json object format for user data api - json

I have made an API that serves user data as a json file (e.g. name, userId...). The idea is that when someone logs in, their user ID loads the user data specific to them. I am not sure if I am supposed to create 'users' as an array or as an object. An array is more elegant, but if 'users' is an object I can pick out the right 'user' object with a key-value pair, where the key is the user ID.
How do I find the right user if I use an array?
Which way is proper JSON?
{
"users": {
"1": {
"userId": "1",
"displayname": "Fred"
},
"2": {
"userId": "2",
"displayname": "Ben"
},
"3": {
"userId": "3",
"displayname": "Sarah"
}
}
}
or
{
"users": [
{
"userId": "1",
"displayname": "Fred"
},
{
"userId": "2",
"displayname": "Ben"
},
{
"userId": "3",
"displayname": "Sarah"
}
]
}

Always try to keep the keys in the JSON constant rather than making them dynamic. Dynamic keys are complex to parse on the client side. You can always include the info about the dynamic key also inside a object with some fixed key.

Use an array as in the second listing.
Its up to the client to create an object from the array if it needs one.

Related

Why does a numeric key in the JSON Structure always get displayed first

(Cannot summarize the problem in a single statement, hence the ambiguous title)
I create a JSON structure via Angular Typescript, wherein when a user interacts with certains parts of the component the JSON Structure gets updated.
Steps
Initially, the JSON under consideration is by default set to the following:
{
"keyword": {
"value": "product",
"type": "main"
}
}
For example, a user chooses some parameter Name. Once the user complies to certain steps in the UI, the JSON structure gets updated to the following:
{
"keyword": {
"value": "product",
"type": "main"
},
"Name": {
"value": " <hasProperty> Name",
"type": "dataprop"
}
}
Once the user selects a numeric value for a parameter like dryTime, the JSON gets updated to the following:
{
"20": { // WHY WOULD 20 be here?
"value": "<hasValue> 20",
"type": "fValue"
},
"keyword": {
"value": "Varnish",
"type": "main"
},
"Name": {
"value": " <hasProperty> Name",
"type": "dataprop"
},
"dryingTime": {
"value": " <hasProperty> dryingTime",
"type": "dataprop"
}
}
I understand that a JSON is an unordered data structure. But a previous implementation of something similar actually worked well, i.e., the value 20 here was 20.0 before and it was displayed after dryingTime in my JSON.
The order is critical for me as I parse all the Keys in the above mentioned JSON using a for loop and store it in an array. This array needs to show all the keys in the order of the User Interaction.
Where am I going wrong here if I decide to stay with JSON and not with an array to store such interactions?
Yes, JSON fields are unordered. JSON array is ordered.
If you want to keep the order of elements insterted, you could build your JSON like so:
{
"keyword": {
"value": "Varnish",
"type": "main"
},
"props": [
{
"name": "dryingTime",
"value": 20
},
{
"name": "anotherOrderedField",
"value": "fieldValue"
}
]
}

How to index multidimensional arrays in couchdb

I have a multidimensional array that I want to index with CouchDB (really using Cloudant). I have users which have a list of the teams that they belong to. I want to search to find every member of that team. So, get me all the User objects that have a team object with id 79d25d41d991890350af672e0b76faed. I tried to make a json index on "Teams.id", but it didn't work because it isn't a straight array but a multidimensional array.
User
{
"_id": "683be6c086381d3edc8905dc9e948da8",
"_rev": "238-963e54ab838935f82f54e834f501dd99",
"type": "Feature",
"Kind": "Profile",
"Email": "gc#gmail.com",
"FirstName": "George",
"LastName": "Castanza",
"Teams": [
{
"id": "79d25d41d991890350af672e0b76faed",
"name": "First Team",
"level": "123"
},
{
"id": "e500c1bf691b9cfc99f05634da80b6d1",
"name": "Second Team Name",
"level": ""
},
{
"id": "4645e8a4958421f7d843d9b34c4cd9fe",
"name": "Third Team Name",
"level": "123"
}
],
"LastTeam": "79d25d41d991890350af672e0b76faed"
}
This is a lot like my response at Cloudant Selector Query but here's the deal, applied to your question:
The easiest way to run this query is using "Cloudant Query" (or "Mango", as it's called in the forthcoming CouchDB 2.0 release) -- and not the traditional MapReduce view indexing system in CouchDB. (This blog covers the differences: https://cloudant.com/blog/mango-json-vs-text-indexes/ and this one is an overview: https://developer.ibm.com/clouddataservices/2015/11/24/cloudant-query-json-index-arrays/).
Here's what your CQ index should look like:
{
"index": {
"fields": [
{"name": "Teams.[].id", "type": "string"}
]
},
"type": "text"
}
And what the subsequent query looks like:
{
"selector": {
"Teams": {"$elemMatch": {"id": "79d25d41d991890350af672e0b76faed"}}
},
"fields": [
"_id",
"FirstName",
"LastName"
]
}
You can try it yourself in the "Query" section of the Cloudant dashboard or via curl with something like this:
curl -H "Content-Type: application/json" -X POST -d '{"selector":{"Teams":{"$elemMatch":{"id":"79d25d41d991890350af672e0b76faed"}}},"fields":["_id","FirstName","LastName"]}' https://broberg.cloudant.com/teams_test/_find
That database is world-readable, so you can see the sample documents I created in there here: https://broberg.cloudant.com/teams_test/_all_docs?include_docs=true
Dig the Seinfeld theme :D
You simply need to loop through the Teams array and emit a view entry for each of the teams.
function (doc) {
if(doc.Kind === "Profile"){
for (var i=0; i<doc.Teams.length; i++) {
var team = doc.Teams[i];
emit(team.id, [doc.FirstName, doc.LastName]);
}
}
}
You can then query for all profiles with a specific team id by keying on the team id like this
.../view?key="79d25d41d991890350af672e0b76faed"
giving
{"total_rows":7,"offset":2,"rows":[
{"id":"0d15041f43b43ae07e8faa737f00032c","key":"79d25d41d991890350af672e0b76faed","value":["Adam","Alpha"]},
{"id":"68779729be3610fd8b52b22574000ae8","key":"79d25d41d991890350af672e0b76faed","value":["Bob","Bravo"]},
{"id":"9f97f1565f03aebae9ca73e207001ee1","key":"79d25d41d991890350af672e0b76faed","value":["Chuck","Charlie"]}
]}
or you can include the actual profiles in the result by adding &include_docs=true to the query.

JSON is it best practice to give each element in an array an id attribute?

Is it best practice in JSON to give objects in an array an id similar to below?. Im trying to decide on a JSON format for a restful service im implementing and decide include it or not... If it is to be modified by CRUD operations is it a good idea?
{
"tables": [
{
"id": 1,
"tablename": "Table1",
"columns": [
{
"name": "Col1",
"data": "-5767703747778052096"
},
{
"name": "Col2",
"data": "-5803732544797016064"
}
]
},
{
"id": 2,
"tablename": "Table2",
"columns": [
{
"name": "Col1",
"data": "-333333"
},
{
"name": "Col2",
"data": "-44444"
}
]
}
]
}
Client-Generated IDs
A server MAY accept a client-generated ID along with a request to
create a resource. An ID MUST be specified with an "id" key, the value
of which MUST be a universally unique identifier. The client SHOULD
use a properly generated and formatted UUID as described in RFC 4122
[RFC4122].
jsonapi.org

Can we add array of objects in amazon cloudsearch in json format?

I am trying to create a domain and uploading a sample data which is like :
[
{
"type": "add",
"id": "1371964",
"version": 1,
"lang": "eng",
"fields": {
"id": "1371964",
"uid": "1200983280",
"time": "2013-12-23 13:00:26",
"orderid": "1200983280",
"callerid": "66580662",
"is_called": "1",
"is_synced": "1",
"is_sent": "1",
"allcaller": [
{
"sno": "1085770",
"uid": "1387783883.30547",
"lastfun": null,
"callduration": "00:00:46",
"request_id": "1371964"
}
]
}
}]
when I am uploading sample data while creating a domain, cloudsearch is not taking it.
If I remove allcaller array then it takes it smoothly.
If cloudsearch does not allowing object arrays, then how should I format this json??
Just found after searching on aws forums, cloudsearch doesnot allow nested json (object arrays) :(
https://forums.aws.amazon.com/thread.jspa?messageID=405879&#405879
Time to try Elastic search.

C# MVC4 Web API - Resulting JSON should return objects instead of $ref to object

I have an ASP.NET MVC 4 Web API app using EntityFramework for ORM.
In the JSON I return, there are some cases where the same child node is present for multiple parent nodes. In these cases, the first occurrence of the child node is fully visible with all it's members. Any subsequent occurrence shows up as a $ref to the first occurrence.
I'd like instead to see the full object everytime it shows up in the JSON returned.
For example, instead of seeing:
[{
"$id": "1",
"userId": 1,
"Badge": {
"$id": "2",
"badgeId": 1,
"badgeName": "Gold"
}
}, {
"$id": "3",
"userId": 2,
"Badge": {
"$ref": "2"
}
}]
i'd like to see:
[{
"$id": "1",
"userId": 1,
"Badge": {
"$id": "2",
"badgeId": 1,
"badgeName": "Gold"
}
}, {
"$id": "3",
"userId": 2,
"Badge": {
"$id": "4",
"badgeId": 1,
"badgeName": "Gold"
}
}]
Basically I want to get rid of any "$ref" in the JSON. Is there a way?
Thanks!
An easy way is to edit the generated entity classes code. For each of the entity classes, there will be a [DataContract(IsReference=true)] attribute assigned.
Something like the following:
[EdmEntityTypeAttribute(NamespaceName="YourNamespace", Name="YourEntity")]
[Serializable()]
[DataContractAttribute(IsReference=true)]
public partial class YourEntity : EntityObject
{
Change it to IsReference=false. That should do the trick.
In my case, I'm using the Entity model, I simply set an entity key for a unique field in my .edmx diagram table.