JSON and XML Cheatsheet

JSON - `jq` sed for JSON data

jq is like sed for JSON data
jq Manual (development version)
JSON - Introduction
JSON Schema enables the confident and reliable use of the JSON data format.

Installation

$ sudo dnf install jq      # Fedora
$ brew install jq          # MacOS
$ winget install jqlang.jq # Windows

Basic Usage

$ echo '{"fruit":{"name":"apple","color":"green","price":1.20}}' | jq '.'
{
  "fruit": {
    "name": "apple",
    "color": "green",
    "price": 1.20
  }
}

$ curl --no-progress-meter http://api.open-notify.org/iss-now.json | jq '.'
{
  "iss_position": {
    "longitude": "158.4700",
    "latitude": "-2.8688"
  },
  "message": "success",
  "timestamp": 1700410500
}

Examples

Simple Example

$ echo '{"fruit":{"name":"apple","color":"green","price":1.20}}' > fruit.json
$ jq '.' fruit.json                         # pretty-print; see 'Basic Usage'
$ jq '.fruit.color' fruit.json              # extract color; "green"
$ jq '.fruit.color,.fruit.price' fruit.json # extract colors and price; "green", 1.20
$ jq '.fruit | .color,.price' fruit.json    # extract colors and price, alternative syntax
$ jq '.fruit | keys' fruit.json             # extract keys; "color", "name", "price"

Array Example

$ echo '{"fruit":[{"name":"apple","color":"green","price":1.20},{"name":"banana","color":"yellow","price":0.60}]}' > fruits.json
$ jq '.' fruits.json
{
  "fruit": [
    {
      "name": "apple",
      "color": "green",
      "price": 1.20
    },
    {
      "name": "banana",
      "color": "yellow",
      "price": 0.60
    }
  ]
}
$ jq '.fruit[].name' fruits.json                 # extract names; "apple", "banana"
$ jq '.fruit[].color,.fruit[].price' fruits.json # extract color/price; "green", "yellow", 1.20, 0.60
$ jq '.fruit[] | .color,.price' fruits.json      # extract color/price; "green", 1.20, "yellow", 0.60
$ jq '.fruit[1] | .color,.price' fruits.json     # extract color/price; "yellow", 0.60
$ jq '.fruit | keys' fruits.json                 # extract keys; [0,1]
$ jq '.fruit[] | keys' fruits.json               # extract keys; ["color", "name","price"]["color","name","price"]

XML - `xq` beautifier and content extractor

xq XML and HTML beautifier and content extractor

Installation

$ sudo dnf install xq                               # Fedora
$ brew install xq                                   # MacOS
$ curl -sSL https://bit.ly/install-xq | sudo bash   # Linux, installs into /usr/local/bin

Windows executable not available, so run the Linux version under WSL or in a Docker container. It is written in ‘golang’ so also runnable using go, see Go Installation

Basic Usage

$ echo '<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><fruit><name>apple</name><color>green</color><price>1.20</price></fruit>' | xq
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<fruit>
  <name>apple</name>
  <color>green</color>
  <price>1.20</price>
</fruit>

$ curl -s https://www.w3schools.com/xml/note.xml | xq
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<note>
  <to>Tove</to>
  <from>Jani</from>
  <heading>Reminder</heading>
  <body>Don't forget me this weekend!</body>
</note>

$ cat > test.html <<EOF
> <!doctype html><html>
<head><title>Example Page Title</title>
<meta name="description" content="Simple HTML example">
<meta name="keywords" content="html basic example"></head>
<body>Example page content</body></html>
> EOF

$ xq test.html
<!doctype html>
<html>
  <head>
    <title>Example Page Title</title>
    <meta name="description" content="Simple HTML example"/>
    <meta name="keywords" content="html basic example"/>
  </head>
  <body>
Example page content
</body>
</html>

Examples

Simple Example

$ cat > fruit.xml <<EOF
> <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><fruit><name>apple</name><color>green</color><price>1.20</price></fruit>
> EOF

$ xq fruit.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<fruit>
  <name>apple</name>
  <color>green</color>
  <price>1.20</price>
</fruit>

$ xq -q color fruit.xml                     # extract color; "green"
$ xq -q color,price fruit.xml               # extract colors and price; "green", 1.20

Array Example

$ cat > fruits.xml <<EOF
<fruits>
<fruit><name>apple</name><color>green</color><price>1.20</price></fruit>
<fruit><name>banana</name><color>yellow</color><price>0.60</price></fruit>
</fruits>
> EOF

$ xq fruits.xml
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<fruits>
  <fruit>
    <name>apple</name>
    <color>green</color>
    <price>1.20</price>
  </fruit>
  <fruit>
    <name>banana</name>
    <color>yellow</color>
    <price>0.60</price>
  </fruit>
</fruits>

$ xq -q name fruits.xml        # extract name; apple, banana
$ xq -q color fruits.xml       # extract color; green, yellow
$ xq -q color,price fruits.xml # extract color/price; green, 1.20, yellow, 0.60