How to insert JSON to an existing table without specifying column names? - sql

Question

To a table with two columns, named Id and Name, how can I insert the following json as rows, but without explicitly specifying the column names of the table (i.e. without WITH (Id ..., Name ...)?
[
{
"Id": "f08af9c2-8e67-4a7f-9413-1afffa2de96b",
"SomeOtherKey": " ... ",
"Name": "The One",
...
},
{
"Name": "All is one"
"Id": "9bbb094b-aa64-4c36-90a2-50e10f91c6a3",
"Whatever": 99,
...
},
{
"Id": "af9d22d8-1e46-4d57-8179-75f094d2efa1",
"SomeArrayWhyNot": [0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21]
"Surprise": "This one does not have a Name value!!! 😱"
...
},
...
]
The question is basically how to make SQL match the key-name to its suitable column name, ignoring json values with keys that do not have suitable column names, resulting with the following table (for the above json example):
Id
Name
f08af9c2-8e67-4a7f-9413-1afffa2de96b
The One
9bbb094b-aa64-4c36-90a2-50e10f91c6a3
All is one
af9d22d8-1e46-4d57-8179-75f094d2efa1
NULL
...
...

Answer 1

Not sure why you want this, but you can also do this:
INSERT INTO YourTable (Id, Name)
SELECT JSON_VALUE(x.value, '$.Id'), JSON_VALUE(x.value, '$.Name')
FROM OPENJSON('[{
"Id": "f08af9c2-8e67-4a7f-9413-1afffa2de96b",
"SomeOtherKey": " ... ",
"Name": "The One"
},
{
"Name": "All is one",
"Id": "9bbb094b-aa64-4c36-90a2-50e10f91c6a3",
"Whatever": 99
},
{
"Id": "af9d22d8-1e46-4d57-8179-75f094d2efa1",
"SomeArrayWhyNot": [0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21],
"Surprise": "This one doesn''t have a Name value!!! 😱"
}]') x
EDIT dynamic version.
It has many caveats though, your column must match exactly the case in the json, it's very longwinded but if that's what floats your vessel...
declare #json nvarchar(max) = '[{
"Id": "f08af9c2-8e67-4a7f-9413-1afffa2de96b",
"SomeOtherKey": " ... ",
"Name": "The One"
},
{
"Name": "All is one",
"Id": "9bbb094b-aa64-4c36-90a2-50e10f91c6a3",
"Whatever": 99
},
{
"Id": "af9d22d8-1e46-4d57-8179-75f094d2efa1",
"SomeArrayWhyNot": [0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21],
"Surprise": "This one doesn''t have a Name value!!! 😱"
}]'
create table YourTable (Id nvarchar(100), Name NVARCHAR(MAX))
create table #cols (name sysname, row_id int identity)
insert into #cols (name)
select STRING_ESCAPE(name, 'json')
from sys.columns sc
where sc.object_id = OBJECT_ID('YourTable')
DECLARE #sql nvarchar(max)
set #sql = N'
INSERT INTO YourTable ([COLS])
SELECT [JSONS]
FROM OPENJSON(#json) x'
SET #sql = REPLACE(#sql, '[COLS]',
STUFF((select ',' + QUOTENAME(name) from #cols order by row_id for xml Path(''), type).value('.', 'nvarchar(max)'), 1, 1, ''))
set #sql = replace(#sql, '[JSONS]',
stuff((SELECT ', JSON_VALUE(x.value, ''$."' + REPLACE(name,'''', '''''') + '"'')'
from #cols order by row_id for xml path(''), type).value('.', 'nvarchar(max)'), 1, 1, ''))
exec sp_executesql #sql, N'#json nvarchar(max)', #json = #json
select * FROM YourTable

Answer 2

You can use the OPENJSON function in SQL Server to parse the JSON data and then use INSERT INTO to insert the data into the table.
INSERT INTO YourTable (Id, Name)
SELECT *
FROM OPENJSON('[
{
"Id": "f08af9c2-8e67-4a7f-9413-1afffa2de96b",
"SomeOtherKey": " ... ",
"Name": "The One"
},
{
"Name": "All is one",
"Id": "9bbb094b-aa64-4c36-90a2-50e10f91c6a3",
"Whatever": 99
},
{
"Id": "af9d22d8-1e46-4d57-8179-75f094d2efa1",
"SomeArrayWhyNot": [0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21],
"Surprise": "This one doesn\'t have a Name value!!! 😱"
}
]') WITH (Id nvarchar(50) '$.Id', Name nvarchar(50) '$.Name')