JRef Java (local-only)

JSON Reference (JRef) extends JSON with a reference type. References allow for circular data to be serialized as JSON or for duplicated data to be serialized more efficiently. References take the form of { "$ref": "#/path/to/target" } where the URL fragment is a JSON Pointer locating a position in the document.

JRef can be used to reference locations in external documents as well, but this implementation only supports references local to the current document. See the JRef Specification for more information on the full specification and @hyperjump/browser for a full implementation supporting external references.

JRef serialization/deserialization has also been implemented in Typescript and Python. Since each JRef implementation is based upon the json ptr RFC 6901 spec, they will interoperate.

Usage

Complete example app code is here

// Create data
var bob = new Human("Bob", "Marley");
var ziggy = new Human("Ziggy", "Marley", bob);
// Assign child  object to two different fields
var data = Map.of("foo", ziggy, "bar", ziggy, "x", bob, "y", bob);    	
System.out.println("data=" + data);

Console Output

data={foo=org.openmcptools.jref.JRef$Human@66048bfd, x=org.openmcptools.jref.JRef$Human@61443d8f, y=org.openmcptools.jref.JRef$Human@61443d8f, bar=org.openmcptools.jref.JRef$Human@66048bfd} 
// Object graph has memory references

Serialize

var s = jref.buildRefs(data);
System.out.println("output="+s);

Console Output

output={foo={first=Ziggy, last=Marley, parent={first=Bob, last=Marley, parent=null}}, x={$ref=#/foo/parent}, y={$ref=#/foo/parent}, bar={$ref=#/foo}}
// $refs used to reference Human instances

Deserialize

var ds = jref.resolveRefs(s);
System.out.println("resolved=" + ds);

Console Ouptut

resolved={foo={first=Ziggy, last=Marley, parent={first=Bob, last=Marley, parent=null}}, x={first=Bob, last=Marley, parent=null}, y={first=Bob, last=Marley, parent=null}, bar={first=Ziggy, last=Marley, parent={first=Bob, last=Marley, parent=null}}}

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please create an issue to propose and discuss any changes you'd like to make before implementing it. If it's an obvious bug with an obvious solution or something simple like a fixing a typo, creating an issue isn't required. You can just send a PR without creating an issue.