JSON Schema - Recursive Schema Definition

Question

I have a JSON Schema

{
    \'description\': \'TPNode\',
    \'type\': \'object\',
    \'id\': \'tp_node\',
    \'properties\': {
        \'selector\': {
             


        

Answer 1

Recursion example.

{
  "$schema": "http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#",

  "definitions": {
    "person": {
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
        "name": { "type": "string" },
        "children": {
          "type": "array",
          "items": { "$ref": "#/definitions/person" },
          "default": []
        }
      }
    }
  },

  "type": "object",

  "properties": {
    "person": { "$ref": "#/definitions/person" }
  }
}

Answer 2

use definitions and $ref.

You can copy and paste the following schema to this online json/schema editor and check the results.

editor screenshot:

schema code:

{
    "definitions": {
        "TPNode": {
            "title": "TPNode",
            "description": "TPNode",
            "type": "object",
            "properties": {
                "selector": {
                    "type": "string",
                    "required": true
                }, 
                "attributes": {
                    "type": "array",
                    "items": {
                        "title": "Attribute",
                        "type": "object",
                        "properties": {
                            "name": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "value": {
                                "type": "string"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "children": {
                    "type": "array",
                    "items": {
                        "$ref": "#/definitions/TPNode"
                    }
                },
                "events": {
                    "type": "array",
                    "items": { 
                        "title": "Event",
                        "type": "object",
                        "properties": {
                            "type": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "handler": {
                                "type": "object"
                            },
                            "dependencies": {
                                "type": "array",
                                "items": {
                                    "type": "string"
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    },
    "$ref": "#/definitions/TPNode"
}

Answer 3

Use the id of the schema you need to reference

'$ref': 'tp_node'

See here: http://json-schema.org/latest/json-schema-core.html#anchor30

Answer 4

Yes, your schema will work. The "$ref": "#" points back to the root of the schema document.

However, the "type": "object" is useless:

{
    'type': 'object',
    '$ref': '#'
}

If $ref is present, then all other keywords are ignored. It would be better to remove type from the #/properties/children/items schema.