tutorial to use nlohmann json for serializing data with modern cpp

Publish Date: 2019-10-12

Word Count: 909

Read Times: 6 Min

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Guide

include

#include <nlohmann/json.hpp>

// for convenience
using json = nlohmann::json;

compile with

-std=c++11

CMakeLists.txt

# CMakeLists.txt
find_package(nlohmann_json 3.2.0 REQUIRED)
...
add_library(foo ...)
...
target_link_libraries(foo PRIVATE nlohmann_json::nlohmann_json)

Usage

json demo

{
  "pi": 3.141,
  "happy": true,
  "name": "Niels",
  "nothing": null,
  "answer": {
    "everything": 42
  },
  "list": [1, 0, 2],
  "object": {
    "currency": "USD",
    "value": 42.99
  }
}

with code

// create an empty structure (null)
json j;

// add a number that is stored as double (note the implicit conversion of j to an object)
j["pi"] = 3.141;

// add a Boolean that is stored as bool
j["happy"] = true;

// add a string that is stored as std::string
j["name"] = "Niels";

// add another null object by passing nullptr
j["nothing"] = nullptr;

// add an object inside the object
j["answer"]["everything"] = 42;

// add an array that is stored as std::vector (using an initializer list)
j["list"] = { 1, 0, 2 };

// add another object (using an initializer list of pairs)
j["object"] = { {"currency", "USD"}, {"value", 42.99} };

// instead, you could also write (which looks very similar to the JSON above)
json j2 = {
  {"pi", 3.141},
  {"happy", true},
  {"name", "Niels"},
  {"nothing", nullptr},
  {"answer", {
    {"everything", 42}
  }},
  {"list", {1, 0, 2}},
  {"object", {
    {"currency", "USD"},
    {"value", 42.99}
  }}
};

serialization

// create object from string literal
json j = "{ \"happy\": true, \"pi\": 3.141 }"_json;

// or even nicer with a raw string literal
auto j2 = R"(
  {
    "happy": true,
    "pi": 3.141
  }
)"_json;

// parse explicitly
auto j3 = json::parse("{ \"happy\": true, \"pi\": 3.141 }");


// explicit conversion to string
std::string s = j.dump();    // {\"happy\":true,\"pi\":3.141}

// serialization with pretty printing
// pass in the amount of spaces to indent
std::cout << j.dump(4) << std::endl;
// {
//     "happy": true,
//     "pi": 3.141
// }

read from file/save to file

// read a JSON file
std::ifstream i("file.json");
json j;
i >> j;

// write prettified JSON to another file
std::ofstream o("pretty.json");
o << std::setw(4) << j << std::endl;

Arbitrary types conversions

namespace ns {
    // a simple struct to model a person
    struct person {
        std::string name;
        std::string address;
        int age;
    };
}

normal method

ns::person p = {"Ned Flanders", "744 Evergreen Terrace", 60};

// convert to JSON: copy each value into the JSON object
json j;
j["name"] = p.name;
j["address"] = p.address;
j["age"] = p.age;

// ...

// convert from JSON: copy each value from the JSON object
ns::person p {
    j["name"].get<std::string>(),
    j["address"].get<std::string>(),
    j["age"].get<int>()
};

better method

using nlohmann::json;

namespace ns {
    void to_json(json& j, const person& p) {
        j = json{{"name", p.name}, {"address", p.address}, {"age", p.age}};
    }

    void from_json(const json& j, person& p) {
        j.at("name").get_to(p.name);
        j.at("address").get_to(p.address);
        j.at("age").get_to(p.age);
    }
} // namespace ns


// create a person
ns::person p {"Ned Flanders", "744 Evergreen Terrace", 60};

// conversion: person -> json
json j = p;

std::cout << j << std::endl;
// {"address":"744 Evergreen Terrace","age":60,"name":"Ned Flanders"}

// conversion: json -> person
auto p2 = j.get<ns::person>();

// that's it
assert(p == p2);

That’s all! When calling the json constructor with your type, your custom to_json method will be automatically called. Likewise, when calling get<your_type>() or get_to(your_type&), the from_json method will be called.

How do I convert third-party types?

namespace nlohmann {

template <typename T>
struct adl_serializer {
    static void to_json(json& j, const T& value) {
        // calls the "to_json" method in T's namespace
    }

    static void from_json(const json& j, T& value) {
        // same thing, but with the "from_json" method
    }
};

}

How can I use get() for non-default constructible/non-copyable types?

struct move_only_type {
    move_only_type() = delete;
    move_only_type(int ii): i(ii) {}
    move_only_type(const move_only_type&) = delete;
    move_only_type(move_only_type&&) = default;

    int i;
};

namespace nlohmann {
    template <>
    struct adl_serializer<move_only_type> {
        // note: the return type is no longer 'void', and the method only takes
        // one argument
        static move_only_type from_json(const json& j) {
            return {j.get<int>()};
        }

        // Here's the catch! You must provide a to_json method! Otherwise you
        // will not be able to convert move_only_type to json, since you fully
        // specialized adl_serializer on that type
        static void to_json(json& j, move_only_type t) {
            j = t.i;
        }
    };
}

examples

#pragma once

#include <nlohmann/json.hpp>
using json = nlohmann::json;
#include "sensor_data.h"
#include "rfid_info.h"

namespace nlohmann {
    template <>
    struct adl_serializer<SensorData> {
        // note: the return type is no longer 'void', and the method only takes
        // one argument
        static SensorData from_json(const json& j) {
            SensorData sensor_data;
            sensor_data.sensor_identify = j.at("SensorIdentify").get<string>();
            return sensor_data;
        }

        // Here's the catch! You must provide a to_json method! Otherwise you
        // will not be able to convert move_only_type to json, since you fully
        // specialized adl_serializer on that type
        static void to_json(json& j, SensorData t) {
            j = json{ {"SensorIdentify",t.sensor_identify},{"SensorType",t.sensor_type },{"Data",t.data} };
        }
    };
    template <>
    struct adl_serializer<RfidInfo> {
        // note: the return type is no longer 'void', and the method only takes
        // one argument
        static RfidInfo from_json(const json& j) {
            RfidInfo rfid_info;
            rfid_info.identify = j.at("Identify").get<string>();
            return rfid_info;
        }

        // Here's the catch! You must provide a to_json method! Otherwise you
        // will not be able to convert move_only_type to json, since you fully
        // specialized adl_serializer on that type
        static void to_json(json& j, RfidInfo t) {
            j = json{ { "Identify",t.identify },{ "Position",0 } };
        }
    };
}

Binary formats(BSON…)

// create a JSON value
json j = R"({"compact": true, "schema": 0})"_json;

// serialize to BSON
std::vector<std::uint8_t> v_bson = json::to_bson(j);

// 0x1B, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x08, 0x63, 0x6F, ...

// roundtrip
json j_from_bson = json::from_bson(v_bson);