dojox.json.ref

Author:Kris Zyp Project owner:Kris Zyp Available:since V1.2

Contents

• dojox.json.ref
  • Introduction
  • Features
  • Usage

dojox.json.ref implements JSON Referencing to provide serialization, deserialization, and indexing of complex object graphs with circular, multiple, cross-message, cross-store, and cross-site referencing.

Introduction

JSON Referencing provides for id-based, path-based, and combined referencing. With id-based referencing, JSON objects self-identify themselves with an identity property (“id” by default). Objects can then be referred to by id. A JSON references is a JSON object with a property $ref with a value indicating the target. This is an example of id-based JSON referencing:

{
  "name":"Kris Zyp",
  "id":"kriszyp",
  "children":[{"id":"jennikazyp","name":"Jennika Zyp"}],
  "spouse":{
      "name":"Nicole Zyp",
      "spouse":{"$ref":"kriszyp"},
      "children":[{"$ref":"jennikazyp"}]
  }
}

Path-based referencing works by specifying a JSON value by it's location within the object structure. With path-based referencing the # symbol should be used to denote the root of the current object structure and to separate. A path reference consists of dot delimited property names or array index numbers. dojox.json.ref also supports $ and this to reference the root. With path-based referencing, any JSON value may be referenced, not just objects. For example:

{
  "name":"Kris Zyp",
  "children":[{"name":"Jennika Zyp"},{"name":"Korban Zyp"}],
  "spouse":{
      "name":"Nicole Zyp",
      "spouse":{"$ref":"#"},
      "children":{"$ref":"#children"}
  },
  "oldestChild":{"$ref":"#children.0"}
}

Id and path-based referencing can also be combined; a path can be postpended to an id reference. The # separates the id from the path portion and the path operates on the object referred by the id. For example:

{
  "name":"Kris Zyp",
  "id":"kriszyp",
  "children":[{"name":"Jennika Zyp"}],
  "friends":[{"$ref":"jesse#spouse"}]
}

This tutorial provides more in-depth overview of dojox.json.ref. dojox.json.ref is used by the JsonRestStore for reference resolution and indexing.

Features

1. Circular referencing, multiple referencing, cross-message referencing, and cross-site referencing in JSON.
2. Utilizes the standard relative URL scheme as the basis for referencing.
3. Id-based, path-based, and combined referencing is supported
4. Useful exceptions when parsing fails

Usage

The basic usage of dojox.json.ref to serialize an object is:

myJsonString = dojox.json.ref.toJson(myObject);

To deserialize an object:

myObject = dojox.json.ref.fromJson(myJsonString);

Table of Contents

• dojox.json.ref
  • Introduction
  • Features
  • Usage