Parse and Validate Methods

Processor provides JSON parsing and validity-checking methods. File I/O and streaming load are documented in File I/O.

Validation Methods

Valid

Signature: func (p *Processor) Valid(jsonStr string, cfg ...Config) (bool, error)

Validates whether a JSON string is valid.

valid, err := p.Valid(data)
if valid && err == nil {
    // Valid JSON
}

ValidBytes

Signature: func (p *Processor) ValidBytes(data []byte) bool

Validates whether a byte slice is valid JSON.

if p.ValidBytes([]byte(data)) {
    // Valid JSON
}

Parse Methods

Parse

Signature: func (p *Processor) Parse(jsonStr string, target any, cfg ...Config) error

Parses a JSON string into the target variable. Supports standard mode and number preservation mode.

// Parse into map
var obj map[string]any
err := p.Parse(`{"name":"Alice"}`, &obj)

// Parse into struct
type User struct { Name string }
var user User
err = p.Parse(`{"name":"Alice"}`, &user)

// Use number preservation mode
cfg := json.DefaultConfig()
cfg.PreserveNumbers = true
var data any
err = p.Parse(`{"price":19.99}`, &data, cfg)

ParseAny

Signature: func (p *Processor) ParseAny(jsonStr string, cfg ...Config) (any, error)

Parses a JSON string as any type.

data, err := p.ParseAny(`{"name": "test"}`)
if err != nil {
    panic(err)
}

PreParse

Signature: func (p *Processor) PreParse(jsonStr string, cfg ...Config) (*ParsedJSON, error)

Pre-parses JSON data for subsequent multiple queries on the same data, avoiding repeated parsing.

parsed, err := p.PreParse(jsonStr)
if err != nil {
    panic(err)
}

// Multiple queries on parsed data
name, _ := p.GetFromParsed(parsed, "user.name")
age, _ := p.GetFromParsed(parsed, "user.age")

GetFromParsed

Signature: func (p *Processor) GetFromParsed(parsed *ParsedJSON, path string, cfg ...Config) (any, error)

Gets a value from pre-parsed data. Use with PreParse to improve multiple query performance.

SetFromParsed

Signature: func (p *Processor) SetFromParsed(parsed *ParsedJSON, path string, value any, cfg ...Config) (*ParsedJSON, error)

Sets a value on pre-parsed data, returning a new ParsedJSON.

parsed, _ := p.PreParse(jsonStr)
newParsed, err := p.SetFromParsed(parsed, "user.name", "Bob")

Method Selection

Scenario	Recommended Method
Only validate	Valid / ValidBytes
Parse into target variable	Parse
Multiple queries on same data	PreParse + GetFromParsed

See Also

• File I/O - LoadFromFile/SaveToFile file methods
• Output Methods - Encode/EncodePretty encoding methods
• Path Query - Get series methods