Question

I’m creating an index file in JSON, which I’m using as a sort-of-database index for a javascript application I’m working on.

My index will look like this:

{
    "_id": "acomplex_indices.json",
    "indexAB": {
        "title": {
            "Shawshank Redemption": [
                "0"
            ],
            "Godfather": [
                "1"
            ],
            "Godfather 2": [
                "2"
            ],
            "Pulp Fiction": [
                "3"
            ],
            "The Good, The Bad and The Ugly": [
                "4"
            ],
            "12 Angry Men": [
                "5"
            ],
            "The Dark Knight": [
                "6"
            ],
            "Schindlers List": [
                "7"
            ],
            "Lord of the Rings - Return of the King": [
                "8"
            ],
            "Fight Club": [
                "9"
            ],
            "Star Wars Episode V": [
                "10"
            ],
            "Lord Of the Rings - Fellowship of the Ring": [
                "11"
            ],
            "One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest": [
                "12"
            ],
            "Inception": [
                "13"
            ],
            "Godfellas": [
                "14"
            ]
        },
        "year": {
            "1994": [
                "0",
                "3"
            ],
            "1972": [
                "1"
            ],
            "1974": [
                "2"
            ],
            "1966": [
                "4"
            ],
            "1957": [
                "5"
            ],
            "2008": [
                "6"
            ],
            "1993": [
                "7"
            ],
            "2003": [
                "8"
            ],
            "1999": [
                "9"
            ],
            "1980": [
                "10"
            ],
            "2001": [
                "11"
            ],
            "1975": [
                "12"
            ],
            "2010": [
                "13"
            ],
            "1990": [
                "14"
            ]
        }
    }
}

So for every keyword (like Pulp Fiction), I’m storing the matching document-id(s).

My problem is with integers/numbers/non-string data, like the release year in the above example. This is stored as a string, while I had hoped it would be stored as a number.

I’m creating the index entries like this:

// indices = the current index file
// doc = the document to update the index with
// priv.indices = all indices defined for this application instance
// priv.indices.fields = index fields e.g. "year", "director", "title"
// priv.indices.name = name of this index

priv.updateIndices = function (indices, doc) {
var i, j, index, value, label, key, l = priv.indices.length;

// loop all indices to add document
for (i = 0; i < l; i += 1) {
  index = {};
  index.reference = priv.indices[i];
  index.reference_size = index.reference.fields.length;
  index.current = indices[index.reference.name];

  for (j = 0; j < index.reference_size; j += 1) {
    label = index.reference.fields[j];    // like "year"
    value = doc[label];                   // like 1985

    // if document has a label field (e.g. doc.year = 1985)
    if (value !== undefined) {

      // check if the index file already contains an entry for 1985
      index.current_size = priv.getObjectSize(index.current[label]);
      
      if (index.current_size > 0) {
        // check if the document id is already in the index
        // in case the data is updated (e.g. change 1982 to 1985)
        key = priv.searchIndexByValue(
          index.current[label],
          doc._id,
          "key"
        );
        if (!!key) {
          delete index.current[label][key];
        }
      }
      // create a new array if 1985 is not in the index yet
      if (index.current[label][value] === undefined) {
        index.current[label][value] = [];
      }
      // add the document id to an existing entry
      index.current[label][value].push(doc._id);
    }
  }
}
return indices;
};

This works fine, except that fields I want to store as non-strings (integers, numbers or datetime), like the year in the above example end up as strings in my index.

Question:
Is it at all possible to store "non-string" types in a JSON document? If so, can I also store the key of a key/value pair as a "non-string" element.

If not, would I have to add a parameter to my index definitions declaring the type of each key in order to modify the key-string when I run into it or is there a better way to do it?

Thanks!

Answer 1

Is it at all possible to store "non-string" types in a JSON document?

Yes. The value of a property can be a string, number, boolean, object, array or null (undefined is a notable exception – it’s a native JavaScript type but it’s not a valid JSON value).

Can I also store the key of a key/value pair as a "non-string" element?

No. The key name must always be a string. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t parse that string into some other JavaScript type. For example, if you have a string but need a number, you can use the parseInt function, or the unary + operator.

See the JSON grammar for more detail.