---

{ “title”: “JSON_EACH”, “language”: “en”, “description”: “Expands the top-level JSON object into a set of key/value pairs, where the value column retains JSON type. Must be used with LATERAL VIEW.” }

Description

The json_each table function expands the top-level JSON object into a set of key/value pairs. Each row contains one key (key) and its corresponding value (value). The value column retains the JSON type, so string values are returned with JSON quotes preserved.

Must be used with LATERAL VIEW.

Syntax

JSON_EACH(<json_str>)

Parameters

Parameter	Description
<json_str>	The JSON string to expand. The content must be a JSON object.

Return Value

Returns multi-column, multi-row data. Each row corresponds to one key-value pair in the JSON object:

Column	Type	Description
key	String	The key name from the JSON object
value	JSON	The corresponding value, kept as JSON type (string values include quotes, e.g. "foo")

Special cases:

• If <json_str> is NULL, returns 0 rows
• If <json_str> is an empty object ({}), returns 0 rows

Examples

Basic usage: expand a JSON object with string values

SELECT k, v
FROM (SELECT 1) dummy
LATERAL VIEW json_each('{"a":"foo","b":"bar"}') t AS k, v;

+---+-------+
| k | v     |
+---+-------+
| a | "foo" |
| b | "bar" |
+---+-------+

The value column is of JSON type, so string values retain their JSON quotes.

JSON object with multiple value types

SELECT k, v
FROM (SELECT 1) dummy
LATERAL VIEW json_each('{"str":"hello","num":42,"bool":true,"null_val":null,"arr":[1,2]}') t AS k, v;

+----------+---------+
| k        | v       |
+----------+---------+
| str      | "hello" |
| num      | 42      |
| bool     | true    |
| null_val | NULL    |
| arr      | [1,2]   |
+----------+---------+

NULL parameter: returns 0 rows

SELECT k, v
FROM (SELECT 1) dummy
LATERAL VIEW json_each(NULL) t AS k, v;
-- Empty set

Empty object: returns 0 rows

SELECT k, v
FROM (SELECT 1) dummy
LATERAL VIEW json_each('{}') t AS k, v;
-- Empty set