convert data to/from json

In this post, we’ll transform data to/from json using the *-to-json and json-to-* tools from the json-toolkit. Transforming data to/from json allows us to use jq (and other json) tools on (almost) any data.

What are *-to-json and json-to*?

*-to-json and json-to-* are collections of cli tools that transform data from one format to another. For example:

• xml-to-json - converts xml on stdin to json on stdout

• json-to-yaml - converts json on stdin to yaml on stdout

• json-to-logfmt - converts json on stdin to logfmt on stdout

In total there are 12 tools covering 6 formats, plus json.

Each tool takes one format on stdin and returns the same data in a different format on stdout, for example:

cat file.xml | xml-to-json > file.json

Why use *-to-json and json-to*?

In short, because they let you do this:

# extracts the element .key.a[1].b from file.xml as xml
cat file.xml | xml-to-json | jq '.key.a[1].b' | json-to-xml

and

# Provides a structural diff of the xml files
json-diff <(cat a.xml | xml-to-json) <(cat b…