Process JSON data in SQL Server 2012

Source: http://mtkcode.blogspot.com/2014/08/parse-json-string-by-sql-script.html

SQL Server 2016 and above support JSON_VALUE function to parse JSONs.

To process JSONs in older versions add this function to database – https://github.com/khanhmai/Parse-JSON-String-by-SQL-script/blob/master/ParseJSON-FUNCTION.sql

Then we can write queries such as below,

-- Query sample 1
select * From
parseJSON
(
       '[{"Text":"YES","Value":"YES","Default":true},
       {"Text":"NO","Value":"NO","Default":false}]'

)

-- Query sample 2

Select
       max(case when name='Text' then convert(Varchar(50),StringValue) else '' end) as [Text],
       max(case when name='Value' then convert(Varchar(50),StringValue) else '' end) as [Value],
       max(case when name='Default' then convert(bit,StringValue) else 0 end) as [Default]
From parseJSON
(
       '[{"Text":"YES","Value":"YES","Default":true},
       {"Text":"NO","Value":"NO","Default":false}]'
)
where ValueType = 'string' OR ValueType = 'boolean'
group by parent_ID

 

Same SQL function is pasted below in case the source URL disappears,

CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[parseJSON]( @JSON NVARCHAR(MAX))
/*
-- Create by Phil Factor	15 November 2010
-- Update by Kaden Mai		21 August 2014
-- How to Use	http://mtkcode.blogspot.com/2014/08/parse-json-string-by-sql-script.html
*/
RETURNS @hierarchy TABLE
(
element_id INT IDENTITY(1, 1) NOT NULL, /* internal surrogate primary key gives the order of parsing and the list order */
sequenceNo [int] NULL, /* the place in the sequence for the element */
parent_ID INT,/* if the element has a parent then it is in this column. The document is the ultimate parent, so you can get the structure from recursing from the document */
Object_ID INT,/* each list or object has an object id. This ties all elements to a parent. Lists are treated as objects here */
NAME NVARCHAR(2000),/* the name of the object */
StringValue NVARCHAR(MAX) NOT NULL,/*the string representation of the value of the element. */
ValueType VARCHAR(10) NOT null /* the declared type of the value represented as a string in StringValue*/
)
AS
BEGIN
DECLARE
@FirstObject INT, --the index of the first open bracket found in the JSON string
@OpenDelimiter INT,--the index of the next open bracket found in the JSON string
@NextOpenDelimiter INT,--the index of subsequent open bracket found in the JSON string
@NextCloseDelimiter INT,--the index of subsequent close bracket found in the JSON string
@Type NVARCHAR(10),--whether it denotes an object or an array
@NextCloseDelimiterChar CHAR(1),--either a '}' or a ']'
@Contents NVARCHAR(MAX), --the unparsed contents of the bracketed expression
@Start INT, --index of the start of the token that you are parsing
@end INT,--index of the end of the token that you are parsing
@param INT,--the parameter at the end of the next Object/Array token
@EndOfName INT,--the index of the start of the parameter at end of Object/Array token
@token NVARCHAR(200),--either a string or object
@value NVARCHAR(MAX), -- the value as a string
@SequenceNo int, -- the sequence number within a list
@name NVARCHAR(200), --the name as a string
@parent_ID INT,--the next parent ID to allocate
@lenJSON INT,--the current length of the JSON String
@characters NCHAR(36),--used to convert hex to decimal
@result BIGINT,--the value of the hex symbol being parsed
@index SMALLINT,--used for parsing the hex value
@Escape INT --the index of the next escape character
DECLARE @Strings TABLE /* in this temporary table we keep all strings, even the names of the elements, since they are 'escaped' in a different way, and may contain, unescaped, brackets denoting objects or lists. These are replaced in the JSON string by tokens representing the string */
(
String_ID INT IDENTITY(1, 1),
StringValue NVARCHAR(MAX)
)
SELECT--initialise the characters to convert hex to ascii
@characters='0123456789abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz',
@SequenceNo=0, --set the sequence no. to something sensible.
/* firstly we process all strings. This is done because [{} and ] aren't escaped in strings, which complicates an iterative parse. */
@parent_ID=0;
WHILE 1=1 --forever until there is nothing more to do
BEGIN
SELECT
@start=PATINDEX('%[^a-zA-Z]["]%', @json collate SQL_Latin1_General_CP850_Bin);--next delimited string
IF @start=0 BREAK --no more so drop through the WHILE loop
IF SUBSTRING(@json, @start+1, 1)='"'
BEGIN --Delimited Name
SET @start=@Start+1;
SET @end=PATINDEX('%[^\]["]%', RIGHT(@json, LEN(@json+'|')-@start) collate SQL_Latin1_General_CP850_Bin);
END
IF @end=0 --no end delimiter to last string
BREAK --no more
SELECT @token=SUBSTRING(@json, @start+1, @end-1)
--now put in the escaped control characters
SELECT @token=REPLACE(@token, FROMString, TOString)
FROM
(SELECT
'\"' AS FromString, '"' AS ToString
UNION ALL SELECT '\\', '\'
UNION ALL SELECT '\/', '/'
UNION ALL SELECT '\b', CHAR(08)
UNION ALL SELECT '\f', CHAR(12)
UNION ALL SELECT '\n', CHAR(10)
UNION ALL SELECT '\r', CHAR(13)
UNION ALL SELECT '\t', CHAR(09)
) substitutions
SELECT @result=0, @escape=1
--Begin to take out any hex escape codes
WHILE @escape>0
BEGIN
SELECT @index=0,
--find the next hex escape sequence
@escape=PATINDEX('%\x[0-9a-f][0-9a-f][0-9a-f][0-9a-f]%', @token collate SQL_Latin1_General_CP850_Bin)
IF @escape>0 --if there is one
BEGIN
WHILE @index<4 --there are always four digits to a \x sequence  
BEGIN
SELECT --determine its value
@result=@result+POWER(16, @index)
*(CHARINDEX(SUBSTRING(@token, @escape+2+3-@index, 1),
@characters)-1), @index=@index+1 ;
END
-- and replace the hex sequence by its unicode value
SELECT @token=STUFF(@token, @escape, 6, NCHAR(@result))
END
END
--now store the string away
INSERT INTO @Strings (StringValue) SELECT @token
-- and replace the string with a token
SELECT @JSON=STUFF(@json, @start, @end+1,
'@string'+CONVERT(NVARCHAR(5), @@identity))
END
-- all strings are now removed. Now we find the first leaf. 
WHILE 1=1  --forever until there is nothing more to do
BEGIN
SELECT @parent_ID=@parent_ID+1
--find the first object or list by looking for the open bracket
SELECT @FirstObject=PATINDEX('%[{[[]%', @json collate SQL_Latin1_General_CP850_Bin)--object or array
IF @FirstObject = 0 BREAK
IF (SUBSTRING(@json, @FirstObject, 1)='{')
SELECT @NextCloseDelimiterChar='}', @type='object'
ELSE
SELECT @NextCloseDelimiterChar=']', @type='array'
SELECT @OpenDelimiter=@firstObject
WHILE 1=1 --find the innermost object or list...
BEGIN
SELECT
@lenJSON=LEN(@JSON+'|')-1
--find the matching close-delimiter proceeding after the open-delimiter
SELECT
@NextCloseDelimiter=CHARINDEX(@NextCloseDelimiterChar, @json,
@OpenDelimiter+1)
--is there an intervening open-delimiter of either type
SELECT @NextOpenDelimiter=PATINDEX('%[{[[]%',
RIGHT(@json, @lenJSON-@OpenDelimiter)collate SQL_Latin1_General_CP850_Bin)--object
IF @NextOpenDelimiter=0
BREAK
SELECT @NextOpenDelimiter=@NextOpenDelimiter+@OpenDelimiter
IF @NextCloseDelimiter<@NextOpenDelimiter
BREAK
IF SUBSTRING(@json, @NextOpenDelimiter, 1)='{'
SELECT @NextCloseDelimiterChar='}', @type='object'
ELSE
SELECT @NextCloseDelimiterChar=']', @type='array'
SELECT @OpenDelimiter=@NextOpenDelimiter
END
---and parse out the list or name/value pairs
SELECT
@contents=SUBSTRING(@json, @OpenDelimiter+1,
@NextCloseDelimiter-@OpenDelimiter-1)
SELECT
@JSON=STUFF(@json, @OpenDelimiter,
@NextCloseDelimiter-@OpenDelimiter+1,
'@'+@type+CONVERT(NVARCHAR(5), @parent_ID))
WHILE (PATINDEX('%[A-Za-z0-9@+.e]%', @contents collate SQL_Latin1_General_CP850_Bin))<>0
BEGIN
IF @Type='Object' --it will be a 0-n list containing a string followed by a string, number,boolean, or null
BEGIN
SELECT
@SequenceNo=0,@end=CHARINDEX(':', ' '+@contents)--if there is anything, it will be a string-based name.
SELECT  @start=PATINDEX('%[^A-Za-z@][@]%', ' '+@contents collate SQL_Latin1_General_CP850_Bin)--AAAAAAAA
SELECT @token=SUBSTRING(' '+@contents, @start+1, @End-@Start-1),
@endofname=PATINDEX('%[0-9]%', @token collate SQL_Latin1_General_CP850_Bin),
@param=RIGHT(@token, LEN(@token)-@endofname+1)
SELECT
@token=LEFT(@token, @endofname-1),
@Contents=RIGHT(' '+@contents, LEN(' '+@contents+'|')-@end-1)
SELECT  @name=stringvalue FROM @strings
WHERE string_id=@param --fetch the name
END
ELSE
SELECT @Name=null,@SequenceNo=@SequenceNo+1
SELECT
@end=CHARINDEX(',', @contents)-- a string-token, object-token, list-token, number,boolean, or null
IF @end=0
SELECT  @end=PATINDEX('%[A-Za-z0-9@+.e][^A-Za-z0-9@+.e]%', @Contents+' ' collate SQL_Latin1_General_CP850_Bin)
+1
SELECT
@start=PATINDEX('%[^A-Za-z0-9@+.e][A-Za-z0-9@+.e][\-]%', ' '+@contents collate SQL_Latin1_General_CP850_Bin)
-- Edited: add more condition [\-] in order to detect negative number 08-20-2014
--select @start,@end, LEN(@contents+'|'), @contents 
SELECT
@Value=RTRIM(SUBSTRING(@contents, @start, @End-@Start)),
@Contents=RIGHT(@contents+' ', LEN(@contents+'|')-@end)
IF SUBSTRING(@value, 1, 7)='@object'
INSERT INTO @hierarchy
(NAME, SequenceNo, parent_ID, StringValue, Object_ID, ValueType)
SELECT @name, @SequenceNo, @parent_ID, SUBSTRING(@value, 8, 5),
SUBSTRING(@value, 8, 5), 'object'
ELSE
IF SUBSTRING(@value, 1, 6)='@array'
INSERT INTO @hierarchy
(NAME, SequenceNo, parent_ID, StringValue, Object_ID, ValueType)
SELECT @name, @SequenceNo, @parent_ID, SUBSTRING(@value, 7, 5),
SUBSTRING(@value, 7, 5), 'array'
ELSE
IF SUBSTRING(@value, 1, 7)='@string'
INSERT INTO @hierarchy
(NAME, SequenceNo, parent_ID, StringValue, ValueType)
SELECT @name, @SequenceNo, @parent_ID, stringvalue, 'string'
FROM @strings
WHERE string_id=SUBSTRING(@value, 8, 5)
ELSE
IF @value IN ('true', 'false')
INSERT INTO @hierarchy
(NAME, SequenceNo, parent_ID, StringValue, ValueType)
SELECT @name, @SequenceNo, @parent_ID, @value, 'boolean'
ELSE
IF @value='null'
INSERT INTO @hierarchy
(NAME, SequenceNo, parent_ID, StringValue, ValueType)
SELECT @name, @SequenceNo, @parent_ID, @value, 'null'
ELSE
IF PATINDEX('%[^0-9]%', @value collate SQL_Latin1_General_CP850_Bin)>0
INSERT INTO @hierarchy
(NAME, SequenceNo, parent_ID, StringValue, ValueType)
SELECT @name, @SequenceNo, @parent_ID, @value, 'real'
ELSE
INSERT INTO @hierarchy
(NAME, SequenceNo, parent_ID, StringValue, ValueType)
SELECT @name, @SequenceNo, @parent_ID, @value, 'int'
if @Contents=' ' Select @SequenceNo=0
END
END
INSERT INTO @hierarchy (NAME, SequenceNo, parent_ID, StringValue, Object_ID, ValueType)
SELECT '-',1, NULL, '', @parent_id-1, @type
--
RETURN
END