ANSIJSON is a C/C++ (compatible with C90/CXX98 and above) library for parsing, encoding and manipulating JSON data. It allows you to work with JSON data structures in your C and C++ programs, providing functions for decoding JSON strings into data structures and encoding data structures into JSON strings.

• JSON Parsing: ANSIJSON provides the decodeAJSON function to parse JSON strings and create a structured representation of the data.
• JSON Encoding: You can use the encodeAJSON function to convert ANSIJSON data structures back into JSON strings.
• Data Structure: ANSIJSON defines a data structure called aJSON for representing JSON data. It includes features like nested objects, arrays, numbers, strings, boolean values, and optional C++ methods.
• Optional C++ methods: If compiled with C++, the structure aJSON will contain a number of object-oriented methods for working with aJSON elements.

The core data structure used in ANSIJSON is the aJSON struct, which represents JSON data. It has the following members:

/* Decoded values struct */
typedef struct aJSON {
    struct aJSON *next, *prev,      /* Double link listed neighbors */
                 *child,            /* Pointer to the child struct if it's an object or array */
                 *parent;           /* Pointer to the parent struct  */
    union {      int integer;       /* The value represented as an integer */
                 double floatval;   /* The value represented as a floating-point number */
                 char *string; };   /* A pointer to a string (if the value is a string) */
    unsigned int index_neighbor,    /* Index of the struct among its neighboring structs */
                 index_nested,      /* Index of the struct within its parent (child index) */
                 decimal_places;    /* The number of decimal places (if the value is a floating-point number) */
    char         *key,              /* A pointer to a member key string if the struct is a member of an object */
                 type,              /* Type of the value: (0=Container, 1=Number, 2=String, 3=Boolean) */
                 is_null,           /* True if the value is NULL (if the value is a boolean) */
                 is_signed,         /* True if the number value is signed (negative) */
                 has_decimal_point, /* True if the number value has a decimal point */
                 has_key;           /* True if the value structure has a key */

#ifdef __cplusplus /* Optional C++ methods */
    char *encode(int format = 0);
    struct aJSON *access(char *path);
    struct aJSON *erase();
    void append(struct aJSON *src);
    void append(char *src);
#endif
} aJSON;

This function parses a JSON string and returns a pointer to the root of the resulting aJSON data structure. It takes a JSON string src as input and returns a pointer to the root element. If parsing fails, it returns NULL.

Usage Example:

char *json = "{\"name\": \"Chester\", \"age\": 32, \"favorite_numbers\": [17, 42, 51, 32]}";
struct aJSON *root = decodeAJSON(json); 
// `root` now points to the root of the parsed JSON data.

This function encodes an aJSON data structure into a JSON string. It takes an aJSON element and an optional format parameter to control formatting (0 for unformatted, 1 for formatted). It returns a dynamically allocated string representing the JSON data.

Usage Example:

char *json = encodeAJSON(root, 1);
// `json` now contains a formatted JSON string representing the `root` structure

This function will recursively deallocate a aJSON data structure. It takes an aJSON element.

Usage Example:

freeAJSON(root);
// The heap of structure `root` has now been deallocated.

This function allows you to access a specific aJSON element within the data structure by providing a search path path. It returns a pointer to the found element. You can use this function to navigate and manipulate the data structure.

Usage Example:

struct aJSON *age = accessAJSON(root, "[\"age\"]");
// `age` now points to the specified. element (second element of member-object "favorite_numbers").
struct aJSON *number = accessAJSON(root, "[\"favorite_numbers\"][2]");
// `number` now points to the specified element (the third element of member-object "favorite_numbers").

This function removes an aJSON element and its children from the data structure. It takes an aJSON element src as input and returns a pointer to the first element after the removed one.

Usage Example:

root = eraseAJSON(root, number);
// The expected contents of `root` is now {"name": "Chester", "age": 32, "favorite_numbers": [17, 42, 32]}
root = eraseAJSON(root, age);
// The expected contents of `root` is now {"name": "Chester", "favorite_numbers": [17, 42, 32, 33]}

This function appends a new aJSON element src to the elements after the target element. It links the elements, sets their properties, and adjusts index values as necessary.

Usage Example:

appendAJSON(root, decodeAJSON("{\"birthday\": \"Saturday\"}"));
// Member ["birthday"] is appended to the `root` structure`

char *encodeAJSONUnformatted (struct aJSON *src) This is function is a wrapper for the function encodeAJSON with the optional format parameter set to 1.

char *encodeAJSONFormatted (struct aJSON *src) This is function is a wrapper for the function encodeAJSON with the optional format parameter set to 0.

In addition to the C functions, ANSIJSON provides the following C++ methods for working with aJSON elements:

• char *aJSON::encode(int format): Encodes the element and its children into a JSON string, allowing you to specify the formatting.
• struct aJSON *aJSON::access(char *path): Allows you to access a specific element within the aJSON data structure by providing a search path.
• struct aJSON *aJSON::erase(): Removes the element and its children from the data structure.
• void aJSON::append(struct aJSON *src): Appends a new aJSON element to the elements after the current element.
• void aJSON::append(char *src): Appends a new aJSON element by parsing a JSON string.

These C++ methods provide a convenient and object-oriented way to work with ANSIJSON.

Copyright (c) 2023 Chester Abrahams

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

• Author: Chester Abrahams
• Portfolio: atomiccoder.com
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/atomiccoder

Official Github.

This README provides an overview of the ANSIJSON library and its usage. For more in-depth information and usage examples, refer to the examples/ directory in the official Github page.