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  <div class="section" id="json-support">
<span id="cql-json"></span><h1>JSON Support<a class="headerlink" href="#json-support" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h1>
<p>Cassandra 2.2 introduces JSON support to <a class="reference internal" href="dml.html#select-statement"><span class="std std-ref">SELECT</span></a> and <a class="reference internal" href="dml.html#insert-statement"><span class="std std-ref">INSERT</span></a>
statements. This support does not fundamentally alter the CQL API (for example, the schema is still enforced), it simply
provides a convenient way to work with JSON documents.</p>
<div class="section" id="select-json">
<h2>SELECT JSON<a class="headerlink" href="#select-json" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>With <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">SELECT</span></code> statements, the <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">JSON</span></code> keyword can be used to return each row as a single <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">JSON</span></code> encoded map. The
remainder of the <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">SELECT</span></code> statement behavior is the same.</p>
<p>The result map keys are the same as the column names in a normal result set. For example, a statement like <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">SELECT</span> <span class="pre">JSON</span>
<span class="pre">a,</span> <span class="pre">ttl(b)</span> <span class="pre">FROM</span> <span class="pre">...</span></code> would result in a map with keys <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">&quot;a&quot;</span></code> and <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">&quot;ttl(b)&quot;</span></code>. However, this is one notable exception:
for symmetry with <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">INSERT</span> <span class="pre">JSON</span></code> behavior, case-sensitive column names with upper-case letters will be surrounded with
double quotes. For example, <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">SELECT</span> <span class="pre">JSON</span> <span class="pre">myColumn</span> <span class="pre">FROM</span> <span class="pre">...</span></code> would result in a map key <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">&quot;\&quot;myColumn\&quot;&quot;</span></code> (note the
escaped quotes).</p>
<p>The map values will <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">JSON</span></code>-encoded representations (as described below) of the result set values.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="insert-json">
<h2>INSERT JSON<a class="headerlink" href="#insert-json" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>With <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">INSERT</span></code> statements, the new <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">JSON</span></code> keyword can be used to enable inserting a <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">JSON</span></code> encoded map as a single
row. The format of the <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">JSON</span></code> map should generally match that returned by a <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">SELECT</span> <span class="pre">JSON</span></code> statement on the same
table. In particular, case-sensitive column names should be surrounded with double quotes. For example, to insert into a
table with two columns named &#8220;myKey&#8221; and &#8220;value&#8221;, you would do the following:</p>
<div class="highlight-cql"><div class="highlight"><pre><span></span><span class="k">INSERT</span> <span class="k">INTO</span> <span class="n">mytable</span> <span class="k">JSON</span> <span class="s1">&#39;{ &quot;\&quot;myKey\&quot;&quot;: 0, &quot;value&quot;: 0}&#39;</span>
</pre></div>
</div>
<p>By default (or if <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">DEFAULT</span> <span class="pre">NULL</span></code> is explicitly used), a column omitted from the <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">JSON</span></code> map will be set to <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">NULL</span></code>,
meaning that any pre-existing value for that column will be removed (resulting in a tombstone being created).
Alternatively, if the <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">DEFAULT</span> <span class="pre">UNSET</span></code> directive is used after the value, omitted column values will be left unset,
meaning that pre-existing values for those column will be preserved.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="json-encoding-of-cassandra-data-types">
<h2>JSON Encoding of Cassandra Data Types<a class="headerlink" href="#json-encoding-of-cassandra-data-types" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>Where possible, Cassandra will represent and accept data types in their native <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">JSON</span></code> representation. Cassandra will
also accept string representations matching the CQL literal format for all single-field types. For example, floats,
ints, UUIDs, and dates can be represented by CQL literal strings. However, compound types, such as collections, tuples,
and user-defined types must be represented by native <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">JSON</span></code> collections (maps and lists) or a JSON-encoded string
representation of the collection.</p>
<p>The following table describes the encodings that Cassandra will accept in <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">INSERT</span> <span class="pre">JSON</span></code> values (and <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">fromJson()</span></code>
arguments) as well as the format Cassandra will use when returning data for <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">SELECT</span> <span class="pre">JSON</span></code> statements (and
<code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">fromJson()</span></code>):</p>
<table border="1" class="docutils">
<colgroup>
<col width="13%" />
<col width="21%" />
<col width="13%" />
<col width="54%" />
</colgroup>
<thead valign="bottom">
<tr class="row-odd"><th class="head">Type</th>
<th class="head">Formats accepted</th>
<th class="head">Return format</th>
<th class="head">Notes</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody valign="top">
<tr class="row-even"><td><code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">ascii</span></code></td>
<td>string</td>
<td>string</td>
<td>Uses JSON&#8217;s <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">\u</span></code> character escape</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td><code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">bigint</span></code></td>
<td>integer, string</td>
<td>integer</td>
<td>String must be valid 64 bit integer</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td><code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">blob</span></code></td>
<td>string</td>
<td>string</td>
<td>String should be 0x followed by an even number of hex digits</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td><code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">boolean</span></code></td>
<td>boolean, string</td>
<td>boolean</td>
<td>String must be &#8220;true&#8221; or &#8220;false&#8221;</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td><code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">date</span></code></td>
<td>string</td>
<td>string</td>
<td>Date in format <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">YYYY-MM-DD</span></code>, timezone UTC</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td><code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">decimal</span></code></td>
<td>integer, float, string</td>
<td>float</td>
<td>May exceed 32 or 64-bit IEEE-754 floating point precision in
client-side decoder</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td><code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">double</span></code></td>
<td>integer, float, string</td>
<td>float</td>
<td>String must be valid integer or float</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td><code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">float</span></code></td>
<td>integer, float, string</td>
<td>float</td>
<td>String must be valid integer or float</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td><code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">inet</span></code></td>
<td>string</td>
<td>string</td>
<td>IPv4 or IPv6 address</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td><code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">int</span></code></td>
<td>integer, string</td>
<td>integer</td>
<td>String must be valid 32 bit integer</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td><code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">list</span></code></td>
<td>list, string</td>
<td>list</td>
<td>Uses JSON&#8217;s native list representation</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td><code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">map</span></code></td>
<td>map, string</td>
<td>map</td>
<td>Uses JSON&#8217;s native map representation</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td><code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">smallint</span></code></td>
<td>integer, string</td>
<td>integer</td>
<td>String must be valid 16 bit integer</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td><code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">set</span></code></td>
<td>list, string</td>
<td>list</td>
<td>Uses JSON&#8217;s native list representation</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td><code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">text</span></code></td>
<td>string</td>
<td>string</td>
<td>Uses JSON&#8217;s <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">\u</span></code> character escape</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td><code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">time</span></code></td>
<td>string</td>
<td>string</td>
<td>Time of day in format <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">HH-MM-SS[.fffffffff]</span></code></td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td><code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">timestamp</span></code></td>
<td>integer, string</td>
<td>string</td>
<td>A timestamp. Strings constant allows to input <a class="reference internal" href="types.html#timestamps"><span class="std std-ref">timestamps
as dates</span></a>. Datestamps with format <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">YYYY-MM-DD</span>
<span class="pre">HH:MM:SS.SSS</span></code> are returned.</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td><code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">timeuuid</span></code></td>
<td>string</td>
<td>string</td>
<td>Type 1 UUID. See <a class="reference internal" href="definitions.html#grammar-token-constant"><code class="xref std std-token docutils literal"><span class="pre">constant</span></code></a> for the UUID format</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td><code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">tinyint</span></code></td>
<td>integer, string</td>
<td>integer</td>
<td>String must be valid 8 bit integer</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td><code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">tuple</span></code></td>
<td>list, string</td>
<td>list</td>
<td>Uses JSON&#8217;s native list representation</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td><code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">UDT</span></code></td>
<td>map, string</td>
<td>map</td>
<td>Uses JSON&#8217;s native map representation with field names as keys</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td><code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">uuid</span></code></td>
<td>string</td>
<td>string</td>
<td>See <a class="reference internal" href="definitions.html#grammar-token-constant"><code class="xref std std-token docutils literal"><span class="pre">constant</span></code></a> for the UUID format</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-even"><td><code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">varchar</span></code></td>
<td>string</td>
<td>string</td>
<td>Uses JSON&#8217;s <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">\u</span></code> character escape</td>
</tr>
<tr class="row-odd"><td><code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">varint</span></code></td>
<td>integer, string</td>
<td>integer</td>
<td>Variable length; may overflow 32 or 64 bit integers in
client-side decoder</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
<div class="section" id="the-fromjson-function">
<h2>The fromJson() Function<a class="headerlink" href="#the-fromjson-function" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>The <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">fromJson()</span></code> function may be used similarly to <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">INSERT</span> <span class="pre">JSON</span></code>, but for a single column value. It may only be used
in the <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">VALUES</span></code> clause of an <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">INSERT</span></code> statement or as one of the column values in an <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">UPDATE</span></code>, <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">DELETE</span></code>, or
<code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">SELECT</span></code> statement. For example, it cannot be used in the selection clause of a <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">SELECT</span></code> statement.</p>
</div>
<div class="section" id="the-tojson-function">
<h2>The toJson() Function<a class="headerlink" href="#the-tojson-function" title="Permalink to this headline">¶</a></h2>
<p>The <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">toJson()</span></code> function may be used similarly to <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">SELECT</span> <span class="pre">JSON</span></code>, but for a single column value. It may only be used
in the selection clause of a <code class="docutils literal"><span class="pre">SELECT</span></code> statement.</p>
</div>
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