Parse as JSON directive

The PARSE-AS-JSON directive is for parsing a JSON object. The directive can operate on String or JSONObject types. When the directive is applied, the high-level keys of the JSON are appended to the original column name to create new column names.

Syntax

parse-as-json :column [depth]

column is the name of the column in the record that is a JSON object.
depth indicates the depth at which JSON object enumeration terminates.

Usage Notes

The PARSE-AS-JSON directive breaks down complex JSON into simpler understandable and manageable chunks. When first applied on a JSON object, it breaks it down into keys and values. The value could in itself be a JSON object on which you can apply the PARSE-AS-JSON directive again to flatten it out further.

The key names in the event object are appended to the column that is being applied JSON parsing. The column names use dot notation.

Examples

Using this record as an example, in a field body:

{
  "id": 1,
  "name": {
    "first": "Root",
    "last": "Joltie"
  },
  "age": 22,
  "weigth": 184,
  "height": 5.8
}

Applying this directive:

parse-as-json :body

results in this record:

Field Name	Field Values	Field Type

Field Name	Field Values	Field Type
`body`	`{ ... }`	String
`body_id`	1	Integer
`body_name`	`{ "first": "Root", "last": "Joltie" }`	JSONObject
`body_age`	22	Integer
`body_weight`	184	Integer
`body_height`	5.8	Double

Applying the same directive, but just on the field body_name would result in this record:

Field Name	Field Values	Field Type

Field Name	Field Values	Field Type
`body`	`{ ... }`	String
`body_id`	1	Integer
`body_name`	`{ "first": "Root", "last": "Joltie" }`	JSONObject
`body_name_first`	Root	String
`body_name_last`	Joltie	String
`body_age`	22	Integer
`body_weight`	184	Integer
`body_height`	5.8	Double