Jora

JavaScript object query language, and a library to process and perform Jora queries on data.

STATUS: Jora is stable, but syntax may change in next releases. Still very much work in progress (ideas and thoughts).

Features:

Tolerant to data stucture queries (e.g. just returns nothing for paths that not reachable)
Compact syntax for common tasks
Aggregate values across arrays and eliminate duplicates by default
Stat collecting mode (powers suggestions)
Tolerant parsing mode (useful to provide suggestions for query in an editor)
Extensible DSL on query build by custom method list

Related projects:

Discovery – Uses jora as core fuctionality to transform a data flow for views and query data for reports
JsonDiscovery – a browser’s extension based on Discovery for viewing JSON documents, available for Chrome and Firefox (read more Changing a way we’re viewing JSON in a browser)
jora-cli – Command line interface for transforming data using Jora
Jora sandbox – A Web interface where you can play with jora syntax or transform some JSON with zero setup

Table of content:

Query syntax overview
NPM package

Query syntax overview

Jora is a query language designed for JSON-like data structures. It extends JSON5 and shares many similarities with JavaScript.

See Docs & playground.

Comments

// single-line comment
/* multi-line
comment */

Expressions

Jora expressions are the building blocks of Jora queries. Expressions can include comments, literals, operators, functions, and variables.

Literals

Jora supports literals, which include:

Numbers: 42, -3.14, 6.022e23
Strings: "hello", 'world', `template${yes}`, "\u{1F600}"
Booleans: true, false
Regular expressions: /regexp/flags
Object literals: { hello: 'world' } (see Object literals)
Array literals: [1, 2, 3] (see Array literals)
Functions: => … (see Functions)
Keywords: NaN, Infinity, null and undefined

See Literals

Operators

Jora supports most JavaScript operators, including:

Arithmetic: +, -, *, /, %
Comparison: =, !=, <, <=, >, >=, ~=
Logical: and, or, not (alias no), ??, is, in, not in, has, has no
Ternary: ?:
Grouing: ( )
Pipeline: |

See Operators

Dot, bracket and slice notations

Jora provides notations for accessing properties and elements: dot, bracket and slice notations. Dot notation is similar to JavaScript's property access notation, using a period followed by the property name (e.g., $.propertyName). Bracket notation encloses the property name or index within square brackets (e.g., $['propertyName'] or $[0]), it's also possible to use functions to choose. Slice notation provides a concise syntax to slice elements with optional step (array[5:10:2] selects each odd element from 5th to 10th indecies).

Methods and functions

Jora provides a rich set of built-in methods for manipulating data, such as map(), filter(), group(), sort(), reduce(), and many others. You can also define custom functions using the => arrow function syntax, and use them as a method.

Functions
Methods
Built-in methods
Grouping: group() method
Sorting: sort() method

Mapping and filtering

Jora has a concise syntax for mapping and filtering. The map(fn) method is equivalent to .(fn()), while the filter(fn) method is equivalent to .[fn()].

Filtering: .[…] and filter() method
Mapping: .(…) and map() method
Recursive mapping: ..(…)

Variables

Variables in Jora are helpful for storing intermediate results or simplifying complex expressions. To define a variable, use the $variableName: expression; syntax.

See Variables

NPM package

Install & import

Install with npm:

npm install jora

Basic usage:

// ESM
import jora from 'jora';

// CommonJS
const jora = require('jora');

Bundles are available for use in a browser:

dist/jora.js – minified IIFE with jora as global

<script src="node_modules/jora/dist/jora.js"></script>
<script>
  jora('query')(data, context);
</script>

dist/jora.esm.js – minified ES module

<script type="module">
  import jora from 'node_modules/jora/dist/jora.esm.js'
  // ...
</script>

By default (for short path) a ESM version is exposing. For IIFE version a full path to a bundle should be specified. One of CDN services like unpkg or jsDelivr can be used:

jsDeliver

<!-- ESM -->
<script type="module">
import jora from 'https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/jora';
</script>

<!-- IIFE with an export `jora` to global -->
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/jora/dist/jora.js"></script>

unpkg

<!-- ESM -->
<script type="module">
import jora from 'https://unpkg.com/jora';
</script>

<!-- IIFE with an export `jora` to global -->
<script src="https://unpkg.com/jora/dist/jora.js"></script>

API

import jora from 'jora';

// create a query
const query = jora('foo.bar');

// perform a query
const result = query(data, context);

See the details in Jora library API

Quick demo

Get npm dependency paths (as a tree) that have packages with more than one version:

import jora from 'jora';
import { exec } from 'child_process';

function printTree() {
    // see implementation in examples/npm-ls.js
}

exec('npm ls --all --json', (error, stdout) => {
    if (error) {
        return;
    }

    const npmTree = JSON.parse(stdout);
    const depsPathsToMultipleVersionPackages = jora(`
        $normalizedDeps: => dependencies.entries().({ name: key, ...value });
        $multiVersionPackages:
            ..$normalizedDeps()
            .group(=>name, =>version)
            .({ name: key, versions: value.sort() })
            .[versions.size() > 1];

        $pathToMultiVersionPackages: => .($name; {
            name,
            version,
            otherVersions: $multiVersionPackages[=>name=$name].versions - version,
            dependencies: $normalizedDeps()
                .$pathToMultiVersionPackages()
                .[name in $multiVersionPackages.name or dependencies]
        });

        $pathToMultiVersionPackages()
    `)(npmTree);

    printTree(depsPathsToMultipleVersionPackages);
});

Example of output:

jora@1.0.0
├─ c8@7.11.0
│  ├─ istanbul-lib-report@3.0.0
│  │  └─ supports-color@7.2.0 [more versions: 8.1.1]
│  ├─ test-exclude@6.0.0
│  │  └─ minimatch@3.1.2 [more versions: 3.0.4]
│  ├─ v8-to-istanbul@8.1.1
│  │  └─ convert-source-map@1.8.0
│  │     └─ safe-buffer@5.1.2 [more versions: 5.2.1]
│  ├─ yargs-parser@20.2.9 [more versions: 20.2.4]
│  └─ yargs@16.2.0
│     └─ yargs-parser@20.2.9 [more versions: 20.2.4]
├─ eslint@8.10.0
│  ├─ @eslint/eslintrc@1.2.0
│  │  ├─ ignore@4.0.6 [more versions: 5.2.0]
│  │  └─ minimatch@3.1.2 [more versions: 3.0.4]
...

See more examples in Complex Jora query examples

discoveryjs/jora