How do I modify fields inside the new PostgreSQL JSON datatype?

Question

With postgresql 9.3 I can SELECT specific fields of a JSON data type, but how do you modify them using UPDATE? I can\'t find any examples of this in the postgresql documenta

Answer 1

Even though the following will not satisfy this request (the function json_object_agg is not available in PostgreSQL 9.3), the following can be useful for anyone looking for a || operator for PostgreSQL 9.4, as implemented in the upcoming PostgreSQL 9.5:

CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION jsonb_merge(left JSONB, right JSONB)
RETURNS JSONB
AS $$
SELECT
  CASE WHEN jsonb_typeof($1) = 'object' AND jsonb_typeof($2) = 'object' THEN
       (SELECT json_object_agg(COALESCE(o.key, n.key), CASE WHEN n.key IS NOT NULL THEN n.value ELSE o.value END)::jsonb
        FROM jsonb_each($1) o
        FULL JOIN jsonb_each($2) n ON (n.key = o.key))
   ELSE 
     (CASE WHEN jsonb_typeof($1) = 'array' THEN LEFT($1::text, -1) ELSE '['||$1::text END ||', '||
      CASE WHEN jsonb_typeof($2) = 'array' THEN RIGHT($2::text, -1) ELSE $2::text||']' END)::jsonb
   END     
$$ LANGUAGE sql IMMUTABLE STRICT;
GRANT EXECUTE ON FUNCTION jsonb_merge(jsonb, jsonb) TO public;
CREATE OPERATOR || ( LEFTARG = jsonb, RIGHTARG = jsonb, PROCEDURE = jsonb_merge );

Answer 2

I found previous answers are suitable experienced PostgreSQL users, hence my answer:

Assume you have the a table-column of type JSONB with the following value:

{
    "key0": {
        "key01": "2018-05-06T12:36:11.916761+00:00",
        "key02": "DEFAULT_WEB_CONFIGURATION",

    "key1": {
        "key11": "Data System",
        "key12": "<p>Health,<p>my address<p>USA",
        "key13": "*Please refer to main screen labeling"
    }
}

let's assume we want to set a new value in the row:

"key13": "*Please refer to main screen labeling"

and instead place the value:

"key13": "See main screen labeling"

we use the json_set() function to assign a new value to the key13

the parameters to jsonb_set()

jsonb_set(target jsonb, path text[], new_value jsonb[, create_missing boolean])

in "target" - I will place the jsonb column-name (this is the table column that is being modified)

"path"- is the "json keys path" leading-to (and including) the key that we are going to overwrite

"new_value" - this is the new value we assign

in our case we want to update the value of key13 which resides under key1 ( key1 -> key13 ) :

hence the path syntax is : '{key1,key13}' (The path was the most tricky part to crack - because the tutorials are terrible)

jsonb_set(jsonb_column,'{key1,key13}','"See main screen labeling"')

Answer 3

I wrote small function for myself that works recursively in Postgres 9.4. Here is the function (I hope it works well for you):

CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION jsonb_update(val1 JSONB,val2 JSONB)
RETURNS JSONB AS $$
DECLARE
    result JSONB;
    v RECORD;
BEGIN
    IF jsonb_typeof(val2) = 'null'
    THEN 
        RETURN val1;
    END IF;

    result = val1;

    FOR v IN SELECT key, value FROM jsonb_each(val2) LOOP

        IF jsonb_typeof(val2->v.key) = 'object'
            THEN
                result = result || jsonb_build_object(v.key, jsonb_update(val1->v.key, val2->v.key));
            ELSE
                result = result || jsonb_build_object(v.key, v.value);
        END IF;
    END LOOP;

    RETURN result;
END;
$$ LANGUAGE plpgsql;

Here is sample use:

select jsonb_update('{"a":{"b":{"c":{"d":5,"dd":6},"cc":1}},"aaa":5}'::jsonb, '{"a":{"b":{"c":{"d":15}}},"aa":9}'::jsonb);
                            jsonb_update                             
---------------------------------------------------------------------
 {"a": {"b": {"c": {"d": 15, "dd": 6}, "cc": 1}}, "aa": 9, "aaa": 5}
(1 row)

As you can see it analyze deep down and update/add values where needed.

Answer 4

If you are making this query with a programming language client, eg from python pycopg2, or Node Postgres, Make sure you parse the new data to JSON first.

It might easily look like a python dictionary is the Same as a JSON object but it does not first do json.dumps on the dictionary.

A simple python snippet:

def change_destination(self,parcel_id,destlatlng): query="UPDATE parcels SET destlatlng = '{}' WHERE parcel_id ={};".format(json.dumps(destlatlng), parcel_id) self.cursor.execute(query2) self.connection.commit()

Answer 5

With 9.5 use jsonb_set-

UPDATE objects
SET body = jsonb_set(body, '{name}', '"Mary"', true)
WHERE id = 1; 

where body is a jsonb column type.

Answer 6

UPDATE test
SET data = data::jsonb - 'a' || '{"a":5}'::jsonb
WHERE data->>'b' = '2'

This seems to be working on PostgreSQL 9.5