json-rel

:link: Transparent references in JSON

json-rel converges the following standards and libraries in order to help normalize JSON reference/relationship descriptors:

• JsonPath
  • Specification: http://goessner.net/articles/JsonPath/
  • Library: https://www.npmjs.com/package/jsonpath
• JsonPointer
  • Specification: http://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-ietf-appsawg-json-pointer-08
  • Library: https://www.npmjs.com/package/jsonpointer
• JsonQuery
  • Library: https://www.npmjs.com/package/json-query

The goal is to increase developer transparency and to provide a unified, semantic interface for working with related JSON data.

Aside from being all around simple, json-rel spares library developers from having to:

1. decide between which reference specifications(s) to support in your projects
2. write an interface for when more than one standard needs support
3. bottleneck integrators of your library into a certain specificaton
4. write a mechanism that provides a consistent return format (e.g. array vs. element)

Installation

npm install json-rel

Usage

This example shows how to use the main feature of json-rel, which is being able to provide any relationship or reference string to $, an "operator" which will automatically identify the correct specification to use based on the relation itself:

import $ from 'json-rel'

const data = {
  foo: {
    bar: true
  }
}

let query   = $('foo.bar').use(data).get()   // true
let path    = $('$.foo.bar').use(data).get() // true
let pointer = $('/foo/bar').use(data).get()  // true

If you want to be slightly more concise:

let query   = $('foo[bar]', data).get()  // true
let path    = $('$.foo.bar', data).get() // true
let pointer = $('/foo/bar', data).get()  // true

You may also, of course, access and use each specification individually:

import {query, path, pointer} from 'json-rel'

query('foo[bar]', data).get()   // true
path('$.foo.bar', data).get()   // true
pointer('/foo/bar', data).get() // true

You can also infer the specification directly from the relation itself via which:

import which from 'json-rel'

which('foo[bar]')  // -> json-query
which('$.foo.bar') // -> json-path
which('/foo/bar')  // -> json-pointer