JSON Flatten / Unflatten

What is JSON Flatten / Unflatten

Use the JSON Flatten tool to normalize and flatten complex JSON objects by key name. The object can be ordered alphabetically, either ascending or descending (reversed). The online utility can be used for unflattening or flattening deeply nested JSON objects. 

The function creates a new object that contains no nesting and maps the corresponding values to the keys using the dot notation. Flatten a nested data structure, generating names for each field by concatenating the field names at each level with a configurable delimiter character. 

• Supports string escaping (reformatting) JSON string assignment
• Supports prettying (reformatting) JSON
• Suppports unprettying (reformatting "tight")

How to Flatten JSON?

1. To Flatten your JSON data, add, copy and paste, or load your JSON data into the input.
2. Select the Flatten from the 'Input Format' dropdown.
3. Choose the 'Output Format'.
4. Click the Convert button to flatten the JSON.
5. Click the download the file, or copy to clipboard.

Once you have flattened or unflattened the JSON data, you can work with it as needed, such as sending it through an API or performing data manipulations.

How to Unflatten JSON?

1. To Unflatten your JSON data, add, copy and paste, or load your JSON data into the input.
2. Select the Unflatten from the 'Input Format' dropdown.
3. Choose the 'Output Format'.
4. Click the Convert button to flatten the JSON.
5. Click the download the file, or copy to clipboard.

Flatten JSON Example

To flatten JSON data, you need to convert the nested structure into a flat structure with dot-separated keys representing the nested levels.

{
  "isbn": "123-456-222",
  "author": {
    "name": "Doe, Jane"
  },
  "editor": {
    "name": "Smith, Jane"
  },
  "title": "The Ultimate Study Guide",
  "category": [
    "Non-Fiction",
    "Technology"
  ]
}

{
  "isbn": "123-456-222",
  "author.name": "Doe, Jane",
  "editor.name": "Smith, Jane",
  "title": "The Ultimate Study Guide",
  "category.0": "Non-Fiction",
  "category.1": "Technology"
}

Unflatten JSON Example

To unflatten the flattened JSON data back into its original hierarchical structure, you need to reverse the flattening process.

{
  "Product.Price": 2024.994,
  "Product.Quantity": 1,
  "Product.Duration.Text": "1 hour 44 mins",
  "Product.Duration.Value": 6227
}

{
  "Product": {
    "Price": 2024.994,
    "Quantity": 1,
    "Duration": {
      "Text": "1 hour 44 mins",
      "Value": 6227
    }
  }
}

Why is JSON popular?

JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) can be described as a text-oriented standard format based on JavaScript object syntax, used to represent structured data. It can be used JSON without JavaScript; however, it strongly resembles JavaScript object literal syntax, and a variety of programming languages can read (parse) and produce JSON.

JSON is used to serialize and transmit structured data via an internet connection. This is why JSON is extensively used in APIs and web services, allowing web applications to exchange and retrieve data using the same format. JSON can be utilized in conjunction with a variety of advanced programming languages.

Using JSON

JSON is now a standard structured data format that allows for the transfer of information via web APIs.

JSON is beneficial for transferring data across the internet. To gain access to the data you want to access, you need to translate it into the local JavaScript object. JavaScript provides the ability to create a global JSON object that has ways to translate between the two languages -This isn't an issue.

How to Flatten Multilevel Nested JSON by Value

Python code for flattening JSON data. 

def flatten_data(y):
    out = {}

    def flatten(x, name=''):
        if type(x) is dict:
            for a in x:
                flatten(x[a], name + a + '_')
        elif type(x) is list:
            i = 0
            for a in x:
                flatten(a, name + str(i) + '_')
                i += 1
        else:
            out[name[:-1]] = x

    flatten(y)
    return out

The code recursively extracts values out of the object into a flattened dictionary.