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nlohmann::basic_json::type_name

const char* type_name() const noexcept;

Returns the type name as string to be used in error messages -- usually to indicate that a function was called on a wrong JSON type.

Return value

a string representation of the type (value_t):

Value type return value
null "null"
boolean "boolean"
string "string"
number (integer, unsigned integer, floating-point) "number"
object "object"
array "array"
binary "binary"
discarded "discarded"

Exception safety

No-throw guarantee: this member function never throws exceptions.

Complexity

Constant.

Examples

Example

The following code exemplifies type_name() for all JSON types.

#include <iostream>
#include <nlohmann/json.hpp>

using json = nlohmann::json;

int main()
{
    // create JSON values
    json j_null;
    json j_boolean = true;
    json j_number_integer = -17;
    json j_number_unsigned = 42u;
    json j_number_float = 23.42;
    json j_object = {{"one", 1}, {"two", 2}};
    json j_array = {1, 2, 4, 8, 16};
    json j_string = "Hello, world";

    // call type_name()
    std::cout << j_null << " is a " << j_null.type_name() << '\n';
    std::cout << j_boolean << " is a " << j_boolean.type_name() << '\n';
    std::cout << j_number_integer << " is a " << j_number_integer.type_name() << '\n';
    std::cout << j_number_unsigned << " is a " << j_number_unsigned.type_name() << '\n';
    std::cout << j_number_float << " is a " << j_number_float.type_name() << '\n';
    std::cout << j_object << " is an " << j_object.type_name() << '\n';
    std::cout << j_array << " is an " << j_array.type_name() << '\n';
    std::cout << j_string << " is a " << j_string.type_name() << '\n';
}

Output:

null is a null
true is a boolean
-17 is a number
42 is a number
23.42 is a number
{"one":1,"two":2} is an object
[1,2,4,8,16] is an array
"Hello, world" is a string

Version history

  • Added in version 1.0.0.
  • Part of the public API version since 2.1.0.
  • Changed return value to const char* and added noexcept in version 3.0.0.
  • Added support for binary type in version 3.8.0.

Last update: May 1, 2022