[price<10]     | $..book[?(@.price<10)] | filter all        |
   |                      |                        | books cheaper     |
   |                      |                        | than 10           |
   +----------------------+------------------------+-------------------+
   | //*                  | $..*                   | all elements in   |
   |                      |                        | XML document;     |
   |                      |                        | all member        |
   |                      |                        | values and        |
   |                      |                        | array elements    |
   |                      |                        | contained in      |
   |                      |                        | input value       |
   +----------------------+------------------------+-------------------+

     Table 8: Example XPath expressions and their JSONPath equivalents

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   XPath has a lot more functionality (location paths in unabbreviated
   syntax, operators and functions) than listed in this comparison.
   Moreover, there are significant differences in how the subscript
   operator works in XPath and JSONPath:

   *  Square brackets in XPath expressions always operate on the _node
      set_ resulting from the previous path fragment.  Indices always
      start at 1.

   *  With JSONPath, square brackets operate on the _object_ or _array_
      addressed by the previous path fragment.  Array indices always
      start at 0.

Acknowledgements

   This specification is based on Stefan Gössner's original online
   article defining JSONPath [JSONPath-orig].

   The books example was taken from http://coli.lili.uni-
   bielefeld.de/~andreas/Seminare/sommer02/books.xml -- a dead link now.

Contributors

   Marko Mikulicic
   InfluxData, Inc.
   Pisa
   Italy

   Email: mmikulicic@gmail.com

   Edward Surov
   TheSoul Publishing Ltd.
   Limassol
   Cyprus

   Email: esurov.tsp@gmail.com

Authors' Addresses

   Stefan Gössner (editor)
   Fachhochschule Dortmund
   Sonnenstraße 96
   D-44139 Dortmund
   Germany

   Email: stefan.goessner@fh-dortmund.de

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   Glyn Normington (editor)
   Winchester
   United Kingdom

   Email: glyn.normington@gmail.com

   Carsten Bormann (editor)
   Universität Bremen TZI
   Postfach 330440
   D-28359 Bremen
   Germany

   Phone: +49-421-218-63921
   Email: cabo@tzi.org

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