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JSON data types are for storing JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) data, as specified in RFC 7159. Such data can also be stored as text, but the JSON data types have the advantage of enforcing that each stored value is valid according to the JSON rules. Assorted JSON-specific functions and operators are also available for data stored in these data types.

YCQL supports the JSONB data type. JSONB stores JSON data in binary format. JSONB does not preserve white space, does not preserve the order of object keys, and does not keep duplicate object keys. If duplicate keys are specified in the input, only the last value is kept.

The following sections describe different operations on JSONB columns with some examples.

Create a table

Create a table with a JSONB column as follows:

ycqlsh> CREATE KEYSPACE store;

ycqlsh> CREATE TABLE store.books ( id int PRIMARY KEY, details jsonb );

Insert JSONB documents:

INSERT INTO store.books (id, details) VALUES
  (1, '{ "name": "Macbeth", "author": { "first_name": "William", "last_name": "Shakespeare" }, "year": 1623, "editors": ["John", "Elizabeth", "Jeff"] }');
INSERT INTO store.books (id, details) VALUES
  (2, '{ "name": "Hamlet", "author": { "first_name": "William", "last_name": "Shakespeare" }, "year": 1603, "editors": ["Lysa", "Mark", "Robert"] }');
INSERT INTO store.books (id, details) VALUES
  (3, '{ "name": "Oliver Twist", "author": { "first_name": "Charles", "last_name": "Dickens" }, "year": 1838, "genre": "novel", "editors": ["Mark", "Tony", "Britney"] }');
INSERT INTO store.books (id, details) VALUES
  (4, '{ "name": "Great Expectations", "author": { "first_name": "Charles", "last_name": "Dickens" }, "year": 1950, "genre": "novel", "editors": ["Robert", "John", "Melisa"] }');
INSERT INTO store.books (id, details) VALUES
  (5, '{ "name": "A Brief History of Time", "author": { "first_name": "Stephen", "last_name": "Hawking" }, "year": 1988, "genre": "science", "editors": ["Melisa", "Mark", "John"] }');

Query JSON documents

You can list all the rows inserted using the following command:

ycqlsh> SELECT * FROM store.books;

 id | details
----+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  5 | {"author":{"first_name":"Stephen","last_name":"Hawking"},"editors":["Melisa","Mark","John"],"genre":"science","name":"A Brief History of Time","year":1988}
  1 |                            {"author":{"first_name":"William","last_name":"Shakespeare"},"editors":["John","Elizabeth","Jeff"],"name":"Macbeth","year":1623}
  4 |      {"author":{"first_name":"Charles","last_name":"Dickens"},"editors":["Robert","John","Melisa"],"genre":"novel","name":"Great Expectations","year":1950}
  2 |                                {"author":{"first_name":"William","last_name":"Shakespeare"},"editors":["Lysa","Mark","Robert"],"name":"Hamlet","year":1603}
  3 |             {"author":{"first_name":"Charles","last_name":"Dickens"},"editors":["Mark","Tony","Britney"],"genre":"novel","name":"Oliver Twist","year":1838}

Using -> and ->>

-> and ->> are supported JSONB operators that can be used to access attributes of a JSON object.

Select with condition on JSONB object value:

ycqlsh> SELECT * FROM store.books WHERE details->'author'->>'first_name' = 'William' AND details->'author'->>'last_name' = 'Shakespeare';

 id | details
----+----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1 | {"author":{"first_name":"William","last_name":"Shakespeare"},"editors":["John","Elizabeth","Jeff"],"name":"Macbeth","year":1623}
  2 |     {"author":{"first_name":"William","last_name":"Shakespeare"},"editors":["Lysa","Mark","Robert"],"name":"Hamlet","year":1603}

Select with condition on JSONB array element:

ycqlsh> SELECT * FROM store.books WHERE details->'editors'->>0 = 'Mark';

 id | details
----+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  3 | {"author":{"first_name":"Charles","last_name":"Dickens"},"editors":["Mark","Tony","Britney"],"genre":"novel","name":"Oliver Twist","year":1838}

Select with condition using JSONB element:

ycqlsh> SELECT * FROM store.books WHERE CAST(details->>'year' AS integer) = 1950;

 id | details
----+--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  4 | {"author":{"first_name":"Charles","last_name":"Dickens"},"editors":["Robert","John","Melisa"],"genre":"novel","name":"Great Expectations","year":1950}

Update JSON documents

You can update a JSON document in a number of ways.

Update an entire document

To update an entire document, do the following:

ycqlsh> UPDATE store.books SET details = '{"author":{"first_name":"Carl","last_name":"Sagan"},"editors":["Ann","Rob","Neil"],"genre":"science","name":"Cosmos","year":1980}' WHERE id = 1;

ycqlsh> SELECT * FROM store.books WHERE id = 1;

 id | details
----+-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  1 | {"author":{"first_name":"Carl","last_name":"Sagan"},"editors":["Ann","Rob","Neil"],"genre":"science","name":"Cosmos","year":1980}

Update an attribute

To update an attribute, do the following:

ycqlsh> UPDATE store.books SET details->'author'->>'first_name' = '"Steve"' WHERE id = 4;

ycqlsh> SELECT * FROM store.books WHERE id = 4;

 id | details
----+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  4 | {"author":{"first_name":"Steve","last_name":"Dickens"},"editors":["Robert","John","Melisa"],"genre":"novel","name":"Great Expectations","year":1950}

Update an array element

To update an array element, do the following:

ycqlsh> UPDATE store.books SET details->'editors'->>1 = '"Jack"' WHERE id = 4;

ycqlsh> SELECT * FROM store.books WHERE id = 4;

 id | details
----+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  4 | {"author":{"first_name":"Steve","last_name":"Dickens"},"editors":["Robert","Jack","Melisa"],"genre":"novel","name":"Great Expectations","year":1950}

To update a subdocument:

ycqlsh> UPDATE store.books SET details->'author' = '{"first_name":"John", "last_name":"Doe"}' WHERE id = 4;

ycqlsh> SELECT * FROM store.books WHERE id = 4;

 id | details
----+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  4 | {"author":{"first_name":"John","last_name":"Doe"},"editors":["Robert","Jack","Melisa"],"genre":"novel","name":"Great Expectations","year":1950}

Add a new attribute via Update

To add a new attribute via Update, do the following:

ycqlsh> UPDATE store.books SET details->'language' = '"English"' WHERE id = 4;

ycqlsh> SELECT * FROM store.books WHERE id = 4;

 id | details
----+------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  4 | {"author":{"first_name":"Steve","last_name":"Dickens"},"editors":["Robert","Jack","Melisa"],"genre":"novel","language":"English","name":"Great Expectations","year":1950}

Upserts

Add attributes

Update a missing JSONB document resulting in an insert as follows:

INSERT INTO store.books (id, details) VALUES
  (6, '{}');
ycqlsh> UPDATE store.books SET details->'editors' = '["Adam", "Bryan", "Charles"]' WHERE id = 6;

ycqlsh> SELECT * FROM store.books WHERE id = 6;

 id | details
----+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  6 | {"editors":["Adam","Bryan","Charles"]}

Add subdocuments

Update a missing JSONB document resulting in an insert of a subdocument as follows:

ycqlsh> UPDATE store.books SET details->'author' = '{"first_name":"Jack", "last_name":"Kerouac"}' WHERE id = 6;

ycqlsh> SELECT * FROM store.books WHERE id = 6;

 id | details
----+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
  6 | {"author":{"first_name":"Jack","last_name":"Kerouac"},"editors":["Adam","Bryan","Charles"]}