Json_value and Json_query cannot find specified path - sql

Question

I am trying to parse data from the following JSON. I know there are differences between JSON_VALUE and JSON_QUERY but I am trying to just get the path structure correct. I am using the STRICT option to validate my path's and so far other then string$ for JSON Query everything fails by not finding the path. As soon as I add the .data.taskData the path seems to blow up. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
I am setting the following JSON to #json
declare #json nvarchar(max)
SELECT JSON_VALUE(#json, 'strict$.data.taskData.startedLocation') as json
select JSON_QUERY(#json, 'strict$.data.taskData.startedLocation') as json
Below is the JSON I am trying to parse
{"data.taskData":{"startedAtUtc":"2019-08-28T20:21:29.025Z","startedLocation":{"lat":60.7348366,"lon":-124.9856841},"additionalData":[],"bols":[{"number":"1234","product":{"id":"COFFEE","description":"GROUND COFFE 5LB CAN","plannedQuantity":1352,"uom":"PCS","supplier":"WALMART ","accountOf":"","class":"UNKNOWN","loadedQuantity":6600,"netQuantity":9993},"net":"9993"}],"compartments":[{"id":"1","capacity":3400,"commodity":null,"consignee":"KSUAC","plannedQuantity":0,"tankID":"1","additionalData":[],"allLoadsValid":true,"complete":true,"error":false,"locked":false,"loads":[{"isFirst":true,"quantity":"1000","bol":"1234"}],"loadedQuantity":1000,"productID":"COFFEE"},{"id":"2","capacity":2000,"commodity":null,"consignee":"KSUAC","plannedQuantity":0,"tankID":"2","additionalData":[],"allLoadsValid":true,"complete":true,"error":false,"locked":false,"loads":[{"isFirst":true,"quantity":"2000","bol":"1234"}],"loadedQuantity":2000,"productID":"COFFEE"},{"id":"3","capacity":1100,"commodity":null,"consignee":"KSUAC","plannedQuantity":0,"tankID":"3","additionalData":[],"allLoadsValid":true,"complete":true,"error":false,"locked":false,"loads":[{"isFirst":true,"quantity":"1100","bol":"1234"}],"loadedQuantity":1100,"productID":"COFFEE"},{"id":"4","capacity":2700,"commodity":null,"consignee":null,"plannedQuantity":0,"tankID":"4","additionalData":[],"allLoadsValid":true,"complete":true,"error":false,"locked":false,"loads":[{"isFirst":true,"quantity":"2500","bol":"1234"}],"loadedQuantity":2500,"productID":"COFFEE"}],"detention":{"minutes":null,"reasonCode":null,"notes":null},"initialCompartments":[{"id":"1","capacity":3400,"commodity":null,"consignee":null,"plannedQuantity":null,"tankID":"1"},{"id":"2","capacity":2000,"commodity":null,"consignee":null,"plannedQuantity":null,"tankID":"2"},{"id":"3","capacity":1100,"commodity":null,"consignee":null,"plannedQuantity":null,"tankID":"3"},{"id":"4","capacity":2700,"commodity":null,"consignee":null,"plannedQuantity":null,"tankID":"4"}],"loadingComplete":"yes","loadingCompleteTime":"2019-08-28T20:23:05.453Z","uom":{"key":"PCS","category":"volume","shortDisplay":"p","longDisplay":"Pieces","conversionFactors":{"gal":0.0625,"L":0.2365882365,"c":4.2267528377}},"variances":[],"completedAtUtc":"2019-08-28T20:23:06.703Z","completedLocation":{"lat":61.7348308,"lon":-124.9856879},"finalCompartments":[{"id":"1","capacity":3400,"productID":"COFFEE","loadedQuantity":1000,"consignee":"KSUAC","tankID":"1"},{"id":"2","capacity":2000,"productID":"COFFEE","loadedQuantity":2000,"consignee":"KSUAC","tankID":"2"},{"id":"3","capacity":1100,"productID":"COFFEE","loadedQuantity":1100,"consignee":"KSUAC","tankID":"3"},{"id":"4","capacity":2700,"productID":"COFFEE","loadedQuantity":2500,"consignee":null,"tankID":"4"}]}}

Answer 1

Try this out. After the code I'll comment about the specialities:
DECLARE #json NVARCHAR(MAX)=N'{
"data.taskData": {
"startedAtUtc": "2019-08-28T20:21:29.025Z",
"startedLocation": {
"lat": 60.7348366,
"lon": -124.9856841
},
"additionalData": [],
"bols": [
{
"number": "1234",
"product": {
"id": "COFFEE",
"description": "GROUND COFFE 5LB CAN",
"plannedQuantity": 1352,
"uom": "PCS",
"supplier": "WALMART ",
"accountOf": "",
"class": "UNKNOWN",
"loadedQuantity": 6600,
"netQuantity": 9993
},
"net": "9993"
}
],
"compartments": [
{
"id": "1",
"capacity": 3400,
"commodity": null,
"consignee": "KSUAC",
"plannedQuantity": 0,
"tankID": "1",
"additionalData": [],
"allLoadsValid": true,
"complete": true,
"error": false,
"locked": false,
"loads": [
{
"isFirst": true,
"quantity": "1000",
"bol": "1234"
}
],
"loadedQuantity": 1000,
"productID": "COFFEE"
},
{
"id": "2",
"capacity": 2000,
"commodity": null,
"consignee": "KSUAC",
"plannedQuantity": 0,
"tankID": "2",
"additionalData": [],
"allLoadsValid": true,
"complete": true,
"error": false,
"locked": false,
"loads": [
{
"isFirst": true,
"quantity": "2000",
"bol": "1234"
}
],
"loadedQuantity": 2000,
"productID": "COFFEE"
},
{
"id": "3",
"capacity": 1100,
"commodity": null,
"consignee": "KSUAC",
"plannedQuantity": 0,
"tankID": "3",
"additionalData": [],
"allLoadsValid": true,
"complete": true,
"error": false,
"locked": false,
"loads": [
{
"isFirst": true,
"quantity": "1100",
"bol": "1234"
}
],
"loadedQuantity": 1100,
"productID": "COFFEE"
},
{
"id": "4",
"capacity": 2700,
"commodity": null,
"consignee": null,
"plannedQuantity": 0,
"tankID": "4",
"additionalData": [],
"allLoadsValid": true,
"complete": true,
"error": false,
"locked": false,
"loads": [
{
"isFirst": true,
"quantity": "2500",
"bol": "1234"
}
],
"loadedQuantity": 2500,
"productID": "COFFEE"
}
],
"detention": {
"minutes": null,
"reasonCode": null,
"notes": null
},
"initialCompartments": [
{
"id": "1",
"capacity": 3400,
"commodity": null,
"consignee": null,
"plannedQuantity": null,
"tankID": "1"
},
{
"id": "2",
"capacity": 2000,
"commodity": null,
"consignee": null,
"plannedQuantity": null,
"tankID": "2"
},
{
"id": "3",
"capacity": 1100,
"commodity": null,
"consignee": null,
"plannedQuantity": null,
"tankID": "3"
},
{
"id": "4",
"capacity": 2700,
"commodity": null,
"consignee": null,
"plannedQuantity": null,
"tankID": "4"
}
],
"loadingComplete": "yes",
"loadingCompleteTime": "2019-08-28T20:23:05.453Z",
"uom": {
"key": "PCS",
"category": "volume",
"shortDisplay": "p",
"longDisplay": "Pieces",
"conversionFactors": {
"gal": 0.0625,
"L": 0.2365882365,
"c": 4.2267528377
}
},
"variances": [],
"completedAtUtc": "2019-08-28T20:23:06.703Z",
"completedLocation": {
"lat": 61.7348308,
"lon": -124.9856879
},
"finalCompartments": [
{
"id": "1",
"capacity": 3400,
"productID": "COFFEE",
"loadedQuantity": 1000,
"consignee": "KSUAC",
"tankID": "1"
},
{
"id": "2",
"capacity": 2000,
"productID": "COFFEE",
"loadedQuantity": 2000,
"consignee": "KSUAC",
"tankID": "2"
},
{
"id": "3",
"capacity": 1100,
"productID": "COFFEE",
"loadedQuantity": 1100,
"consignee": "KSUAC",
"tankID": "3"
},
{
"id": "4",
"capacity": 2700,
"productID": "COFFEE",
"loadedQuantity": 2500,
"consignee": null,
"tankID": "4"
}
]
}
}';
--The query
SELECT FirstLevel.StartedAtUtc
,JSON_VALUE(FirstLevel.startedLocation,'$.lat') AS startedLocation_Lat
,JSON_VALUE(FirstLevel.startedLocation,'$.lon') AS startedLocation_Lon
,FirstLevel.additionalData
,FirstLevel.bols
,Sub_Compartments.id
,Sub_Compartments.capacity
,FirstLevel.loadingComplete
FROM OPENJSON(#json,'$."data.taskData"')
WITH(startedAtUtc DATETIME2
,startedLocation NVARCHAR(MAX) AS JSON
,additionalData NVARCHAR(MAX) AS JSON
,bols NVARCHAR(MAX) AS JSON
--compartments seems to be a 1:n related node
,compartments NVARCHAR(MAX) AS JSON
,loadingComplete NVARCHAR(10)
--and more
) FirstLevel
OUTER APPLY OPENJSON(FirstLevel.compartments)
WITH (id INT
,capacity INT
--more columns
) Sub_Compartments;
The idea in short:
Your JSON is a fully blown deeply nested structure with various data. Returnin the whole and everything would lead to a very redundant flat table. It will be a good idea to query this JSON with a question as narrow as possible.
As you were told already we can use one of these:
JSON_VALUE() to retrieve a scalar value from a given path. Nested JSON will be returned as a string type.
JSON_QUERY() to extract a fragment of the JSON and proceed with it as JSON
OPENJSON is needed to dive into a JSON with repeated elements in order to return the fragments as a derived set row-by-row. Very important is the WITH-clause, which allows to change OPENJSON's default output to a side-by-side of columns (similar to PIVOT).
In this case we can use OPENJSON to dive into the first level and return the objects found there. Some of them are scalar values and can be returned as a typed value, others are JSON objects. In this case we have to use NVARCHAR(MAX) as data type and we must sepcify AS JSON in order to proceed with the return values.
In your JSON the compartments are a 1:n related set. We can use a cascade of OPENJSON calls, using the fragment returned by the first as input and use another WITH-clause to extract the compartement's columns.
I hope, that this exampe will give you enough hints, that you can query any place of your JSON. Good luck!

Answer 2

This works:
select JSON_QUERY(#json, 'strict$."data.taskData".startedLocation') as json
SELECT JSON_VALUE(#json, 'strict$."data.taskData".startedLocation.lat') as json

Answer 3

You need to consider the following:
When you want to extract JSON object or scalar value and your path begins with a dollar sign $ or has special characters in the keys, you need to surround it with quotes ""
Function JSON_QUERY extracts an object or an array from a JSON string. If the value is not an object or an array, the result is NULL in lax mode and an error in strict mode.
Function JSON_VALUE extracts a scalar value from a JSON string. If the path points to not a scalar value, the result is NULL in lax mode and an error in strict mode
When you want to parse JSON string and get results as table, use OPENJSON table-valued function.
With your sample data, you may try the following example:
DECLARE #json nvarchar(max) = N'{"data.taskData":{"startedAtUtc":"2019-08-28T20:21:29.025Z","startedLocation":{"lat":60.7348366,"lon":-124.9856841},"additionalData":[],"bols":[{"number":"1234","product":{"id":"COFFEE","description":"GROUND COFFE 5LB CAN","plannedQuantity":1352,"uom":"PCS","supplier":"WALMART ","accountOf":"","class":"UNKNOWN","loadedQuantity":6600,"netQuantity":9993},"net":"9993"}],"compartments":[{"id":"1","capacity":3400,"commodity":null,"consignee":"KSUAC","plannedQuantity":0,"tankID":"1","additionalData":[],"allLoadsValid":true,"complete":true,"error":false,"locked":false,"loads":[{"isFirst":true,"quantity":"1000","bol":"1234"}],"loadedQuantity":1000,"productID":"COFFEE"},{"id":"2","capacity":2000,"commodity":null,"consignee":"KSUAC","plannedQuantity":0,"tankID":"2","additionalData":[],"allLoadsValid":true,"complete":true,"error":false,"locked":false,"loads":[{"isFirst":true,"quantity":"2000","bol":"1234"}],"loadedQuantity":2000,"productID":"COFFEE"},{"id":"3","capacity":1100,"commodity":null,"consignee":"KSUAC","plannedQuantity":0,"tankID":"3","additionalData":[],"allLoadsValid":true,"complete":true,"error":false,"locked":false,"loads":[{"isFirst":true,"quantity":"1100","bol":"1234"}],"loadedQuantity":1100,"productID":"COFFEE"},{"id":"4","capacity":2700,"commodity":null,"consignee":null,"plannedQuantity":0,"tankID":"4","additionalData":[],"allLoadsValid":true,"complete":true,"error":false,"locked":false,"loads":[{"isFirst":true,"quantity":"2500","bol":"1234"}],"loadedQuantity":2500,"productID":"COFFEE"}],"detention":{"minutes":null,"reasonCode":null,"notes":null},"initialCompartments":[{"id":"1","capacity":3400,"commodity":null,"consignee":null,"plannedQuantity":null,"tankID":"1"},{"id":"2","capacity":2000,"commodity":null,"consignee":null,"plannedQuantity":null,"tankID":"2"},{"id":"3","capacity":1100,"commodity":null,"consignee":null,"plannedQuantity":null,"tankID":"3"},{"id":"4","capacity":2700,"commodity":null,"consignee":null,"plannedQuantity":null,"tankID":"4"}],"loadingComplete":"yes","loadingCompleteTime":"2019-08-28T20:23:05.453Z","uom":{"key":"PCS","category":"volume","shortDisplay":"p","longDisplay":"Pieces","conversionFactors":{"gal":0.0625,"L":0.2365882365,"c":4.2267528377}},"variances":[],"completedAtUtc":"2019-08-28T20:23:06.703Z","completedLocation":{"lat":61.7348308,"lon":-124.9856879},"finalCompartments":[{"id":"1","capacity":3400,"productID":"COFFEE","loadedQuantity":1000,"consignee":"KSUAC","tankID":"1"},{"id":"2","capacity":2000,"productID":"COFFEE","loadedQuantity":2000,"consignee":"KSUAC","tankID":"2"},{"id":"3","capacity":1100,"productID":"COFFEE","loadedQuantity":1100,"consignee":"KSUAC","tankID":"3"},{"id":"4","capacity":2700,"productID":"COFFEE","loadedQuantity":2500,"consignee":null,"tankID":"4"}]}}'
SELECT
JSON_QUERY(#json, 'strict $."data.taskData".startedLocation') AS StartedLocation,
JSON_VALUE(#json, 'strict $."data.taskData".startedLocation.lat') as Lat,
JSON_VALUE(#json, 'strict $."data.taskData".startedLocation.lon') as Lon
SELECT *
FROM OPENJSON(#json, 'strict $."data.taskData".compartments') AS Compartments
Output:
----------------------------------------------------------------
StartedLocation Lat Lon
----------------------------------------------------------------
{"lat":60.7348366,"lon":-124.9856841} 60.7348366 -124.9856841
----------------
key value type
----------------
0 {"id":"1","capacity":3400,"commodity":null,"consignee":"KSUAC","plannedQuantity":0,"tankID":"1","additionalData":[],"allLoadsValid":true,"complete":true,"error":false,"locked":false,"loads":[{"isFirst":true,"quantity":"1000","bol":"1234"}],"loadedQuantity":1000,"productID":"COFFEE"} 5
1 {"id":"2","capacity":2000,"commodity":null,"consignee":"KSUAC","plannedQuantity":0,"tankID":"2","additionalData":[],"allLoadsValid":true,"complete":true,"error":false,"locked":false,"loads":[{"isFirst":true,"quantity":"2000","bol":"1234"}],"loadedQuantity":2000,"productID":"COFFEE"} 5
2 {"id":"3","capacity":1100,"commodity":null,"consignee":"KSUAC","plannedQuantity":0,"tankID":"3","additionalData":[],"allLoadsValid":true,"complete":true,"error":false,"locked":false,"loads":[{"isFirst":true,"quantity":"1100","bol":"1234"}],"loadedQuantity":1100,"productID":"COFFEE"} 5
3 {"id":"4","capacity":2700,"commodity":null,"consignee":null,"plannedQuantity":0,"tankID":"4","additionalData":[],"allLoadsValid":true,"complete":true,"error":false,"locked":false,"loads":[{"isFirst":true,"quantity":"2500","bol":"1234"}],"loadedQuantity":2500,"productID":"COFFEE"} 5